##Brandon commented:

There I am, browsing popular, and am excited to see something cosmere related pop up. And of course it's you guys.

##/u/Worldhopper1990 wrote:

He’s said time and time again that he’s feeling really good about this book and that writing has been going well. Yes, there’s more pressure for having to “stick the landing” and that’s how I interpreted this comment. He wants to get it right. He’s said many times he can’t wait for people to read it.

Personally, I’m quite convinced that book 5 will blow my mind and I’ll consider it the best Stormlight book yet, based on his comments to far. He had way more issues outlining RoW and figuring out what to do with the flashbacks. Comparatively, he seems really happy about how WaT is turning out.

I don’t know what that will mean for the characters’ prospects, though.

##/u/Chimney-Imp wrote:

I'm not worried because he said that the ending is, in his opinion, one of the best endings he has ever come up with.

##Brandon commented:

I believe that I said one of the ending action sequences is my favorite so far in the series. I DO think the ending is great, mind you.

##Brandon commented:

Extremely is an exaggeration, but I did say this. Mostly because from beta reader comments it seems I prepared people to think this is more "end of series" than "halfway point." It's between the two, and I don't want people expecting an answer to every question.

##Brandon commented:

I'm sorry to hear about this, but really, I do think you are making a smart decision. How about I sign that ROW copy for you instead? Send it my way, and I will personalize it, and send it back. No need to do the backerkit that way. Drop me a DM.

##/u/if-i-post-im-drunk wrote:

I kinda feel like @u_mistborn should’ve put this in @r/cremposting

Anyway 6:31 is obviously somehow a hint that there will now be 6 eras of Mistborn and 31 books in the Stormlight Archives.

But for real, I just wanted to hop in here where the man himself might be and say thank you, getting pulled back into fantasy reading by your books helped to save my life man.

##Brandon commented:

It is my honor.

##/u/LewsTherinTelescope wrote:

Darn authors and their darn disregard for Rule 9, terrible role models 😤

##u_mistborn wrote:

I assure you I put a great deal of thought into this, LTT. :)

##/u/LewsTherinTelescope wrote:

Hey now, just because Wired called you our God doesn't mean you can rewrite the rules!

##Brandon commented:

Rule says that posts have to be high effort and have lots of thought behind them. I assure you, mathematicians have lots of relevant work on all numbers, making them quite interesting and worthy of discussion. 6.31, for example. So very unique a number. I find something about it quite pleasing.

##/u/Imthatfuckingguydude wrote:

Finished Yumi last night and loved it! Cant wait for my copy of the WOR Leatherbound <3

Cannot overstate how perfect of a time in my life I found the Cosmere, thank you for always being awesome.

##Brandon commented:

Well, thank you for the kind words!

##/u/LewsTherinTelescope wrote:

Darn authors and their darn disregard for Rule 9, terrible role models 😤

##/u/Cosmeregirl wrote:

At least it's tagged correctly. "No spoilers" indeed xD

##/u/LewsTherinTelescope wrote:

Might be off-topic though! Depending on whether 631 is sufficiently relevant to the books it could be an r/brandonsanderson topic instead. SMH.

##/u/Cosmeregirl wrote:

Hmm, someone should probably clarify with the author if 631 is book relevant, seeing as that's unclear at the moment :p

##Brandon commented:

Very book relevant. I mean, look at all the interesting discussion. And it’s such a nice number too.

##/u/lanaabananaa wrote:

I’m just picturing Brandon giggling like a schoolgirl at the thought of the chaos this simple post is making in the Cosmere community

##Brandon commented:

Now now. When have I ever enjoyed the confusion and/or pain of readers? That seems entirely uncharacteristic of me. You must be thinking of Brandon Mull.

##/u/XavierRDE wrote:

Sorry Brandon, we're going to need a detailed explanation as to the timing and content of the announcement before we make a decision on whether to approve this post. You know, for modding purposes 😛

##Brandon commented:

I don't know what you mean. The timing stamp of the post is right there. At the top.

##/u/LewsTherinTelescope wrote:

Darn authors and their darn disregard for Rule 9, terrible role models 😤

##u_mistborn wrote:

I assure you I put a great deal of thought into this, LTT. :)

##/u/jofwu wrote:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how many meetings do I need to cancel tomorrow in order to moderate? 💀

##Brandon commented:

I'd say 6.31 out of ten.

##/u/LewsTherinTelescope wrote:

Darn authors and their darn disregard for Rule 9, terrible role models 😤

##Brandon commented:

I assure you I put a great deal of thought into this, LTT. :)

##/u/GodsShoeShine23 wrote:

I'd say Alloy of Law. I just honestly didn't really care about Wax and Wayne until they were more fleshed out in Shadows of Self and Bands of Mourning. For Once, Brandon kind of just threw us right into the action from the get-go, but did so in a way where I had no real motivation to root for the main characters of the book other than them being the main characters of the book.

##Brandon commented:

I wonder sometimes if I should do a full-on rewrite of Alloy. It would also be my vote for weakest Cosmere novel. (I think it's probably my weakest novel overall.) The big problem came from it being a short story, that became a novella, that became a fun little novel not meant to do any heavy lifting. But the series went from there to get some of my strongest books, as I fell in love with world and characters, and became a full-blown era rather than a pit stop between tow large eras.

So you have something weaker, meant as a kind of "Secret History" novella, to a load-bearing pillar of the Mistborn series. And it's the place where already (coming off the main trilogy) where people were the most likely to abandon Mistborn as a larger mega-series. So I have my weakest cosmere book in a pivotal place in the sequence.

The solution could be to just take it and give it a ground-up rewrite with more depth of characterization and narrative rigor. But then, we have the problem of their being two significantly different versions of a book, which causes other logistical problems.

##/u/Great_Ad_5561 wrote:

I used an alt account to post an excerpt from an award-winning novel in r/writers, and it was torn apart. I think people these days don't appreciate anything that isn't straightforward. Of course, there are those who still enjoy it, but for the most part, lives are busier now than they were then, and to some, it is easier to read straightforward books.

##/u/Bridalhat wrote:

Also, judging by the types of work most commonly posted here, r/writers and r/writing is not full of literary scholars, writers, or readers. Which is fine! But there’s probably more people here who like Sanderson’s prose than who have read Nabokov period, maybe excluding Lolita. 

##/u/SizeableDuck wrote:

I'm not a fan of this trend at all, though everyone's obviously entitled to their opinion.

I read Lolita recently and absolutely loved it mainly because of how witty and poetic the prose was - completely unlike anything published nowadays, not to mention its subject matter. It's clear from the first page that Nabakov was a genius.

Tried Way of Kings for the first time shortly afterwards and found it to be the driest, most watered-down thing I've ever read by comparison. The only thing about it that challenged me was reaching the final page.

I get that Sanderson has a different style and his writing is -meant- to be completely lacking in spice, style and charm in order to make his stories more palatable for the average fantasy fan nowadays, but look me in the eye and tell me you've ever laughed at the constant, god-awful wordplay in those books.

He just describes exactly what's happening in the plot and the character's heads. There's no poetry and it makes me a little bit sad to see so many people praising him as an amazing fantasy writer purely because of his plots.

You can find a ton of writers nowadays that're like Sanderson, but you can't find any closer to Nabakov.

##Brandon commented:

While I agree that taste is completely subjective--and it's never offensive for someone to simply not like a book--I think you're spreading some misinformation here.

Those of us trying for clean, striking prose aren't doing it to make "stories more palatable for the average fantasy fan nowadays." We do it because we like this style, and would rather the ideas--and not the method by which they are expressed--be the challenging part of a story. I find it insulting that you'd imply prose choice is anything but a literary decision made for the merits of the narrative.

This division isn't new. George Orwell was advocating for clean, crisp prose in the 40s, a full decade before Lolita was written. This push and pull between clarity and ornament stretches back to Shakespeare, whose contemporaries would lambast his flourishes as incomprehensible. (Not that I mind, obviously, literary genius being in the ornaments. It's only that I find multiple kinds of writing worthwhile.)

Moreover, you can absolutely find writers closer to Nabakov today. Guy Gavriel Kay is still writing, and is one of my favorites. (Try Under Heaven.) Hal Duncan is still writing, and is amazing, though rarely releases anything. And, of course, there's N. K. Jemisin--not the same, but most certainly "closer to Nabakov." Even the majority of the writers in the New Weird experimented with style in the same ways as I think you'd like.

Many varieties of writing are valuable to the craft, and I suggest new writers (many of whom frequent this subreddit) practice multiple styles to find the ones that appeal to them and match their narrative goals. It's totally fine to prefer one over another, but I find abundant "spice, style, and charm" in something crisp like Harrison Bergeron--indeed, I find just as much of it as I do in something like Lolita, if for different reasons.

##/u/jamcdonald120 wrote:

Thats one of the signed Words of Radiance Leather Bound front pages where the pen didnt have enough ink. And also an empty pen (I hope its the same pen that made the signature, but I dont know for sure)

##Brandon commented:

It is! I clip the pen around the sheet as the ink gives out, and they keep them in a stack that way.

##/u/Worldhopper1990 wrote:

Congratulations to Brandon! Must be a good feeling to be able to say the first draft is at 100%. Can’t wait for the book in a year!

##u_mistborn wrote:

Thanks! I actually just saved the file as the "1.0" document. I knew it was going to happen sometime today, though the official "it's done" moment didn't happen until right now. If it had been any other week, I'd have waited until I finished, and had then push publish--but I wanted the staff to take this week off. So we filmed this and scheduled the announcement to go live this afternoon. I actually finished later in the day--well, the next day, technically. At 5:30am today (Wednesday.)

But either way, the 1.0 is finished. That DOESN'T include many of the interludes or epigraphs, so it's cheating just a little to call it done, but it's close enough. I'll be sprinkling those in as I go.

Final word count of the rough draft is 474,001 words. Revisions will add to that, then slice it down again, so the final is probably going to be in that range.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

##/u/Worldhopper1990 wrote:

Well, congratulations again then! Makes my day to see you replying to my comment, too!

I’m aware most interludes and epigraphs are going to be written during revisions, and that later revisions will shave down the word count again. If that has you end up around this total again, that would make SA5 the longest one yet, which is an exciting prospect! Quick question - did you get to the epilogue yet?

Thank you for your work, it means a lot to so many people. I hope you’ve been enjoying the Holidays with your family! And good luck with the upcoming revisions!

##Brandon commented:

I wrote a version of the epilogue years ago that isn't quite going to work for timing reasons, so I tried a new one. We will see how I feel about it as we go. :) Happy holidays to you too!

##/u/Worldhopper1990 wrote:

Congratulations to Brandon! Must be a good feeling to be able to say the first draft is at 100%. Can’t wait for the book in a year!

##Brandon commented:

Thanks! I actually just saved the file as the "1.0" document. I knew it was going to happen sometime today, though the official "it's done" moment didn't happen until right now. If it had been any other week, I'd have waited until I finished, and had then push publish--but I wanted the staff to take this week off. So we filmed this and scheduled the announcement to go live this afternoon. I actually finished later in the day--well, the next day, technically. At 5:30am today (Wednesday.)

But either way, the 1.0 is finished. That DOESN'T include many of the interludes or epigraphs, so it's cheating just a little to call it done, but it's close enough. I'll be sprinkling those in as I go.

Final word count of the rough draft is 474,001 words. Revisions will add to that, then slice it down again, so the final is probably going to be in that range.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

##Brandon commented:

We contacted them, and they were cool about the mistake. I don't know if it's been signed yet, but I agreed to a quick deal to let them keep using the symbols for this tour. This isn't the first time this has happened; Isaac's symbols look so great, people assume they're some ancient notation of the metals from classical chemistry. They pop up all over the place.

##/u/seff7845 wrote:

If I plan on attending Dragonsteel 2024, should I still preorder here, or will a copy come with the ticket like Defiant did?

##Brandon commented:

Likely it will be the same thing, but either way, you are probably safe waiting as the other commenter mentioned.

##/u/Fakjbf wrote:

Dang, it would have been amazing if he’d found something that fit but I’d rather have a good title that breaks the pattern than trying to shoehorn in a bad title to keep it going.

##/u/Gatechap wrote:

True, but if he was gonna break it, then Stones Unhallowed was a cooler working title

##Brandon commented:

Problem is, it no longer works for this book. As Szeth is no longer walking on stones. It's the only book where he isn't.

##/u/jmarsh642 wrote:

It's been weeks since Brandon Sanderson released a book. I hope he's doing ok /s

##/u/PattableGreeb wrote:

One day I hope to be like that guy output-wise. Not necessarily in terms of volume, but like, the sheer ability to just get into it and commit without much fuss.

##/u/erossthescienceboss wrote:

I’m a writer, and deeply envy his ability to work within a schedule and use his time. Has he ever experienced writers’ block? At all? Like, I’m in nonfiction — I don’t even do creative writing! Yet so often, it’s like pulling teeth.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a great book for those of us prone to writers’ block and procrastination (I related to Anne’s writing struggles deeply, and often wonder if she has undiagnosed ADHD) but I’d love to read a Sanderson guide to Actually Writing and Getting Shit Done.

##u_mistborn wrote:

I'd say that what you do, in nonfiction, is a different beast than what I do. I find nonfiction like pulling teeth too, sometimes!

Of course, fiction can be like that too. I do experience writer's block, but I am fortunate in several ways. One is that I managed to build a very good work ethic during my unpublished years, one I was mostly able to maintain after going professional. I also found a multitude of strategies for dealing with writer's block that have been helpful.

Once in a while, a book just doesn't work, though, and I DO abandon it and get into a funk for a while.

Simple guide for me is:

1. Make manageable goals.

2. Write consistently, and develop habits. Long hours are not as good as consistent hours. Crunching on a book burns you out. Instead, I follow the Stephen King method of shooting for around 2k words a day.

3. If I get into a funk, write anyway, planning to throw those words away. Then re-read them the next day and see if they are actually terrible, or if I was in a funk. Most common result if the words are bad is this: writing them gives my brain something to fix, and it does, giving me a new scene to try. But if I just stop, and don't write the bad words, I get stuck.

4. In emergencies, having something fun and different to work on can give a breather. This is where the Secret Projects came from.

Good luck! Don't know if that helps, but I hope it's at least interesting.

##/u/xXCoffeeCreamerXx wrote:

Step 2 is where I get caught up. I know I need to build good habits, but I simply can’t get started/stay consistent enough to form those habits. So is there a tip 1.25, 1.5, 1.75?

##Brandon commented:

There is, but it's unfortunately not going to be quite as useful. That's the step that is most likely to be the tough one, but diagnosing what is causing it is a little like trying to diagnose a disease from a headache. Basically anything can cause you to have trouble building the habits, and so general advice is tougher to give. The solution will really depend on your personal psychology.

How have you built other habits? What motivates you? (Loaded question, I know.) An easy trick is to put your writing time just before or after something you do every week already, and don't have trouble remembering to do. Have a weekly raid with the WoW team? Add writing in before it for two hours. Go to the gym on a Saturday? Build a playlist of mood music for your story, imagine it while there, then stop at a library/cafe always on the way home and write for a few hours as part of the weekly routine.

Involving others in your life can help. Telling them your goals, and getting their buy-in to make you responsible. Starting/joining a writing group (which isn't for everyone, mind you, but works for some of us) so you have a responsibility to submit can work too, depending on if you're the type who will fill bad not having something to share each week after you promised to do so.

Like the cafe suggestion above, a lot of people have more success building a habit if it's something they go out and do--rather than something they do at home, particularly if you're trying to write in a space where you ordinarily relax.

But really, there's a WHOLE lot going on inside of us in regards to motivation, and the individual brain brew is unique to us all. I am helped by keeping a spreadsheet of work done, so I can watch the numbers count up and see my progress. Others I know need a stick or a carrot. Others work on a yearly habit (writing during the summers as a teacher, for example) rather than a weekly one.

And all of that is assuming you're not avoiding writing for other reasons, such as performance anxiety, fear of the blank page, or a sense that something's wrong with your story you don't know how to fix.

Best of luck. Like I said, the advice here might not be as good/relevant as either of us would like. But maybe there's something in it you can take away.

##/u/jmarsh642 wrote:

It's been weeks since Brandon Sanderson released a book. I hope he's doing ok /s

##/u/PattableGreeb wrote:

One day I hope to be like that guy output-wise. Not necessarily in terms of volume, but like, the sheer ability to just get into it and commit without much fuss.

##/u/erossthescienceboss wrote:

I’m a writer, and deeply envy his ability to work within a schedule and use his time. Has he ever experienced writers’ block? At all? Like, I’m in nonfiction — I don’t even do creative writing! Yet so often, it’s like pulling teeth.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a great book for those of us prone to writers’ block and procrastination (I related to Anne’s writing struggles deeply, and often wonder if she has undiagnosed ADHD) but I’d love to read a Sanderson guide to Actually Writing and Getting Shit Done.

##Brandon commented:

I'd say that what you do, in nonfiction, is a different beast than what I do. I find nonfiction like pulling teeth too, sometimes!

Of course, fiction can be like that too. I do experience writer's block, but I am fortunate in several ways. One is that I managed to build a very good work ethic during my unpublished years, one I was mostly able to maintain after going professional. I also found a multitude of strategies for dealing with writer's block that have been helpful.

Once in a while, a book just doesn't work, though, and I DO abandon it and get into a funk for a while.

Simple guide for me is:

1. Make manageable goals.

2. Write consistently, and develop habits. Long hours are not as good as consistent hours. Crunching on a book burns you out. Instead, I follow the Stephen King method of shooting for around 2k words a day.

3. If I get into a funk, write anyway, planning to throw those words away. Then re-read them the next day and see if they are actually terrible, or if I was in a funk. Most common result if the words are bad is this: writing them gives my brain something to fix, and it does, giving me a new scene to try. But if I just stop, and don't write the bad words, I get stuck.

4. In emergencies, having something fun and different to work on can give a breather. This is where the Secret Projects came from.

Good luck! Don't know if that helps, but I hope it's at least interesting.

##Brandon commented:

"Allow me some time. Our lord's carcass is vast and not easily consumed. "

##Brandon commented:

Interesting conversations here. I strongly agree with the top comment here as of my posting, which points out that soft magic isn't any worse than hard magic. Both are tools for storytelling, and are used in different situations.

I also thought I should point something out. At least by my definitions, a magic is not soft or hard based on its adherence to external logic. A hard magic system is a reliable magic system, capable of being used by the characters to produce consistent results. A soft magic system is one that exists in an uncontrollable space by the viewpoint characters, with consequences that cannot be anticipated.

Therefore, the One Ring is a hard magic. Gandalf is a soft magic. Because the primary viewpoint protagonists (and the reader) can anticipate what the One Ring can do, and what the consequences will be. They cannot (by design) anticipate the same for Gandalf, at least within the confines of the Lord of the Rings books themselves.

Internal Logic (whether something is consistent) is the foundation of hard magic systems. Adding External Logic (i.e. scientific reasons why the magic works from an outsider perspective, or rationale as to how everything is powered) can make a magic easier to understand for a reader--but isn't needed for the system to he hard.

The OP is mistaking these two. An "electricity" system that is consistent and always works, and can be used by the main characters, is a hard magic--whether or not the External Logic (explaining things like where the power comes from) is sound does not influence this.

I literally have a magic system where an electricity-like substance comes from the sky, and it's considered one of the harder magic systems on the market today.

Remember most of all--such definitions are tools to use or discard as you try to achieve a specific kind of story. The distinctions are only relevant as to their ability to help you worldbuild as you wish, and are not hardfast. There are no rules you need to follow as a storyteller or worldbuilder, only suggestions from those who have come before--with explanations as to why these definitions have helped us achieve our narrative goals.

##u_mistbornTaylor wrote:

S: Where did Hoid get the shirt? Is it widely available on Scadrial? B: The really loud, colorful shirt? It's not a Scadrian shirt.

What do you mean it's not a Scadrian shirt BRANDON

##Brandon commented:

It's not a Scadrian shirt in the same way that a lot of very kitschy products in our world are not a product of the culture they propose to represent...

##u_mistborn wrote:

You're good. Go for it!

Honestly, this is fair use either way. But if your professor needs my okay, use this post as a citation.

##/u/WindrunnerSavant wrote:

Storms alive, I have been blessed! Thank you so much, Brandon! I hope you are doing well working on revisions!

##Brandon commented:

They're done for now, as of yesterday! On to new material for another month.

Then...revision hell for six months. But it's always nice to come out with a complete and revised book on the other end.

Thanks for asking!

##Brandon commented:

You're good. Go for it!

Honestly, this is fair use either way. But if your professor needs my okay, use this post as a citation.

##/u/MPickl3s wrote:

Yesterday, my goal was 2,089 words. This was the target I needed to hit to get back on pace after a couple of slow writing days earlier in the month. I did not hit that goal as I ran out of writing time and still had some other responsibilities I had to turn toward. I did still get 1,742 words written. So, slowly but surely I’m whittling down the difference I need to make up.

I also tend to face a blockage after taking a writing break. It happens to me often when I have to stop in the middle of a chapter, or start a new one. My strategy for combatting this has become to reread what I’ve already written. I’ve found that it helps place me back in the emotion of the scene I was writing, or in what the characters are currently feeling.

Good luck to everyone on 11/9.

##Brandon commented:

This does sometimes work for me. Once in a while, though, it sends me off in other directions.

The worst case of this for me was Wax and Wayne 2, where I wrote half, then had to stop for a Stormlight book, then come back. Turned out to be easier to write all of book three of W&W, then hop back and finish 2.

##/u/Halaku wrote:

TL;DR: No.

The Song (let's call it the Song) that the Tinkers are looking for isn't the tree-singing that the Ogiers know, or the connection to the land that Rand demonstrated.

The Song doesn't exist.

Rather, it is a mythological construct of a better way of life, the Tinker idealization of what they believe was their ancestral lifestyle was prior to the Breaking of the World. A life of peace, where there is no more war, no premeditated violence, and no reason for man to raise hand against man. A world where everyone followed The Way of the Leaf, and there was no other Way, because no one would ever imagine any such possibility, because even the thought was ridiculous.

That's why you'll see interviews where the authors say that the Tinkers are doomed to fail. You can't regain what never existed for you to have in the first place. That's why, even if Rand's song was the Song, they wouldn't accept it from him. From the Dragon Reborn, violence incarnate, responsible for more deaths than even he can count? He's far too much a warmonger and conqueror to ever truly know the Song. How could he know the Song, and be who he is, and done what he has?

If Rand 2.0 demonstrated what he could do, they would say that it is a very nice song. But can his song convince anyone who hears it to shudder at the thought of causing another person harm? Can his song make all the rulers of the world order their armies to beat swords back into plows? Can it reunite all who listen to it into the Age of Legend anew?

No?

Then it's not the Song.

And the Tinkers continue to search.

To put it another way? They're looking for the lost stanzas of Imagine, after the Beatles got back together in 1990. They don't exist. Lennon was murdered ten years before. But over the long stretch of centuries, the Tinkers have come to believe that the full version of Imagine is out there, and they live their lifestyle, and wish everyone else could live the same way, and keep searching for something that doesn't exist, and thus is impossible to find.

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

##Brandon commented:

Well put. This is correct, to the best of my understanding.

As an addition, this is one of the things RJ made very clear to me in the notes. He even wrote, "The tinkers never do find their damn song." I believe that's verbatim, though it has been a few years since I looked.