Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

So I went to the Barnes and Noble signing for about an hour today, and I listened in on some questions, and asked a few of my own. I wasn't able to get a recording, so these are all paraphrased from my notes.

Someone in Brandon's Writing Class said that they had talked to the copyright people at BYU, and they said that Brandon's class is legally is his property, so he could do whatever he wants with it.

Brandon said that that was really interesting, and that he would have to make sure that he checked that with the English Department (to make sure that there aren't any toes that are stepped on), but that if it works out he would like to post videos of it online or on the iTunes University.

He's said before that his class that he teaches Winter Semester at BYU is pretty similar to Writing Excuses.

brandon on writing

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writing excuses

Another person came and said that he often would write bits and pieces of writing, but then find that he can't write any more.

Brandon said that it probably came from one of three causes. One, That the story just doesn't have enough ideas in it. He suggested making three characters who are complex who all follow the same storyline. When you get tired of writing one, than switch POVs. Two, that he's just stopping when it gets hard, which is most common. He suggests that the cure for this is just writing. Three, (and he said this is usually the problem for older writers) they know that they are writing crappy stuff. Brandon said, that's just fine. He says that he wrote 13 books before he was published. It takes time to get good.

He compared the last one to a pianist. Just like there are many levels of pianists, there are many levels of writers. He asked the writer-to-be how long it takes to tell how good a pianist is. The writer-to-be said usually withing a few seconds. Brandon then said that a publisher can tell almost as quickly. When they reject books while only reading the first few pages, they aren't saying no to the book, they're saying that the writer isn't good enough yet.

The secret, he said, to publishing is practice. When you spend your time drilling, writing every day, just like doing piano exercices, you become better and better. Lots of books are being rejected every day. But once you become a master writer, your odds skyrocket.

brandon on writing

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writing advice

The next question that was asked was "How do you come up with your magic systems?"

He said that it starts with sparks of ideas. It depends on what he's researching at the time, what he's been curious about. He likes to have his magic systems with one foot in Science and one foot in Wonder. The magic must also compliment the story. In Warbreaker, he wanted to show how Breath gives you life symbollically.

warbreaker

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brandon on writing

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brandon on magic

Will there be an Alloy of Law sequel?

Yes. But probably not till A Memory of Light (coming out in October-November 2012) and Stormlight 2 (coming out in April-March 2013) come out.

mistborn

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future books

He also said that he had a trip planned to Taiwan, because he's got a super Gung-ho publisher there.

The Inquisitor at the end is indeed Marsh. He stayed alive using the same trick that TLR used.

ZAS

I said that I actually had a related question.

BRANDON SANDERSON

He said "Oh, do you want to ask why Marsh has a Feruchemical Atium spike?"

ZAS

I blinked, and said that my question was actually "Why did Bloody Tan see Ten-Soon (as the Survivor) and Marsh (as Ironeyes)?"

BRANDON SANDERSON

He said that he was not answering any questions on what Bloody Tan saw, or thought he saw.

ZAS

I then said, "But now that you mention it, why does Marsh have a Feruchemical Atium spike?"

BRANDON SANDERSON

He told me "You'll have to figure that out! Good job on getting two RAFOs in a row!"

mistborn

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allomancy

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feruchemy

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alloy of law

After several more signings, I asked my other question. "Do people in the Comsere, besides Nalthis, have Breaths?"

"No." He then signed a person's books, then said "To elaborate a little more, that's not to say they don't have a life force, because they do. But if someone not from Nalthis were to suddenly gain the ability to become an Awakener, they could not use what they have to Awaken something. That's not to say that they can't receive breaths though."

cosmere

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realmatic theory

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warbreaker

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awakening

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breath