Brandon Sanderson’s 2013 Semester at BYU: Creative Writing, Lecture 2

This video is a mirror of the materials posted by user writeaboutdragons. I’ve provided some notes with timestamps below, and occasional color correction. Enjoy!

*Notes*

2:00 / Writing stories
Plot, Setting and Character are the three elements of a story that meet over conflict
Irony: world-building defines SF/F, yet it is generally the least important thing in a good story

7:02 / Info dumps
Avoid info dumps, particularly at the start of the story
Always be in-character
Writing should be lean, but this can be cleaned up in later drafts

9:40 / Learning curves
How long it takes for the reader to get proficiency in your world
All books have a curve for the reader to learn the setting, conflicts, etc
Lots of books choose their learning curve very deliberately

13:50 / Tools for keeping YA learning curves lower
Often the MC will start in the real world before going to fantasy world; this lowers learning curve
- Reader only has to get used to a few things at a time
“Watson” character is someone in the book who doesn’t know the same things the reader doesn’t know, so you have an excuse to explain things to the character (and thus reader)
First person protagonist allows you to info dump in character easier

19:40 / Familiar vs Strange
Each genre expects a certain balance, which changes over time

24:00 / Example trend: gritty from Game of Thrones

27:56 / Generating physical setting and cultural setting
physical= cool stuff that would be there even if people didn’t exist
cultural= cool stuff that is only there because of the people
Take the most chances to do something original in your setting

36:55 / Show vs Tell: ways to make info interesting
Dialogue is more interesting to a reader than description, so have people discuss things
Inner thoughts that show a reaction to something instead of describing it
Description through a character lens

45:34 / Focusing your story
Avoid world-builder’s disease
Pick a couple things to emphasize and make unique, don’t try to do them all

53:10 / Start small if you want to be a career writer
Very risky to put all your eggs in one basket

1:02:12 / Question on world building
What do you focus on when the world is not very different?
How do you focus on setting without overemphasizing it?
Before you are established, you can’t test reader patience very much

1:09:28 / Magic and satisfying resolutions
Them more you want magic to resolve conflict, the better your readers need to understand the magic system
- Really a comment about foreshadowing
Limitations are more important than powers themselves