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Brandon Sanderson offers free class on writing science fiction, fantasy

Brandon sanderson’s lectures taught this year at brigham young university cover ‘the nuts and bolts of writing.’.

By Sarah Harris

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah author Brandon Sanderson has published a free YouTube lecture series on writing science fiction and fantasy.

Sanderson’s 13 lectures taught this year at Brigham Young University cover “the nuts and bolts of writing,” including plot, viewpoint, worldbuilding, short stories, characters and publishing.

The BYU course came about in the 1980s when Orson Scott Card was going to teach a creative writing class, but a literature professor took over when the novelist ended up being unable to teach it after all, Sanderson said in the first online lecture.

Sanderson, who was a BYU student from 1994-2000, took the course from professional writer Dave Wolverton, known by his pen name David Farland , in 2000.

“That class was the single most valuable class I took my entire career at BYU,” Sanderson said.

Sanderson was asked to teach the course in 2004 when Wolverton retired. Sanderson had sold but not published a book at the time. He has now published dozens of books and become a well-known fiction writer.

“I haven’t been willing to let go of this one class because I feel like this class was, if you can point to a single moment in my career that was the most influential in me actually getting published, it was probably taking this class in 2000, 20 years ago now,” Sanderson said. “I thought it’s a resource that I need to make sure keeps happening, so I tried to format it in a way that it would help me as a new writer taking the class.”

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Isaac Stewart

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson ’s novels include the Mistborn books, The Stormlight Archive , The Rithmatist , Steelheart , and his most recent bestseller Starsight , book two in the Skyward series, among others. He completed the final volumes of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series and is published in 35 languages. Brandon also teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He recently launched a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign for The Way of Kings 10th Anniversary Leatherbound Edition.

On trusting your instincts

Originally published on July 30, 2020

Can you tell me a bit about your process? Do you have a favorite time to write?

I am a night writer. I’ve always been a bit of an insomniac, and I built my pre-publication career off the back of working a graveyard shift at the hotel, during which I would write books at the front desk. And this worked very well for me.

These days, I usually go to bed at four o’clock or five AM and get up at noon or one, depending on the day. And I usually do two writing sessions. I’ll write usually from around one until five, and then five until ten is family time. And then about ten o’clock, I go back to work and I work from 10 until that day’s work is done.

How do you begin building a new world?

It’s different for every project for me. Books are a combination of character, plot, and setting. And every book I write, I could point out and say, oh, there was the first idea . Usually they’re growing separately , a couple ideas for the plot, a couple seeds for characters. An idea for a magic system or a governmental structure. Those will be growing independently in my notes file. I know I have a book when these different elements start to meld together in my brain, and change each other in interesting ways. I’ll start to say, all right, these two ideas belong together. Here’s this character who belongs in this plot. Is there a setting that I’ve been developing that also enhances this?

Sometimes I just need to build one from scratch to match the story. Sometimes I start with a world. The Way of Kings began as two separate ideas, one for a character named Dalinar, and one for the idea of a storm, a magically powerful hurricane that hit this world every couple of days. Those two ideas grew separately from one another for a while, until I started to incorporate them together and say these two stories belong together.

You’ve just released The Way of Kings Prime , the original draft of the story that became The Way of Kings . How did you decide to scrap that version and start over? Did you feel like you had done the right thing?

Yeah, I have learned to follow my instincts as a writer. I’m sure that’s very common in the writing community. I finished Way of Kings Prime in 2002, 2003. And that’s right around the time that I got a book deal, it was my 13th novel. By then, I had developed instincts for when a book was turning out like I envisioned it, and when a book wasn’t. I had some instincts that something was off, something was wrong. And when that happens, usually I get a few reads from people I trust. And the reads came back, my editor was one of these, saying, Wow, this is big. There’s a whole lot of exposition. There’s a lot of characters to track. We’re not sure about this . Which is not the response you want.

They said lots of good things about it. The book was not terrible. The book just was not hitting the vision I wanted for it. And putting it aside was not a difficult decision at that point. I knew I didn’t want that book to be my second released book. I did Mistborn instead, I knew what I was doing with that, and it turned out very well. And I let The Way of Kings sit and simmer for another seven, eight years in the back of my brain before writing the 2010 version, which is completely different from the one I just released. The characters just needed more time to mature. There are parts of the plot that weren’t working, parts of the world that needed more time. Just every piece of the story needed more time.

I worked on The Wheel of Time books, which involved a lot of heavy lifting and building of writing muscles, so to speak. And after I’d written one of those books, I said, I think I can do this now. I think I have both figured out what I need to change in the plot, and I’ve grown as a writer to the point that I think I could do justice to this story. And so that’s when I sat down to write.

How do you know when a project is done?

Well, art is never finished, it’s only abandoned, right? That famous quote. A project is done when I feel that I can’t make significant improvements to the story, I’m only going to start taking sideways steps. If I revise it, it doesn’t get better, it just gets different.

I go through, these days, five drafts. And at the end of five drafts, if a book isn’t ready, that generally means it’s time to put the book aside and not publish it, rather than try another draft. It probably needs more time. I just have enough experience with this, at this point, to know that if I can’t fix it by then, then something more fundamental is broken and I need that distance from it.

What do you do in cases where you’re creatively stuck? Aside from putting aside a project?

I don’t get creatively stuck to that extent very often. For the average day by day, what people might call writer’s block, most of what I do involves writing the scene anyway, writing it poorly, basically.

I’ve found that 90 plus percent of the time, if I’m having trouble with a scene, if I back up, write it from a different viewpoint, write it just completely different in some way, I will fix it. The trick comes in making that leap. What do I change? And usually to do that, I write it the way I was planning to write it, the way that feels wrong to me, and then let my subconscious work on it, dig at it for a day or two. And almost every time my subconscious will say, Here’s what you’re doing wrong. You need to rethink how this character is approaching the scene . But I can’t do that unless I’ve written it poorly first, which is very odd.

But I do think it works for a lot of creative professionals, that your instincts aren’t wrong, that oftentimes this chapter for instance, is wrong. Though sometimes they are, sometimes you’re just having a bad day and the chapter’s perfectly all right, and you’ll get to it the next day and be like, Why was I so worried about this? This turned out just fine. But a lot of times you come back and say, No, that was wrong . But by forcing yourself to do it wrong, you give yourself the tools to fix it. It’s generally a lot easier to fix something that’s wrong, than it is to just figure out what’s wrong without having tried.

How do you avoid burnout?

I avoid burnout by rapid switching of projects. I have very carefully designed my life so that I am never working on one series too long in a row. Generally, this means I finish one book and then need to write something else that has a very different tone and style to it, that’s a challenge in a different way to focus my attention. This usually, these days, means adult book, YA book, adult book, YA book, with the occasional novella squeezed in there somewhere.

Have you ever been tempted to play in different genres?

Yeah, I’m always tempted to play in different genres. They always have some sort of sci-fi/fantasy element. But one of the things that you learn being a writer, is that there are different ways of explaining genre, right? And a lot of trappings of stories, which is the setting trappings, are different from the core and fundamental types of stories often told in that genre.

The best example of this is Star Wars , which has science fiction trapping, but then uses old school Western style plots. A lot of stories do this. And so while you will usually see some sort of sci-fi or fantasy element [in my work], because I enjoy that in settings, I switch up the plot structures quite a bit. The Way of Kings , it’s three different books stapled together. Each character has their own plot going on, but at its core, the main plot is an underdog sports story, right? Which is very different from some of my other epic fantasies, some of which are heists, some are romantic comedies.

Switching up a little bit, what was it like to realize that you had readers that were fans of your work, and what are your favorite ways to interact with your fans?

This was different for me than most writers because I had a very long journeyman stage. What was unique about my journeyman stage, the years I was unpublished but getting very close to professional quality, was that I had a strong community of readers at the college where I was going, and I started sharing my books with them. In the years before I got published, these books started to spread through the community to people who I had never met. And I started gaining fans without having sold any books. I got a chance to experience some of the fame and all of these things in a smaller and easier way to deal with. It let me hit the ground running when I actually started publishing. By that point, I knew what it was like to have people reading my work and becoming fans of my work.

And as a product of the early internet generation, I was very comfortable interacting with them on the internet. This also distinguished me. I was a lot younger, and a lot closer [in age] to that fan base than my [writer] contemporaries. And so I started doing book signings where I had had a mailing list, and I had internet forums that I frequented, and I had a blog. And this was all before this was done very widely among authors. And I’d do signings with my writer friends, and I would have as many or more people at the signings as they had, though they outsold me by a factor of 10 to one. It was really shocking to them that I was able to mobilize these crowds, but it’s not a matter of me really mobilizing anything. It’s just that I spend a lot of time on the internet.

You’re really transparent about your process, and even your progress writing your novels. I think you were one of the first authors I ever saw who had a writing progress bar on their website.

I’m very proud that that has spread. That began because I was a Wheel of Time fan, and waiting for the next Wheel of Time book and not knowing how far it had to go was very frustrating for me. Once I got published, one of the very first things I did was start putting up those progress bars so that people would at least know where I am in the process. I find it way easier if you know how much time you’re going to have to wait.

You get a lot of goodwill from the community by being upfront about those things. Not every author can do it. I tend to be what we call an architect, an outline writer. That’s George [R. R. Martin]’s term, architect versus gardener. Gardeners nurture a book and shepherd it along, and they’re never quite sure when it’s done. Architects tend to do a lot of that work in free writing, so the uncertain point comes when we’re planning. And when we’re writing, we tend to be more certain where it’s going and have already worked out some of those problems. Not always, but usually. And so it allows us to have a better instinct for when the book’s going to be done, because by the time we’re writing it, it’s a matter of It’s this many pages most likely, and I’m this percent of the way through the outline .

On your website you talk about your writing philosophy, and show how an outline works for you, and include some synopses or outlines from previous books. I was just struck by how generous it was for you to put that out there.

Well, you have this strange conundrum as a writer in that you’re going to have to relearn everything every writer before you has had to learn. And you’re generally going to have to do it without strong mentorship. Writing’s a very solitary profession. It’s very hard. People often ask me, Can I come be your intern? And I’m like, There’s nothing for an intern to do. The process is so internal to my head, you wouldn’t learn anything. You got to teach yourself these things.

When I was breaking in, there were writers who gave me some really great advice. Dave Wolverton is one of these. Some writers were very good doing what they could to help mentor me. And I’m well aware of how hard it is to learn how to do this on your own. This community survives because authors pay it forward. And that happened to me, and so I try to do my best to do the same.

That’s great. What made you want to create leather-bound editions of your novels?

The Wheel of Time had leather-bound editions with very, very limited print runs, and you could just never get ahold of them. As a fan who wanted to collect things like that, I’m like, Man… I want to have my books done in editions like that, that are a little more widely available . This isn’t really a dig at The Wheel of Time . It was a hard market back then, in the pre-internet days when you couldn’t get to the fans directly with these kinds of premium products. In the modern era, I can directly reach the fans.

The way the internet has shaped and changed this business is incredible. Ten years ago, I couldn’t probably have done this. 20 years ago, I certainly couldn’t have. But now I can create my own leather-bound. I can reach my fans directly and say, Here’s this kind of high price item, are you interested? The margins on these are so much smaller than a regular book by percentage, so traditional retail percentages would make the book unprofitable to publish. But by directly reaching the fans, it becomes profitable for us to be able to do that.

Howard Tayler, the author of Schlock Mercenary , was the one who suggested I use Kickstarter to do this. I know Michael J. Sullivan has been doing Kickstarters. I am learning from them, and following in their footsteps. I am not a pioneer in this, I am benefiting from my friends who really have paved the way. If I’m doing anything, I’m bringing attention to the fact that the fans will buy a premium product like this, and want to be involved if you can find a way to get it to them.

What do you enjoy most about being a writer?

It’s a kind of telepathy. I think of something. I dream about it. I turn it over in my head , like T he Way of Kings , for decades sometimes. And then I get it on the page finally, in a way that I’m excited by, and someone else gets to pick it up and read it and see the same thoughts that have been in my head, and experience those same emotions and those same stories. It’s a way of connecting to people on a very intimate level. That is just wonderful to me, fascinating, interesting, and exciting.

Essential Brandon Sanderson:

The Mistborn Trilogy

The Stormlight Archive

The Skyward Series

The Reckoners Trilogy

The Emperor’s Soul

Related to Author Brandon Sanderson on trusting your instincts:

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Beloved fantasy author Brandon Sanderson releases children's book with Kazu Kibuishi

'the most boring book ever,' which hits shelves this week, represents each author's debut foray into children's picture books..

Brandon Sanderson may be best known for writing dense works of fantasy fiction , but the popular author of Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive is now trying his hand at something a little different: picture books.

"The Most Boring Book Ever," a collaboration between Sanderson and graphic novelist Kazu Kibuishi, is hitting bookstore shelves this week. Though Sanderson and Kibuishi are widely regarded as heavyweights in their respective disciplines, the book serves as each author's debut foray into children's picture books.

Billed by its publisher as an "imaginative picture book for the whole family," the book tells the story of a boy whose seemingly ordinary afternoon turns into an unexpected fantastical adventure.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by MacKids Books (@mackidsbooks)

Here's everything to know about "The Most Boring Book Ever," as well as Sanderson and Kibuishi.

What is 'The Most Boring Book Ever?'

As you may expect, the title of "The Most Boring Book Ever" is intentionally a bit of a misnomer.

Sanderson wrote the words while Kibuishi provided the illustrations for the story, which follows a boy as he embarks for a seemingly boring day filled with math homework, chores and naps. But amid the mundane tasks, an adventure unfolds around the youngster involving pirates, dragons and more.

Sanderson recently shared an animated trailer for the picture book on his social media channels.

In an interview with Dragonsteel Books , Sanderson's publishing company, Kibuishi described taking inspiration from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and other fantasy stories from the 1970s to create illustrations with a "fusion of humor and fantasy."

When does 'The Most Boring Book Ever' release?

"The Most Boring Book Ever"  went on sale Tuesday from Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.

Who is Brandon Sanderson?

Since his debut novel " Elantris " hit bookshelves in 2005, Sanderson, 48, has risen to widespread acclaim and is regarded as one of the most prolific fantasy authors of his generation.

Sanderson's Mistborn original trilogy about Allomancers performing metal-based magic to overthrow an evil empire catapulted him to success when it debuted in 2006. A year later, Sanderson was  selected to finish  the epic "Wheel of Time" fantasy series following author Robert Jordan's death.

In the years since, Sanderson has authored a vast amount of titles that span not just fantasy fiction, but science fiction and even young adult – most of which take place in shared universe he calls the Cosmere.

Another 'Stormlight Archive' book coming this year

As it happens, "The Most Boring Book Ever" isn't even Sanderson's last book release of the year.

In December, the highly-anticipated fifth installment in his expansive Stormlight Archive series, " Wind and Truth ," is due out. The series, which now includes four books surpassing 1,000 pages each, as well as two novellas, is considered by many fantasy readers to be among the best works in the genre.

A testament to his popularity, Sanderson has twice shattered Kickstarter records: First in 2022 when he raised more than $41.7 million  for four secret books published through Dragonsteel, a record for the platform; and then again late last month when a tabletop game based on his books raised the most amount of any games project in the platform's history .

Who is Kazu Kibuishi?

Kibuishi, 46, is the writer and artist behind The New York Times best-selling Amulet graphic novel series, which follows a young girl who discovers a sentient magical circular amulet in her great-grandfather's house.

Kibuishi, who was born in Tokyo and immigrated to the United States as a child, is also the creator and editor of the comic anthologies Flight and Explorer .

In 2013, Kibuishi was selected to redesign covers of the Harry Potter books for the series' 15th anniversary.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

• Knowledge Base
• Brandon's Writing Process
• Outlining / Discovery Writing

Can You Go Into Depth About Outlining?

Many things about the writing process seem fascinating, even mystical, to the layman. A lot of people I meet at book signings or through email seem quite awed by the concept of conceiving, building, then executing a book the length of ELANTRIS or MISTBORN. (Both of which are around 200,000 words long, making them around 500 pages in hardback or 600-700 pages in paperback.)

Even a lot of amateur authors get frustrated with the process of storytelling, particularly when they look at the large picture. Indeed, plotting on the large scale is probably the most common problem I notice with newer authors–often they can write very well when you look at their stories on the paragraph, or even page, level. However, their writing tends to break down when looked across the scope of an entire book.

I’ll be frank. This is hard, perhaps the hardest part about the process of crafting a novel. I’ve met lots of people who, by sheer number of pages writing, should have completed several novels.   However, many of them have dozens of stories where they’ve gotten a few chapters into a book, only to get frustrated, uninterested, or simply find themselves uncertain what to write next.

I don’t have all of the answers. Indeed, I’ve found that it’s very difficult to offer advice about writing, since every writer seems to have a process of their own. However, what I can do is talk about some of the methods I’ve seen work for other authors, then explain my own process. I’ve found that seeing what I do can sometimes help other authors figure out their own process.

In all of this, I suggest that you remember one cardinal rule of writing: find out what works for you, then do that. Try different things, but don’t think you have to always work on books the way that I do it, or the way anyone else does it. Becoming a successful author is about practice, and I believe that the most important thing to learn while practicing is to understand yourself as a writer.

Writer Type One: The Multi-Drafter (a.k.a. The Freewriter)

I notice two basic extremes in writer types. Most people aren’t either of these extremes, but fall somewhere in-between. However, I’ve seen a lot of writers lean one way or the other.

I’m not actually a multi-drafter, I lean a bit more toward the one-drafter explained below. However, I know a lot of professional writers who talk more about being multi-drafters than they are one-drafters. Now, when I use the terms “one drafter” and “multi-drafter” don’t assume that I’m talking about the revision process. That’s something completely different. In this context, I’m simply referring to the way that the author produces their story–the way they develop the concepts, the plots, the character arcs, and the other things that make up a novel.

The multi-drafter is an author who discovers their story as they write it. They tend to do a lot of free writing, and they tend to like to explore characters and plots through the actual writing process. They’ll come up with one idea, then write something about it. Then, they’ll come up with another idea and the book will change direction. And, as they write those ideas, they’ll be sparked toward other ones.

If you hear authors talk about ‘organic’ writing, or if they mention that sometimes their characters ‘surprise’ them, then they’re probably multi-drafters. Now, I know a lot of newer authors who simply try writing this way, as if it were the only way to write books. They plunge right in and see where it goes.

There’s nothing wrong with this method. If you find that this way works better than outlining for you, then you shouldn’t feel guilty for not outlining. Remember the cardinal rule: Do what works for you.

There are two dangers with this type of writing, however. The first is that if you do it, but never try outlining, you may miss out on tools that would end up working very well for you as an author. The second danger, however, is more pressing (at least, I think so). The danger for a multi-drafter is that of letting one of your early freewrites stand as your finished product.

It may appear, at first, that the freewriter has a less difficult task than the outliner. After all, the outliner has to spend all that time up front before he or she can actually begin writing. However, the freewriter generally doesn’t know the ending of their story before they get to it. That means that their drafts are going to be A LOT more sloppy than the drafts of the outliner. All of the time that the outliner spends up front preparing, the freewriter has to spend on the back-end rewriting.

So, if you discover that you’re a straight-up freewriter, I’d suggest looking very seriously at the revision process. You’ll have to learn to not get too attached to characters, plots, chapters, and ideas–because they have to be fluid for you. You have to be willing to toss away things that work, but just don’t work with the other ideas.

This is the real trouble with amateurs who try to use this method without really understanding it–they don’t have the experience and practice it takes to make a sloppy, freewrite draft and turn it into a polished novel with plotting that doesn’t seem haphazard.

Writer Type Two: The single-drafter (or, the Outliner)

As can likely be surmised from the above examples, the extreme opposite of the freewriter is the outliner. I call these single-drafters because they tend to bang out a single, relatively-polished draft on the first try. This doesn’t mean they don’t have to rewrite! It simply means that most of the basic mechanics of their story–the plot arcs, the character development, the themes–come out the way they want it to in the first draft.

The do this, generally, by preparing extensive outlines ahead of time. They do a lot of their ‘freewriting’ in brainstorm form on paper or screen, re-arranging things, coming up with plots, and placing ideas all before they ever start writing any prose. Part of the reason this works for them is because they know their own writing process–they know how to differentiate between things they can connect and fill in while writing, and things they need to understand before they get to a certain point in the plot. Some extreme outliners create a point by point outline, then turn this directly into their synopsis by filling out the points, then turn THIS directly into their first draft, point by point, with very few revisions to their outline structure. The outline, with work, transforms into the book.

Outlining has its own dangers. The first is that, without a knowledge of your own writing style, outlining can be very frustrating, and even a little pointless. I’ve known many authors to create vast, extensive outlines, then who begin writing and immediately write themselves in a completely different direction, invalidating much of the work they’d just done. Also, outliners have the danger of never actually getting to the prose part of their writing! I think that dear old Grandpa Tolkien might have been a little on this side, as he’s said to have spent years and years planning his books before he decided to write them. If that’s the way you want to go, then do what works for you. However, if you want to make a living at writing in our current market, you might want to learn how to produce materials just a little bit more quickly.

One final danger with being an outliner (and this is one I had specifically) is that of never rewriting. Just because you’re a first drafter–and you tend to get it right on the first try (and, if you don’t, you tend to rewrite immediately and fix whatever is bothering you)–that doesn’t mean you don’t have to go back and fix things when the first draft is complete. There will still be a lot of polishing to do, you just tend to develop the major pieces–plot, character, setting–before you start.

My Own Process

As I said, you’re probably not in either of the above groups. But, it’s good to know the extremes, because you probably fall closer to either side–and have some of their same hang-ups.

My process is a little bit toward the one-drafting method. I started out trying the freewriting method, and my first few books were train-wrecks (Which is nothing unusual–that’s the way it is with most people). I had good characters and interesting settings, but the stories fell apart as I wrote. Plus, I learned that I detest rewriting. When I finish a story, I want it to be DONE. I’ve since learned to force myself to rewrite, and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it. However, I’m more fulfilled as a writer if I can get most of it right on the first try.

Another reason I consider myself more of a one drafter is because I have to know where I’m going before I start. I need an ending. I feel lost in a story if I don’t have a climax in mind, and I have trouble writing a character if I don’t know where how they are supposed to progress. However, I do enjoy the discovery of writing. If everything is TOO rigid, then I don’t do well making connections and coming up with innovative ways to be clever with my plot.

So, I’ve grown to follow what I call a ‘Points on the Map’ philosophy of writing. I’ve heard some other writers speak of similar methods–some call this a ‘floating outline’ method, so I know I’m not unique. I do think that this is a good way to have some of the organization of an outline without losing spontaneity.

I’ll give you an example of this method. Let’s assume that I’ve already done the other pieces of prewriting–I have characters, and I know their general personalities, conflicts, and character arcs.   I know the setting of my world, and have the culture, magic, and visual setting pretty well defined. (I will, of course, fill in smaller details as I write.)

Then we come to plot. As I’ve said, I need an ending before I can begin writing. Generally, when I’m preparing to write a story, it’s a dramatic ending that makes me want to finally sit down and write the book. I write for endings. In ELANTRIS, the events of the last few chapters were by far my favorite in the book–and I had them in mind from page one.

So, what I do is I begin building myself a ‘map’ to follow as I write.   It will start like this:

Generally, I start with four ‘parts’, though this will change–contracting or expanding depending on how many large climaxes I envision. Next, I think of the really important events in the book–the climaxes, if you will.   While I’ve been planning the book, I’ve imagined important scenes that stand out to me, and these usually have something important to do with character or plot.

So, I take my parts, arrange my important scenes–my points on the map, as it were–in order.   Then I add bullet points listing the scenes, using them to focus how my plot is going to occur.   The following is off the cuff, and isn’t really all that specific–but, remember, the point here is to remind myself of scenes I’ve already imagined.

• Bob Learns that he is the Mystic gardener.
• Sally finds a nasty tree in her gardens.
• Bob is dramatically driven out of his village by talking potatoes.
• Sally breaks up with her fiancé over the spinach incident.
• Bob fights with the main villain in the pumpkin patch.
• Sally discovered inside the largest pumpkin.
• Bob ascends to be king.

From here, we have a pretty good beginning framework. However, this really only includes the major plot points. Now, I look at this and decide what exactly I have to have happen before each of these can occur. For instance:

• Introduce Bob and his family
• Show Bob working in the fields.
• Introduce the prophet.
• Show Bob and the prophet talking together.
• Show Bob’s problems with his family.
• Hint at Bob’s magical ability with plants.
• Hint at that magical ability again.
• Begin showing the dangers of the talking potatoes.

And so forth. Obviously, in my actually book outlines, things would be just a tad more detailed. However, I don’t think that they’d be all that coherent to anyone but myself. These are reminders, or sometimes instructions, rather than explanations.

Once I have the progression above finished for each of my big scenes, I can fill in other scenes where holes have been created. Some of these are vague, and I tend to have far more bullet points about the first part than I do about latter parts. That’s because as I write, I add new bullet points as the middle sections of the book become more and more clear to me.

There are a few other things I add bullet points about as well. One of these is character progression. You’ll notice that the points above deal with plot almost exclusively. I build characters like I do plots, however, and stick those points in amongst the others. I focus on big changes, imagining where I want the character to be at the ending. For instance, if Bob’s character arc is composed of two main points: 1) That he’s too shy and 2) That he hates plants, then I’ll need to do something like the following.

• Show Bob disliking plants.
• Show Bob being shy.
• Force him to work in the garden.
• Show him coming to enjoy plants as he makes tomatoes grow.
• He leaves the village, and has to become more bold as he is looked to as the hero who will save them.
• Against his will, is set up as a savior from the potatoes.

Those points would be intermixed, in my outline, with the plot points above. One final group I sometimes add involves the mysteries of the book. If, for instance, I’m planning a big reveal–say that the talking potatoes are really talking peas in disguise–I’ll write out a list of sequential bullet points which explain how I’m going to foreshadow this mystery, and how I’m going to reveal information about it in small pieces.

Then, it’s time to start writing! I look at the next couple of bullet points, decide how to put those into a scene and include the information they indicate, and craft a chapter out of them in my head. At this point, I add rising and falling action for the chapter specifically, and try to tie it together into a cohesive mini-story. Each chapter, in my opinion, should have a feeling of completeness to it. However, since I already know what is IN the chapter, I can focus on how to get the information across in a way that shows character, reveals plot, and illustrates the world.

I add new bullet points as I write, developing the plot and characters as they become more firm in my mind. Things start rolling, and eventually I get to the ending–which, by that point, has been enhanced quite a bit in my mind through all of the ideas and connections I’ve made while writing the rest of the book. That is why my books tend to have rather explosive endings.

Well, there you have it. A look at outlining and the writing process through my eyes. Let me reiterate that what works for one person won’t necessarily work for anyone else, particularly when it comes to the writing process. However, I think the ‘floating outline’ method I have going is a nice balance between a hard, strict outline and the freedom of an improvisational book. It means that my novels come out rather strong on the first draft, as I can foreshadow big events. But, it also lets me innovate and change as I go, since the format of the outline is actually rather lax.

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Behind the Scenes with Kazu Kibuishi: The Vision for The Most Boring Book Ever

No one expected a collaboration between two creative giants, Brandon Sanderson and Kazu Kibuishi, to be titled The Most Boring Book Ever . Luckily, that’s the irony of this innovative and experiential story. 

Since this is Brandon’s first picture book, he knew he needed an expert onboard to bring the project to life. Enter Kazu Kibuishi, a renowned graphic novelist and illustrator known for his Amulet series. ( Amulet is a favorite of ours here at Dragonsteel, and Kazu graciously signed many of our books when he joined us at the office for the day. 🥹) 

We were all over the moon when Kazu agreed to lend his talents to The Most Boring Book Ever . Watching the project come to life has been such a blast, and we can’t wait for you all to experience it. Only a few more days until the release on September 24th! 

Kazu let me sit down with him during his visit to Dragonsteel’s office for an interview. This conversation offers a deeper look at Kazu's creative process, his collaboration with Brandon Sanderson, and the inspiration behind his artwork. Let's explore how Kazu brought his unique flair to this one-of-a-kind project, exclusively for The Cognitive Realm's readers.

An Unexpected Collaboration

Kazu’s involvement with illustrating The Most Boring Book Ever began unexpectedly. His agent, Judy Hansen, informed him of an opportunity introduced by Connie Hsu at Roaring Brook Press. “It sounded like a good match for my artwork,” Kazu recalls, adding that he agreed to the project after completing Amulet 9. The synergy between Kazu’s art and the book’s concept was undeniable. Kazu is an expert in fantastical, larger-than-life art, which is exactly what Brandon wanted for this project.

“Brandon knows how to work with other creators,” said Kazu. Brandon encouraged Kazu’s creative freedom and frequently adjusted his text to align with Kazu’s illustrations. “We were pretty much on the same page about how this project should look from the beginning,” Kazu notes. “It was easy and wonderful working with Brandon.”

Discovering Sanderson’s World

Kazu was only a bit familiar with Brandon's work before diving into The Most Boring Book Ever . He’d read Mistborn , but hadn’t ventured beyond that title yet. In some ways, it helped him go into this project with a clear head. “I worked with a blank slate,” he explains. Brandon encouraged Kazu to maintain his own artistic style for the book.

Before Brandon lent his suggestion, Kazu was already looking elsewhere for inspiration. “Prior to the suggestion [James Christensen], I was already looking at artwork from Monty Python and other fantasy artwork from the 70s to the 90s.” These influences allowed for a gorgeous fusion of humor and fantasy within the illustrations. 

I’m particularly interested in the artistic inspiration from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. This was such a defining era for fantasy art. When I chatted with Michael Whelan about the Wind and Truth cover , he had thoughts about how those decades influenced the image of fantasy as a genre in the collective consciousness. Seeing different artists interpret the impact of this era is especially interesting.

Cover of  Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Crafting a Visual Experience

One might wonder how an illustrator makes “boring” elements visually engaging. For Kazu, creating exciting art for the book was far from challenging. He admits, “Making artwork that isn’t boring was not a challenge at all, since Brandon did write some exciting prompts in the manuscript.” 

The irony is spectacular.

While he initially leaned toward a steampunk aesthetic, the final art ended up closer to his usual look. “I can’t escape my cartoony style!” I tell him that we wouldn’t have it any other way. 😌

I’m curious about how Kazu defines this “cartoony” style, though. Kazu goes on to explain his style in more detail. “My art always tends to look the way it does, and the best way to describe the style is probably ‘friendly’ and ‘fantastic’. Since I generally can’t escape this friendly and fantastic style, I’ll just lean into it by trying to push it into sci-fi and fantasy genres and allow that friendly fantastic style to mix in with the genres.”

The process of designing illustrations that complement such a unique book concept required balancing simplicity with creativity. “Since we never leave the boy as he falls, the angle we view the story from is static,” Kazu shares. This framing allowed him to make the environments dynamic and detailed, to entice readers to explore each scene thoroughly. “That forces me to use whatever enters the frame as a means to depict the larger world around the boy. Since the framing and situation are simple, I can then make whatever enters the frame be as complicated and fantastic as possible without getting the reader lost.”

It may be fair to say that Kazu’s appreciation for cinema could be part of the reason he considered the composition of the art in this way. More on that towards the end of this article!

Toward the book’s end, as the city comes into view, the illustrations become more intricate, inviting readers to slow down and absorb the details. Kazu explains this, saying, “Once he enters the city, I decided that adding detail to the environment is one way to get the reader to slow down and look around, so the illustrations toward the end of the book took much longer to create than the ones toward the beginning.”

When asked about his favorite illustration in The Most Boring Book Ever , Kazu cites the first full-size dragon illustration. “I could sense that this image would become the iconic picture from this book as I was drawing it,” he reveals. Such pieces exemplify Kazu’s ability to capture imaginations and leave lasting impressions. And, I’d have to agree. This image of the dragon from the story is particularly striking and visually distinctive.

How Film Impacted Kazu’s Creative Career

Kazu’s creative ingenuity extends beyond books. He’s been massively influenced by iconic films and even worked with the Criterion Collection at their request due to his film reviews on his blog. When I bring up film, Kazu says, “Oh gosh. If we start talking about movies, we can be here forever!” I immediately take this to mean we’re cut from the same cloth. 

From the hour-long discussion we had about movies, one of the most fascinating revelations was Kazu’s initial experience with Aliens and how it influenced his art and writing.

“When I watched it, I was probably too young—I would have been eight years old—and the whole movie blew my mind. Not only because it was a supposedly cheesy genre picture that was critically acclaimed, but because the designs of all the vehicles and weapons and creatures seemed so far ahead of their time. The concept design, the sound design, the set design, the cinematography, and the amazing performances were all working at such a high level for something that seemed like it wouldn’t deserve such treatment.”

A creative genius in the making .

The film’s innovative design and storytelling left a profound impact. Kazu explains how he applied the inspiration to his own work, saying:

“It made me inspired to make stories that would do something similar: I wanted to create work that people might underestimate, then when they experience the work they are so surprised by its quality that they remember it for a very long time.”

What’s Coming Up Next for Kazu

After working on such a distinct project, what does the future hold for Kazu Kibuishi? He continues to work on his next graphic novel, returning to his creative roots while remaining open to new picture book opportunities. “I’ll just continue to put together the [stories] that seem most interesting to me regardless of the medium or format,” Kazu says. “In the meantime, I hope people enjoy The Most Boring Book Ever !

Embracing the Irony: A Final Note

As we’ve explored, Kazu Kibuishi’s journey in bringing The Most Boring Book Ever to life showcases not only his extraordinary artistic talents but also the magic that happens when two creative visionaries collaborate. 

Kazu’s unique ability to transform the mundane into the marvelous offers readers an experience that does indeed defy expectations. His work reminds us that even the most seemingly ordinary tales can hold extraordinary adventures.

With its release just around the corner on September 24th, don’t miss the chance to dive into this delightful fusion of humor and artistry. Pre-order your copy of The Most Boring Book Ever today and prepare for a journey that’s anything but boring!

Kazu's drawing for Brandon.

Brandon's drawing for Kazu.

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Curso de escritura creativa / Creative Writing Course (Spanish Edition) Paperback – July 16, 2024

• Print length 336 pages
• Language Spanish
• Publisher Ediciones B
• Publication date July 16, 2024
• Dimensions 5.99 x 0.9 x 9.04 inches
• ISBN-10 8466671897
• ISBN-13 978-8466671897
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About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ediciones B; 001 edition (July 16, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ Spanish
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8466671897
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8466671897
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.99 x 0.9 x 9.04 inches
• #2,240 in Creativity (Books)
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About the author

Brandon sanderson.

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, comes out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that will see the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and Secret Project Four (with its official title reveal coming October 2023). These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. The third era of Mistborn is slated to be written after the first arc of the Stormlight Archive wraps up.

In November 2020 we saw the release of Rhythm of War—the fourth massive book in the New York Times #1 bestselling Stormlight Archive series that began with The Way of Kings—and Dawnshard (book 3.5), a novella set in the same world that bridges the gaps between the main releases. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. The fifth volume, Wind and Truth, is set for release in fall 2024.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, and various novellas available on Amazon, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, come out in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the Legion series, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart,The Emperor’s Soul, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

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BRANDON'S PROGRESS

Wind and Truth (Stormlight 5)

Moment Zero (Non-Cosmere Novella)

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