Notes on Sanderson's course on writing science fiction and fantasy #1
This semester, Brandon Sanderson teaches a creative writing class for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers at BYU. (No idea what that abbreviation stands for, but it's American university.)
Attending is an option for a few lucky students. The rest of us, however, can thank Adonalsium! The lectures are being filmed and made available for everyone, everywhere on Sanderson's website and Youtube channel.
The timing is perfect for me. I mentioned in my 2024 writing recap that I plan on trying my hand at fiction this year. What better way to get started than learning about the craft directly from one of my all time favourite writers?
I plan to watch these lectures weekly as they are released. When doing so, I aim to be diligent about taking notes. My raw notes while watching are written by hand. After digesting the lecture for a couple of days, I'll then transcribe the notes digitally, and add in the odd reflection.
Lastly, I'll share them here on my personal website.
Below are my notes for the semester's inaugural lecture: The Philosophy of Professional Writing: Brandon Sanderson's Writing Lecture #1.
My own reflections are italicized. The rest are (my interpretations) of points Sanderson made during the lecture. Direct quotes are quotations.
About the course
This course will be a nuts and bolts approach. It should give you tools you can use in your writing, without ruining your creativity. Will focus on the following topics:
- Plot
- Setting
- Character
- The business of science fiction and fantasy
Each topic will span two lectures, and a Q&A session.
Will also try to get in mini lectures on:
- Revision
- Prose
"Writing's kinda hard to teach. You will learn more than I can teach you in this class by writing your first book.
Writing as an art requires work and effort."
Writing is an art
You should explore, try and revise to figure out what works for you, and this will in turn lead to you improving as a writer. This approach lets you figure out and separate the writing advice that's bad for you from the writing advice that's good for you. There's no one size, fits all when it comes to how to approach writing.
Example is outlining: Some like it and works very well for their writing. Others, like Stephen King, say it ruins everything they enjoy about writing.
George R.R. Martin juxtaposes these two approaches as "architect writers" versus "gardener writers".
Brandon uses the metaphor of the chef versus the cook. The cook follows a recipe when making food. The chef understands the the art of cooking; the tools, the ingredients and how they interact and he he will experiment as he learns. Brandon will treat writing students as "chefs".
Professional versus non-professional
If you fashion yourself a writer, you will quickly be asked "are you published?"
Society is too utilitarian about art. The primary of purpose of art is to make the life of the artist more enriched. Creating something makes life better.
I wholeheartedly agree with Brandon here. The act of creation is the purpose.
Nevertheless, Brandon will pretend throughout this course that all students want to make a living as full time science fiction/fantasy writers within the next ten years. That said, all advice he'd give to other kinds of writers is still to be found in these lectures.
Good to know, because I have no intention of making my living as a science fiction or fantasy writer.
Writing fiction and making a living out of it is hard. If you're serious about it and willing to dedicate ten years to it you probably have a 1/20 shot of "making it".
Implicit takeaway is that if I want to be the best amateur writer I can be, I probably need to dedicate a decade to the craft before I can start making something I'm happy with. Am I willing to do it?
Brandon will encourage an "aggressive writing schedule" for students in the early years. Important to figure out your process. You should finish at least three, maybe five novels to learn your process. Brandon sold his sixth novel. Others did too. This is a lot more common that "fist book successes" like J.K. Rowling and and Patrick Rothfuss.
Published writers have deadlines. A good process helps with this and many other challenging aspects of being a published writer.
Learning how you write
Approach writing as playing the piano. Your first few books are practicing scales.
It really is quite similar to running, too. Your first couple of years are just about establishing you aerobic base. You simply have to pay your dues. Encouraging, in a way.
The skill gap means you first "babies" might end up kinda crap. It sucks, but you must overcome it.
Revision is a difficult skill to learn. On par with learning how to write a book.
- Outliners often revise too little
- Discovery writers often revise too much
Writers who constantly tend to revise their first chapters don't tend to make it (as novelists).
Brandon genuinely enjoys writing, and that was what helped him get through the rough times. He didn't want a job he enjoyed less than writing. He also kept a spreadsheet where he logged his daily writing. If he hit his goal for the day, he didn't have to worry any more. The goal was not hard, but challenging enough that it required actual work. Something like 1000 words per day.
This is really encouraging. It is the exact same approach I want/should use for becoming a better writer. To hear that it has already worked for someone like Sanderson is reassuring.
He then reminds us about survivorship bias. He can't guarantee that this process will work for anyone else.
It's good to have a backup plan.
No worries, I'm living it.
Brandon got rejected a lot early on. Books were too long, not grimdark enough, the magic systems too elaborate. But he decided to keep doing his thing.
"Ideas are cheap. The ability to make ideas great is what matters."
You should just pick something you like, combine it with something else you like, and that's enough of an idea to get going. It doesn't matter. Putting in the time, doing the work is what will make you a good writer.
If you have an idea you cherish, don't be afraid to use it for your first and crappy works. When you've improved you can go back to it and start over from scratch. It will be better for the work you did on the idea the first time around. Brandon did that with Way of Kings. He wrote a "Prime" version first, and then started from scratch with the version that was eventually published.
For the parts you don't enjoy as much as other parts, process is extra important. For instance you might not enjoy revising. Check! Some tips on still getting it done:
- Figure out what makes you consistently do the things you want to have done. Look at existing habits? What has worked in the past? Copy that.
- Bundle habits. Combine doing the boring with something you enjoy doing. Eventually you'll have a combined habit.
- A "devops" approach inspired by software development can work. Make a revision guide where prioritise issues. Work on top issues first, check them off, and continue down the list.
Writing groups
Can work, but they aren't for everyone. Tolkien and Lewis were in the same writing group. Worth trying.
Some rules for good writing groups:
- Discovery writers should be vary of taking advice for your book until after you've finished it and working on a different one.
- If you're getting feedback, don't say anything. Don't destroy authentic feedback by defending yourself. This will make the reader too aware. Just write feedback down and use it later, if it's relevant.
- If you're giving feedback, be descriptive, not prescriptive. Your job is not to fix the book. Just relay what the book makes you feel. If you're bored by something, say that. The author and the editor will fix the book.
Reflections
I enjoyed hearing Brandon veer between topics in this first lecture. He's very charismatic and engaging in the way he shares his knowledge. I am, however, looking forward to learning more about the specifics of writing fiction in the upcoming lectures.