Brandon Sanderson on his WoT writing

[Cybertrolloc]

http://brandonsanderson.com/tag/the-wheel-of-time-retrospective/ (six parts as of now, the first two covering getting started on the project and two each for the first two books.)

 

There's not too much we haven't already heard or could piece together (good god could they hire someone that knows anything about computers for an afternoon to do the 20 things they consider impossible but are really easy concerning the notes?)

 

He finds RJ to be more of a gardener variety of writer than RJ had claimed to be in interviews to my knowledge (I've only seen a few mentions and in them RJ seems to come down more on the architect side). There were one or two other interesting bits, and there's some things BS considers actual mistakes now, so there's some progress there :)

[Suttree]

Yeah it has made for an interesting read. Not much new if you have been following the Q&A's(he already stated that he botched Mat for example and he expands on that here). As you say there are a few more fresh nuggets as well though. I sometimes forget that Brandon was relatively young and inexperienced when he started this project. By his own admission he likes the process of "banging words out on a page" and creating. Revising and polishing...not so much. It's important to keep in mind that he was "learning on the job" so to speak. It makes the rough patches and mistakes a bit more understandable.

 

In addition his challenges around structure make clear that there were tough decisions to be made once Tor pushed through the split. A ton of new content needed to be created for good or bad. Nice to put to rest once and for all the "not enough room" argument some people put forth though.

 

Something that falls into the "stating the obvious" category was:

I worry that sometimes, I beat people over the head with a character’s goals, theme, and motivations.

You think!? Follow your gut on that one Brandon, it will serve you well in the long run.

 

A new piece for me was hearing how Harriet was against the Avi trip through the way forward machine originally. Good on Brandon for sticking to his guns with that. That was one of the sections he handled very well IMO. All in all it really seems as if he is looking for ways to perfect his craft and it should be cool to see how he grows throughout the Stormlight Archives.

[BFG]

 

 I could do the first part in one book, then have his actions in the second book introduce an interesting tension—the question of whether or not this new Rand was still the Rand we loved. I could prompt readers to fear that just as he became unrecognizable in the depths of his fall, he might become something unknowable in the heights of his redemption. It would make for a new kind of conflict, one I’d never explored before, through Towers of Midnight

 

This was new to me but it explains the structure of ToM.  I always wondered why he had Rand showing up at the beginning of Towers.

[Rhienne]

Just a couple of random musings...

 

He was a better writer than I am, and if he couldn’t accomplish such a split, I didn’t want to attempt it.

 

Really enjoyed reading these.  I had only vaguely followed the Q&A's so some of this was if not exactly 'new info' at least quite illuminating on some issues. I am really impressed by BS's admissions of where he went wrong, and I found the above quote quite touching.  Full credit to him for being able to write something like that.

 

 

I love the middle books, with their exploration of other plots and characters, but the first book presented to us Rand, Perrin, Mat, and Egwene as our main characters.

 

I found this interesting as I felt the first book was very Rand-centric, with Mat and Perrin clearly being the next main characters, but Egwene didn't do much (in terms of action or character development) in the first book.  We don't even get a POV for her (instead having a few from Nynaeve and one from Moiraine).  

[Cybertrolloc]

New post on AMoL specific to Perrin (I've griped enough about him since LoC) and Egwene.

 

So Merrilor largely as instructed, I really don't see how RJ could have made this plotting blunder. The different light factions have the same strategy, they just differ on tactics, so drama? Really something that should have been better seeded earlier, it's ok on the Rand side without the random month of added time post Dragonmount...

 

Off the top of my head, let's say the tower comes up with a plan that obviously (to us) leads to disaster (like LTT's Strike). Add something on Rand's side too, it's not like he had that great of a plan after all, then maybe Mo as voice of reason saving the world...meh, still better off dead in FoH as a character :)

[Cybertrolloc]

A post on things/characters BT related went up on Nov 1. FYI, bbq, etc...

[The Fisher King]

as we near the one year anniversary of AMOL's release I have to tip my hat to this guy...Im serious; I really do!

 

Think about it! Think about what this guy has pulled off...through all his grinning and ''awww shucks''/shoulder-shrugging/Gee-WHIZ behavior and hatchet job on a cherished series of books, his use of sooo many people doing much of his work FOR him and his immersion in MAGIC - THE GATHERING and Twitter, this guy has somehow gotten his NAME on the last three WHEEL OF TIME books, become known as ''the guy who finished wot'', made millions of dollars, earned legions of fans, set his family for life and secured a lifetime's worth of publishing contracts!!!

 

SMH

 

Incredible...I really do tip my hat to this guy. Mr Sanderson; you pulled it off, pal!!! Well done!!!

 

 

Fish

 

 

Edited because...never let it be said that im NOT a Team Player!!! :)

[Suttree]

Lol Fish...by any chance have you had a few cocktails tonight?

[The Fisher King]

Just high on truth, mate.

 

I really did in all seriousness just intend to make ONE post sharing my genuine amazement at how a year's time hasn't altered my first impression of the masterpiece known as AMOL a single whit...but...you know how these things go...you start thinking about things...remembering things...get a bit of momentum going and BAM!!!

 

Bloody ASHES you find yourself with just so much to SHARE!

 

 

Fish