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Your writing exercises and mine: "I Hate Dragons"

For those who are following along, here's what I did for my writing exercise. I actually managed to make it something of a self-contained story. If you want to read up on the rules, I posted them here. We did some analysis of other people's writing on Writing Excuses here. If you did one of these and want more feedback, you might be able to post it in the Writing Group section of the TWG Forums and get some feedback. (Or you might be able to read some other posts and let people know what you tho

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

YA Novels + AMoL 8:00 Q&A Map + Updates

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive cover reveal for my YA post-apocalyptic novel STEELHEART that's coming out from Delacorte in September. Check it out here. Also, Tor.com put up the prologue and first chapter of my YA fantasy THE RITHMATIST that's coming out in May. Read them here. (Illustrations by Ben McSweeney, who also did the Shallan's Sketchbook illustrations in THE WAY OF KINGS.) Right now Harriet and I are busily pre-signing copies of A MEMORY OF LIGHT at the BYU Bookstore for toni

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing for Charity Conference This Saturday

This Saturday I'll be participating in the Writing for Charity conference at the Provo Library. For more information and how to register, check out their site. My schedule is below. There's a book signing at the end of the day that's open to the public. Writing for Charity<br/>Venue: Historic Provo Library<br/>550 North University Avenue<br/>Provo, Utah<br/>84601 Schedule: Saturday, March 17th 9:30–10:30 a.m.<br/>Welcome & Author Panel<br/>Brodi Ashton

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Exercise: Dialogue

You guys want to do a writing exercise together? I've been wanting to do some dialogue practice. We could each do five pages on a theme, and I could post my five for you to see, then look at some of the better ones on Writing Excuses and talk over strengths/weaknesses. Write a five- to ten-page two-character dialogue with no tags or blocking. Try to evoke character, conflict, and plot using only dialogue. Include: a problem, two distinct individuals, a fantasy/sf element. Avoid: long monologue

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses, ALCATRAZ annotation, CNN's Geek Out

Just a quick update for today. I'm currently flying to Australia. Yesterday's Writing Excuses episode is all about writing excuses—all those handy tricks that the great authors use to prevent themselves from finishing any book before its time. There are a couple of quotes from me in an article on CNN's Geek Out about media adaptations of fantasy. The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers chapter seven. I discuss crossbreeding Summa Theologica with Little Women, and

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses Video + Updates

This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode covers film considerations, and Mary Robinette Kowal and Dave Wolverton/David Farland join Dan and Howard to discuss the topic. Appropriately, this episode was also filmed by Moses Siregar III of Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing, and the video is up . The most recent WARBREAKER annotation covers Siri bullying Treledees and getting her hair color under control. It also explains something about the God King's tongue that's a big spoiler to anyone who

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses Podcast Award Nomination, Worldbuilders Charity Drive + Updates

Writing Excuses has been nominated for a Podcast Award in the Education category. We're up against stiff competition from the likes of Radio Lab and Grammar Girl, so if you think we'd be a deserving recipient, go over there and vote. Apparently you can vote once every day, and the voting deadline is Wednesday, December 15th, at midnight. In the most recent episode of the aforementioned award-nominated podcast, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, and I offer writing advice to our younger selves, includin

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses Parsec + A MEMORY OF LIGHT Excerpt

In the most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode, Mary, Howard, and I help Dan brainstorm ideas for a military thriller short story. The working title is "I.E.Demon" and you can hear us hash it out. This past weekend, at the Parsec Awards ceremony at Dragon*Con, Writing Excuses was awarded the Parsec for Best Podcast about Speculative Fiction Content Creation. We're honored! And at Worldcon we came up short in the Hugo voting for Best Related Work for the second year in a row, losing to The E

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses Nominated for a Hugo Award

First off, there's a new Warbreaker annotation that covers Vasher sneaking into the God King's palace. It also talks about why one character doesn't just kill another character. This week's Writing Excuses episode, season 5 episode 34, covers story bibles. Dan, Howard, and I talk about different ways to collect the background information on your story that you need in order to keep things straight as you're writing it (or the sequel). Give it a listen. The big news is that the previous season

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses & Writing Video

Just a quick update today. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is another brainstorming episode. This time Mary, Dan, and I help Howard brainstorm for a comic. Though apparently the end result was a failure! Check it out. I've also uploaded another , the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. Enjoy.Source

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses & Stormlight Archive writing video

Just a quick post today. The newest Writing Excuses podcast episode is another where we sat down with Dan's brother Robison Wells. This time we talked about writing and personal health. Give it a listen. For the fifth of my , we were able to get permission to include most of the music I listened to while writing this section. Many thanks to the artists, and do consider them when you're trying to decide what to listen to in order to set the right mood while you write! Robin Spielberg, "The O

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Writing Excuses & Stormlight 2 Developments

This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is a brainstorming session with Howard Tayler. Check it out. I've decided on a final title for the second Stormlight Archive book. Tor.com has the reveal and my thoughts. They've also announced that Michael Whelan will return to provide the cover art. And I've uploaded another . If I can finish the first draft in April, the book should come out in November. We'll know in April. I'm hard at work right now.Source

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Wrapping Up My Time Off

As I stated in a blog post in the early fall, I took the months of September–December inclusive off from major projects. I do this to give myself some breathing room creatively and work on projects I don’t have a contract for. I also like to do writing exercises, try new things, and generally relax and let myself be creative without deadlines or expectations. Sometimes the projects I work on during times like this turn out really well. Sometimes they flop hardcore. Often it’s something in betw

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Worldcon This Weekend

Worldcon in San Antonio (LoneStarCon 3) starts tomorrow. Here's my schedule! There are hundreds of industry luminaries at the convention, so be sure to check out all the great programming. World Science Fiction Convention, San Antonio Place: LoneStarCon 3 Address: Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center 200 E Market St San Antonio, TX 78205 Schedule: August 29th–September 2nd, 2013 SATURDAY 6:00–7:00 p.m., 006A Brandon Sanderson Reading SUNDAY 1:00–2:00 p.m., Autographing Area Autograp

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Worldcon This Weekend

Worldcon in San Antonio (LoneStarCon 3) starts tomorrow. Here's my schedule! There are hundreds of industry luminaries at the convention, so be sure to check out all the great programming. World Science Fiction Convention, San Antonio Place: LoneStarCon 3 Address: Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center 200 E Market St San Antonio, TX 78205 Schedule: August 29th–September 2nd, 2013 SATURDAY 6:00–7:00 p.m., 006A Brandon Sanderson Reading SUNDAY 1:00–2:00 p.m., Autographing Area Autographing: J

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Worldbuilders, Tour Dates & Updates

Pat Rothfuss's Worldbuilders charity drive runs until midnight tonight Central time. Today is the last chance to donate this year, with a good chance to win a cool donated book. The latest batch includes a signed leatherbound copy of my novella LEGION. By the way, last week's THE GATHERING STORM auction went for $300. This week's LEGION just goes into the general pool of prizes for people who donate $10 on the Heifer International page. (Each additional $10 donation gets you another ticket in th

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

WITHOUT A SUMMER + Updates

This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is called "Fake It Till You Make It" and in it Mary, Dan, Howard, and I talk about the things we do or have done to feel professional. Also, as I mentioned earlier this week, Writing Excuses has been nominated once again for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work! Our announcement on that is here. And if you missed my announcement of THE EMPEROR'S SOUL being nominated for Best Novella, it is here. Howard's Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Where to buy signed copies of THE ALLOY OF LAW + Updates

First some updates. The naming rights auction for a Stormlight (or other) character that I talked about last week ends in 38 hours, as do most of Orion's other auctions benefiting the UK charity Samaritans. My assistant Peter has put up another chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER. Quite a bit happens in this one. And he also put together another Twitter posts archive. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode features Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman talking with Mary and Dan at the

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Wheel of Time Shirts

There haven't ever, so far as I know, been official Wheel of Time T-shirts. A lot of people have asked where they can get them. Finally we have a place: Ta'veren Tees. I've got a few of the shirts, and they're awesome. (Particularly the Far Dareis Mai one.) Their press release follows. OFFICIAL WHEEL OF TIME® T-SHIRTS TO BE SOLD BY TA’VEREN TEES Fans of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time® series now have a way to wear their love for the WoT on their sleeves—literally. Ta’veren Tees is the exclu

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Website redesign launch

My website debuted a major redesign yesterday. I kick it off with a post about winning two Hugo Awards this past weekend. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/09/website-redesign-launch.html">Source</a>

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Way of Kings ebook for $2.99, Giveaway, & Tor.com Reread

Today Tor.com announced they're doing a reread for THE WAY OF KINGS. You can read the announcement here. Buy the $2.99 ebook here (DRM-free): Kindle (US)(CA) Nook iBooks (US)(CA) Kobo Dragonmount If you're not familiar with Tor.com's rereads, which they've done for The Wheel of Time and other series like the Kingkiller Chronicle, the Dresden Files, and the Malazan Book of the Fallen, it's a regular column focusing on a work in detail, broken down into small chunks of from one to a few chapt

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

WARBREAKER Annotation, Tweets, and Writing Excuses Episode on Rewriting

Tracy Hickman and Dave Wolverton once again joined Dan and Howard for a podcast episode of Writing Excuses at the recent symposium on Life, the Universe, and Everything in Provo. This time they covered rewriting. The most recent WARBREAKER annotation is almost all about spoilers from chapter 47. As WARBREAKER is the book I've released for free online, I conveniently have a link to the full text of each chapter at the bottom of each annotation page, and vice versa. So if you want to read chapter

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Videos & Updates

I donated a signed first edition of MISTBORN for an auction at Con or Bust, which helps fans of color attend SFF conventions. Check it out. The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode talks about retellings and adaptations. Believe it or not, yesterday was the five-year anniversary of the very first episode. Wow! I have a bunch of videos for you today. My friend and former roommate Earl Cahill filmed the midnight release Q&A for A MEMORY OF LIGHT from multiple angles, and has produced

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Vericon Schedule, Signing in Boston Area, ALLOY OF LAW Cover

This weekend I'll be Guest of Honor at Vericon at Harvard University. Other guests include Austin Grossman, Holly Black, Catherine Asaro, Sarah Smith, Ellen Kushner, and Delia Sherman. My schedule is below, and the full schedule is here. All of us will also be signing at the Harvard Book Store at various times on Saturday. You can come to the signings without paying to register for Vericon, but all of the readings and panels will take place in Sever Hall for registered con-goers only. The whole

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

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