How Long Did the first draft Take

[Link he/him]

Hey,

A friend of mine are debating how long it took Brandon Sanderson to write the first draft of The Way of Kings. I swear there was an interview somewhere, but I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know how long it was or where that interview was?

Thanks in advance.

[FlashWrogan he/him]

There isn't really one interview that I ever remember reading where Brandon outlines his entire process and timeline for The Way of Kings Prime, but here are some quotes that give you a good idea. 

 

The Alloy of Law Q&A notes that Brandon first created Dalinar when he was 14 or 15

This interview in 2010 with 17thshard notes that he started work on the original version of Kaladin in 2000

This interview estimates that his original draft was done in 2002 or 2003.

[Link he/him]

Thanks for that. I swear in an interview somewhere it only took a few months at most for the most recent version, but I might be inventing things in my mind and assuming Brandon is even more of a machine than he already is.

[Rubix he/him]

It's a very difficult question to answer, and it really isn't a good benchmark. He wrote a book called "The Way of Kings" (he now refers to it as Way of Kings Prime) before Elantris was published which was much shorter than it is now (it was about 306K words vs over 380K). He then spent the next eight years doing worldbuilding and editing. The first reference to a rewrite I can find on his blog is in May of 09. He then finished his rewrite two months later, so I'm not sure if it really only took him that long. He's good, but rewriting that much in two months with Sundays off is 7300 words per day. Also, with the rewrite, there was a major change to the plot regarding a choice Kaladin made before the story began, so his plot was VERY different in PRIME. Plus what Flash said... It's a really tough question. If Peter gets on, he'll have a better answer.

 

http://brandonsanderson.com/blog/784/Another-Long-Winded-Explanation-of-Various-Things

http://brandonsanderson.com/blog/803/DONE?m=1&y=2009&d=4

[Link he/him]

Already asked Peter on twitter and he said it's best to ask Brandon himself. I know he's super busy though, so I don't care if I don't get a reply haha

[Rubix he/him]

I noticed. I also noticed that you tweeted us.  

 

If you want to ask Brandon, he'll be doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit on the 15th of this month. No guarantee that he'll answer, but it's worth a shot.

[Link he/him]

Thank you so so much! It just came out of a discussion I was having with a friend and I'm trying to convince myself I'm not going mad and making things up lol