The Forgetful Archivist he/him Posted March 28, 2017 Posted March 28, 2017 I need to give a informative speech on Brandon Sanderson for school and thought to myself who better to ask than those of the 17 Shard. Any information you have is welcome, however in my speech I'm trying to put emphasis on Mr. Sanderson's style of writing and life rather than the specifics of his books. Thank you all for your help, - The Forgetful Archivist 1
Farnsworth Posted March 28, 2017 Posted March 28, 2017 Well, if I were doing this (so basically you may want to ignore this) is talk about how he does his world building. That's among the coolest aspects of his writing, I think. Also, he discusses this all the time in Writing Excuses.
Djarskublar he/him Posted March 28, 2017 Posted March 28, 2017 Welcome to the Shard. I assume you have been a lurker for at least a bit. I think you could just look up some of his signings and such because he talks a lot about his writing process in those. They are easily the most common questions asked of him. To actually be helpful, I would discuss how unique his worldbuilding is, as @Figberts suggested. For his life, I would be sure to mention that he wrote 13 books before he got any published, and the one that got published was the 6th-- Elantris. Maybe mention that even though some of the books are pretty large, they are well paced so that you hardly notice the length for how well he sucks you in. I would mention how many books he has published (I don't know the exact number, and it would depend a bit on how you count them).
CaptainRyan he/him Posted March 28, 2017 Posted March 28, 2017 (edited) This might be of some help - it is Brandon describing how he became a writer. Edit: Added the correct link (I think) Edited March 29, 2017 by CaptainRyan
Ward Posted March 28, 2017 Posted March 28, 2017 Ooo oo! Sanderson's Laws are a good one. How he designs his magic systems. http://coppermind.net/wiki/Sanderson's_Laws_of_Magic
The Forgetful Archivist he/him Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 2 hours ago, CaptainRyan said: This might be of some help - it is Brandon describing how he became a writer. The link doesn't work for me, it says I'm not authorized 1
CaptainRyan he/him Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Just now, The Forgetful Archivist said: The link doesn't work for me, it says I'm not authorized Ahahaha, I accidentally put in a link from work. Microsoft would be terribly annoyed if I let you look at that link. I put in an edit- try it now!
The Forgetful Archivist he/him Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 12 minutes ago, CaptainRyan said: Ahahaha, I accidentally put in a link from work. Microsoft would be terribly annoyed if I let you look at that link. I put in an edit- try it now! Do I need to do anything other than click it, when I do I get the same message. 1
CaptainRyan he/him Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 1 minute ago, The Forgetful Archivist said: Do I need to do anything other than click it, when I do I get the same message. Hm, perhaps I am just terrible at embedding links. Here is the full url: https://brandonsanderson.com/euology-my-history-as-a-writer/ Sorry for the trouble.
The Forgetful Archivist he/him Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 5 minutes ago, CaptainRyan said: Hm, perhaps I am just terrible at embedding links. Here is the full url: https://brandonsanderson.com/euology-my-history-as-a-writer/ Sorry for the trouble. It works! this is perfict, many thanks. 1
Fedcomic he/him Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 You might also want to talk about how many books Brandon writes (and how quickly). We have a good thread about that. Lots of info. There are also other threads where this is discussed, such as this one where his productivity is compared to other prominent writers.
Flynn Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 (edited) Brandon is Mormon. He is involved in church activities, goes to church even when on tour, if possible. At his regular church I'm pretty sure he is the gospel doctrine teacher, iirc. He got into fantasy when he was given Dragonsbane (Barbara Hambly) by his teacher when he was in school. He believes one of the most important functions of fiction is being able to see something from another point of view, and this is reflected in his writing. He strives to accurately and fairly portray multiple points view on various subjects in his books. He cohosts a weekly writing advice podcast. He teaches a creative writing class once a year at BYU. At first when he went to university (BYU) he majored in biochemistry, iirc. after a while he realised he didn't want a job in biochemistry and switched to an English major, and took the BYU creative writing class (which he now teaches himself, as mentioned above). At the time this class was taught by David Farland (aka Dave Wolverton). He is married to Emily Sanderson and has three sons. He interacts with his fandom a lot, whether on twitter, reddit, his blog, or on tour. He writes consistently for hours everyday, but he also blocks out time everyday for spending time with his wife and children. Edited April 5, 2017 by Flynn 1
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