Sanderson the prolific writing man

[Danica]

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/1186/State-of-the-Sanderson

Jon posted this in the chat and as i have been away a few days very busy with life outside of reading, i just saw it.

HOLY SHIT that man has a plan ... what is like .. a million books/novellas on his to do list???

"But part of the reason I'm so productive is because I allow myself freedom to work on different projects, instead of being beholden to one series"

This when I think about it makes sense, when I have a head of work to do i work that this ^^ also, bits of everything else I go insane. I just can't fathom how he even gets anytime to be with his family? Think he may burn out one day??

 

[Amaryllis]

Just because he has something on his to do list doesn't mean he'll actually ever get around to doing it, or that it won't be 8+ years before some of those come out if he does. I have like 40 ideas, and how many do you think are written? Obviously, the fact that writing is actually his job, whereas for me it's just my dream job, means he's more likely to hit more points off his list than I am given current circumstances. But still.

 

[Arya Stark]

Well then, he is quite prolific. He must drink 5 cups of espresso with a shot of Redbull every morning!

 

[Laurentius]

Think he may burn out one day??

I haven't actually met Brandon, but I read most of his facebook/twitter updates and his blog every so often. He comes off as one of the most caring authors I've read stuff of off. He's very consistent in his updates to fans through facebook/twitter and his blog.
He does random "Brandalyzing" whenever he gets a chance and posts it to any lucky people (on facebook) who might be in the area. He invites people to come play magic the gathering with him whenever he's on a tour in a new city too.

I'd like to think that if he ever feels like it, he will just take the time off. The Stormfather knows he deserves it. If not, I'm sure his better half will make sure to make him take some time off!

I don't think there's a chance he'll burn himself out. He has posted a blogupdate like this a few times since he was first published, and he sticks pretty well to it, time permitting. As Amaryllis said, we might not see some of these in the near future, but I have faith in Brandon and think we'll see almost all of the books published. Has he written a book with bad sales yet? (must be a publishers dream to work with this guy right here!)

To me it seems like he has a masterplan with his Cosmere universe and has most (if not all) of the basic ideas for other world/stories down already. He just has to get around to writing em.

 

[João Ribeiro]

Danica, thanks for the link!
Sanderson is my favorite author and I'm quite fascinated with his cross series Cosmere plan. Regarding his writing speed, I think the man probably has a high work ethic and pattern and I think he doesn't suffer from writer's block very often. I hope he doesn't burn out because as far as I can tell he is getting better each book and even dabbling in YA he can still put out great quality.

 

[Sneaky Burrito]

Well then, he is quite prolific. He must drink 5 cups of espresso with a shot of Redbull every morning!

You'd think. But a lot of Mormons (at least all the ones I've met, which is a fair number) avoid caffeine entirely.

 

[Arya Stark]

Ah I had no idea the man was a Mormon.

 

[Hand of Fear]

Think he may burn out one day??

I think this will be a good a topic to discuss in another thread , how often to authors get burned out and if they do do they ever recover from it ?

 

[sarumaniac]

"But part of the reason I'm so productive is because I allow myself freedom to work on different projects, instead of being beholden to one series"

I agree with this completely. Abercrombie wrote this on his blog when he announced the YA trilogy that he is writing.

Though I’m very happy with and proud of the result, Red Country was a difficult book to write. I felt at times somewhat uninspired. Somewhat burned out. I really didn’t want, as I had every time in the past, to go straight on to working on the next book in the First Law world right after finishing one. I felt the need to step back, recharge the batteries, try something at least a little bit different

Maybe we should make GRRM write a random solo book so he can get on with the rest of ASOIAF.

 

[Sneaky Burrito]

I agree with this completely. Abercrombie wrote this on his blog when he announced the YA trilogy that he is writing.

Though I’m very happy with and proud of the result, Red Country was a difficult book to write. I felt at times somewhat uninspired. Somewhat burned out. I really didn’t want, as I had every time in the past, to go straight on to working on the next book in the First Law world right after finishing one. I felt the need to step back, recharge the batteries, try something at least a little bit different

Maybe we should make GRRM write a random solo book so he can get on with the rest of ASOIAF.

He spends so much time editing those Wild Card books, it amounts to the same thing.

 

[Arya Stark]

I was in BAM the other day and saw wild card volume one. I considered grabbing it but I wasn't sure if it would be worth the time. I also saw a book by GRRM that had freaky or freaks in the name. If I hadn't had red country and heroes in my hand I'd have bought them.

 

[Riposte]

So what exactly are the "Cosmere" books? I've never heard about it until now.

 

[Laurentius]

So what exactly are the "Cosmere" books? I've never heard about it until now.

All his books, Mistborn, Way of Kings, Warbreaker and soon (except a few books) are set in the same universe, Cosmere. Sanderson has written some mmythology and what few scraps he has released to us can be found at a wiki page.

But it goes something like this. Once there was one god. Some event makes the god split into 16 shards. These shards are thrown into the universe of Cosmere, where they land on different planets/worlds. Sometimes it will be two opposing shards, like Ruin and Preservation (Mistborn), and sometimes it'll be a single shard.
These shards are picked up by a humanoid "wielder" which becomes somewhat of a god themselves, with the power and abilities of said shard.

Youcan find much more here: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Cosmere

It's all connected man!

 

[Danica]

GRRM write a random solo book so he can get on with the rest of ASOIAF

he does a heap of anthologies. I don't think it's much writing but a lot more organising as he he the editor on quite a few.

 

[Lev Daert]

pre-orders are out for a new book of his, set in the infinity blade universe (game)
e book only I thought.

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/1195/Infinity-Blade-Redemption-Pre-Order-Starts-Today

 

[TCSimpson]

The man is my idol.

 

[moonspawn]

HOLY SHIT that man has a plan ... what is like .. a million books/novellas on his to do list???

His plan is to keep on writing and get as much done as he can. So far he has exceeded exponentially at that. I just wish he would focus more on Stormlight Archives since I'm really excited to see the awesome places he takes that story. I agree with Amaryllis that it'll take way over 20 years to complete all that. Some of it will likely never be written, but with the speed he writes I'm not so sure. You don't need to write a sequel to everything. That's ridiculous.

 

[Hand of Fear]

Elantris is the first book of his that I'm reading, really like his writing style and the first chapter with Raoden really sets up the mood and the tone of the book I could almost feel myself walking through the streets of Elantris myself.

Will be good to see how everything ties up with the three protagonists and how it all fits together later on.

 

[moonspawn]

Elantris was the first book I read by him too. I read it on a road trip to the grand canyon. Great memories. Wait until you read Mistborn.... it blows Elantris right out of the water.

 

[Frizzo0133]

Elantris was the first book I read by him too. I read it on a road trip to the grand canyon. Great memories. Wait until you read Mistborn.... it blows Elantris right out of the water.

Mistborn blows allot of modern fantasy out of the water, lol.

I did the same thing as well, I heard about him finishing the WoT and wanted to know who in the hell had the nerve to try and do that so I grabbed Elantris, which I liked just fine but I wasn't convinced that he was the man for the job.

Then I read Mistborn, followed quickly by Well of Ascension, finally followed by a massive reader hissy fit that I had to wait a couple of months for Hero of Ages, lol.

Now anytime I hear he's got a book coming out I just go and buy it blindly the day it comes out just because I know that Sanderson wrote it and there is about a zero percent chance that I won't enjoy it immensely. Of course that habit can get a bit costly, lol, what's he up to at this point this year? Four books with Steelheart and the new Infinity Blade novella, the man is a Smurfing machine! If he decided to take a couple of years off at some point I'm not sure I'd hold it against him, well at least until I did the math on the delay of the next Stormlight book release...