Worldbuilding

Sanderson 2012.9 - Worldbuilding & Magic

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• published: 30 Apr 2016
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Brandon Sanderson’s 2012 Semester at BYU: Creative Writing, Lecture 9 This video is a mirror of the materials posted by user writeaboutdragons. I’ve linked together the parts of the lecture into a single video, and provided some notes with timestamps below. Enjoy! **Notes** 0:12 / Questions - Who chooses excerpts for books - Advice on how to process feedback from friends - Comments on humor - How do you outline a multi-book project 11:16 / Setting as a character - Character and plot need to be the core of your story - - You should still have a fantastic setting - Treat your setting like a cast of characters - - Each setting should have the same main things - - - Personality, a backstory, quirks, strengths/flaws 17:00 / Geography and maps - Key levels: World, Nations, Local setting - - If you want to be a professional writer, building this should be a few months at most - Coast lines are irregular 21:39 / Rivers - Rivers flow away from mountains and towards oceans - Rivers combine, they don’t split - They flow as directly to the coast as possible - Lakes feed out from only one place 26:55 / Mountains - Come from tectonics or volcanos, so consider thinking about your plates - Tall mountains are new, short mountains are old 29:30 / Deserts - “Rain shadow” mountains block rain to one side only - Seem to occur at the 30-deg latitudes - Remember to transition between regions 34:02 / Maps in general - Maps are optional - Publisher probably wont prioritize making a map; you can have your own made and provide - Don’t send a map with your manuscript - 1 page of line art can go for ~$500 - You should make a map for yourself if your characters move around so you can keep track of distances (even if you don’t include it) - - Note: horses don’t move much faster than people for long distances 41:00 / Notes on cities - 10 farmers needed for every 1 city dweller - 25K is a big medieval-stage city - - Food/water deliver and waste removal govern size of cities - Second city is 1/2 size of first city, third is 1/3, fourth is 1/4th - Ports/harbors need to be defensible 48:05 / Cultures - Ask a few “what if” questions about government, or religion, etc - - Gender roles (not just reversed) - - Race relations - - - Brandon says to Google “racefail” to learn about pitfalls with doing this badly, here is one result http://annsomerville.net/a-themed-summary-of-racefail-09-in-large-friendly-letters-for-those-who-think-race-discussions-are-hard/ - - Language, offenses, economics, technology, warfare, family - Pick maybe ~3 topics, and give them a few quirks each 1:00:12 / Magic systems: Sanderson’s first law - Magic is a sliding scale between “wonder” and being a “plot device” - Don’t try to solve plot problem with your magic unless you’ve let the reader understand the rules of magic - - This really comes down to foreshadowing to avoid the deus ex machina - Hard vs Soft magic: Hard means clearly defined rules, soft means not clearly defined - - Example: Wolverine has very specific super powers that we all know = HARD system - Advanced technology in sci-fi can be handled by the same rules as magic 1:16:05 / Sanderson’s second law - Limitations are more interesting than abilities - - Pick good limits to your magic, and a good cost for using your magic - These are usually the core of good conflicts with your magic system 1:20:44 / Sanderson’s third law - Everything should be interconnected - When you add magic to the mix, consider the ramifications on your cultures and world