Brandon Sanderson has not joined FLAPSS and has not endorsed it. This page is a reference record assembled from published interviews and public remarks. Every answer below is a direct quotation with the source and date shown next to it.
Novelist
United States · b. 1975
Brandon Sanderson ’s novels include the Mistborn books, The Stormlight Archive , The Rithmatist , Steelheart , and his most recent bestseller Starsight , book two in the Skyward series, among others. He completed the final volumes of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series and is published in 35 languages. Brandon also teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He recently launched a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign for The Way of Kings 10th Anniversary Leatherbound Edition.
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Well, art is never finished, it’s only abandoned, right? That famous quote. A project is done when I feel that I can’t make significant improvements to the story, I’m only going to start taking sideways steps. If I revise it, it doesn’t get better, it just gets different.
Recorded Margot Atwell, The Creative Independent, 8 March 2022 source ↗
It’s different for every project for me. Books are a combination of character, plot, and setting. And every book I write, I could point out and say, oh, there was the first idea . Usually they’re growing separately , a couple ideas for the plot, a couple seeds for characters. An idea for a magic system or a governmental structure. Those will be growing independently in my notes file. I know I have a book when these different elements start to meld together in my brain, and change each other in interesting ways. I’ll start to say, all right, these two ideas belong together. Here’s this character who belongs in this plot. Is there a setting that I’ve been developing that also enhances this?
Recorded Margot Atwell, The Creative Independent interview, 8 March 2022 source ↗
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