10 Thing Brandon Sanderson Wishes He’d Known Sooner

A year or so ago, my daughter signed up to attend a “Teen Writer’s Boot Camp” at a local university. And then a pandemic happened. So, when the scheduled time came for the boot camp, it was moved to Zoom. As a result, I happened to be walking by my daughter at the dining room table as Brandon Sanderson was delivering his keynote address, so I stopped to listen.

Am I glad I did. First of all, Brandon Sanderson is a phenomenal writer, the kind I aspire to be, when and if I grow up. In addition, he is a very engaging speaker, and his advice, especially on advice, is well worth noting.

So let me share with you ten things Brandon Sanderson wishes he’d known earlier in his life, so long as it involved no time travel where he could go back and give himself advice, because he assured the audience that time travel never ends well.

[Note: I settled on calling the famed author “Brandon” below, but this should in no way be construed to mean the two of us are on a first name basis (I wish…). I was going to refer to him as “Mr. Sanderson,” but that sounded a bit too unctuous to me. For the sake of brevity, I considered using his initials, “B. S.”, but that seemed both too familiar and also prejudicial to the content of the article. So, “Brandon” it shall be.]

1) Advice can be good for some people but bad for others.

“There are as many right ways to write stories as there are writers to write them.” -Brandon Sanderson.

Brandon told a story of when he was first starting out as a writer, looking for all the advice he could lay hands on to help him figure out what to do. He said he came across some advice from Orson Scott Card, which was to plan out everything before you start writing. That way, you know the ending and all the steps along the way, which will keep the story on track and avoid meandering.

Years later, he read some advice from Stephen King, which was to plan nothing. King reasoned that if you planned out every last detail it sucked all the life out of it, because you would be so sick of the story before you started writing. [Ironic, isn’t it, that Stephen King would try to avoid an undead story?]

Which left Brandon with the conundrum of which of them was right. The answer turned out to be that both were, and neither were. Both were accurately describing the process that worked for them, but neither could express what would work for Brandon.

So, look on advice less as a secret to success that must be followed exactly, and more as an approach to try that may or may not work for you.

2) You don’t have to become a professional writer…

"I write for no other purpose than to add to the beauty that now belongs to me. I write a book for no other reason than to add three or four hundred acres to my magnificent estate." -Jack London

If you meet someone for the first time, and introduce yourself as a writer, the usual response is, “What’s your book called and when will it be published?” There is an underlying assumption that anyone who calls themselves a writer must be a professional, that is, trading words on a page for a paycheck.

What if we made that assumption about everything? Brandon asked one of the crew off screen what he liked to do, and the response came back that he was fond of golf. “So, how many majors have you won? What’s the next stop on your tour?”

Clearly, not everyone who golfs does it for a living. They simply enjoy playing golf. The same can be said for writing. There is no reason not to write for enjoyment alone, without a goal of earning a living at it.

3) …but it is a viable job choice.

"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom." -Roald Dahl

On the other side of the issue, it is also a common assumption that only one in a million writers actually make a living at it. This has not been Brandon’s experience. He said that of the 25 people in his writing class in college, he knew that four or five had become successful. That’s way better odds than one in a million.

Also, be aware that there are many writing jobs other than “novelist” that can provide a satisfying career.

4) Nobody will make you become a writer.

"I write for the same reason I breathe; because if I didn't, I would die." -Isaac Asimov

Another way of saying this is that any motivation to write has to come from within yourself. While Brandon was explaining what he meant by this advice, I was thinking of the education principle of “Inspire, not Require.” While you may be required to write an essay in school, no one is going to force you to choose writing as a career or hobby. If you want to be a writer, it’s because something has inspired you to seek that goal.

Maybe you enjoy the creative outlet. Maybe you recognize talent in yourself that you want to nurture. Writing takes effort. It is work. Whatever the reason you want to write, you have to stoke your own fire, or you will run out of steam before you get there.

5) You may not end up writing what you think you will.

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them." -Orson Scott Card

Brandon told the story of a friend of his who set out to write epic fantasy novels. He wrote quite a bit in that genre, but found that he had a hard time being satisfied with the results. One day he found himself having an animated discussion on a different topic, and he realized that he had a passion for an unrelated genre, and has become quite successful there.

Don’t be afraid to explore other areas. Write what you are excited about. If the genre doesn’t already exist, go make it.

6) Tastes vary; and that’s okay.

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.” -Moses Hadas

Writing requires skill, and skill requires practice to acquire. Hence, writing requires effort. Do not take this to mean, however, that once you have acquired enough skill to be good at writing that everyone will like what you write. Brandon still gets bad reviews, and when he does, he often looks up reviews of some of his favorite authors, like Terry Pratchett. Sir Pratchett [no chance of being too obsequious; the man has a knighthood] is an excellent writer, but not everyone likes his stories.

Don’t expect that everyone will love your stories, and don’t accept all feedback as an indication that you need to change your writing. Instead, analyze the critiques to determine if it applies to your writing skill, or is simply a difference in taste. Accept the former and work on improving, but ignore the latter.

7) That said, successful writing is usually created using techniques you should learn.

“I always think it's pathetic when writers resort to phrases like ‘Words cannot describe...’ It's the writer's job, after all, to find words that do describe.” -James P. Hogan

Writing requires skill, and skill requires practice to acquire. Hence, writing requires effort. You may have heard that before somewhere, but it bears repeating. A natural talent of expression can get you a long way, but not as far as you might think.

The work needed to become a good writer is one of the reasons you need to be inspired to write. Without that inner drive, you won’t ever get around to putting in the work.

8) Revision is a different skill from writing, but it is important.

“A successful writer is one who takes a good story they have written and makes it great.” -Brandon Sanderson.

Brandon doesn’t like revising. Instead of revising, early in his writing career, Brandon would take what he had learned and start a new book. He said that was a major reason that it was his seventh book that eventually got published. He still doesn’t like revising, but he has learned that it is a skill that is necessary to acquire right along with writing.

"Books aren't written -- they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it." -Michael Crichton

9) Determination is more important than talent.

"Make black marks on white paper. That little detail of writing is one that is neglected by almost all the aspirants I meet." -Sinclair Lewis

This advice relates to many of the themes already covered. Since it bears repeating, I will remind the reader that writing requires skill, and skill requires practice to acquire. Natural talent may determine your starting point in the level of acquired skill, but the determined writer who continues to gain skill will leave the unmotivated writer in their wake, regardless of their innate talent.

10) It doesn’t have to be fun, but it should be satisfying.

“One day I was speeding along at the typewriter, and my daughter, who was a child at the time, asked me, ‘Daddy, why are you writing so fast?’ And I replied, ‘Because I want to see how the story turns out!’” -Louis L'Amour

Writing is work, and sometimes work is no fun. Just ask Brandon how he feels about revising his stories. Fun isn’t a requirement for writing, though. It’s nice when it works out that way, but don’t quit writing simply because it’s not fun. That feeling of accomplishment you get from sticking it out to the finish line is worth all the trouble.