Brandon Sanderson
I take two hours off for my family every day. And then I write fourteen hours.Collection: Family
Fantasy has had some problems with being too repetitive, in my opinion. I try to read what other people are doing - and say, 'How can I add to this rather than just recycle it? How can I stand on Tolkien's shoulders rather than stand tied to his kneecaps?'
When I write my books, actually, I'm known for very logical rule-based magic systems. I write with one foot in fantasy and one foot in science fiction.
I am a writer who works from an outline. What I generally do when I build an outline is I find focal, important scenes, and I build them in my head and I don't write them yet, but I build towards them.
Normally, I have a lot of alpha readers on my books. These are people that, once I finish a novel, I let them look at it and give me a reader response.
I love to do what I do. So, I do work long hours.
When I do research, I cast my net very widely and then snatch what feels right out of that. Occasionally I'll read a specific book for a specific book, but usually I'm trying to increase my general understanding.
My job is not to save 'The Wheel of Time', to fix 'The Wheel of Time', or anything like that. My job is not to screw it up.
You know, I was a nerdy kid going through high school, and then I got to college and that all vanished. I mean, a lot of my good friends - when we were in high school, we would never have been able to hang out together because we were in such different cliques or whatever. Now, who cares?
The more limitations you put on a character, often times the better a character you'll make them, the more interesting the story becomes because the character can't simply wave a hand and make something happen. They have to work within the framework.
Novels aren’t just happy escapes; they are slivers of people’s souls, nailed to the pages, dripping ink from veins of wood pulp. Reading the right one at the right time can make all the difference.Collection: Inspirational
A story doesn't live until it is imagined in someone's mind.Collection: Mind
And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.Collection: Strong
The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.Collection: Motivational
A man was defined not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them.Collection: Men
The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.Collection: Thinking
Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination.Collection: Journey
By now, it is probably very late at night, and you have stayed up to read this book when you should have gone to sleep. If this is the case, then I commend you for falling into my trap. It is a writer's greatest pleasure to hear that someone was kept up until the unholy hours of the morning reading one of his books. It goes back to authors being terrible people who delight in the suffering of others. Plus, we get a kickback from the caffeine industry.Collection: Morning
People can do great things. However, there are somethings they just can't do. I, for instance, have not been able to transform myself into a Popsicle, despite years of effort. I could, however, make myself insane, if I wished. (Though if I achieved the second, I might be able to make myself think I'd achieved the first....) Anyway, if there's a lesson to be learned, it's this: great success often depends on being able to distinguish between the impossible and the improbable. Or, in easier terms, distinguishing between Popsicles and insanity. Any questions?Collection: Thinking
This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again.Collection: World
Women? Women are like...thunderstorms. They're beautiful to look at, and sometimes they're nice to listen to-but most of the time they're just plain inconvenient.Collection: Beautiful
So,” Marasi said, “you traded a dead man’s scarf for another dead man’s gun. But…the gun itself belonged to someone dead, so by the same logic—” “Don’t try,” Waxillium said. “Logic doesn’t work on Wayne.” “I bought a ward against it off a traveling fortune-teller,” Wayne explained. “It lets me add two ’n’ two and get a pickle.Collection: Gun
Ah, the outdoors,' Shallan said. 'I visited that mythical place once.Collection: Said
Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.Collection: Doe
Unknowing ignorance is preferable to informed stupidity.Collection: Ignorance
If you're always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing. -KelsierCollection: Should
Joel, lad, school is about learning to learn. If you don't practice studying things you don't like, then you'll have a very hard time in life.Collection: School
...A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.Collection: Leadership
Overcome your guilt. Care, but not too much. Take responsibility, but don't blame yourself. Protect, save, help- but know when to give up. They're precarious ledges to walk. How do I do it?Collection: Giving Up
Mocking a woman is like drinking too much wine. It may be fun for a short time, but the hangover is hell.Collection: Relationship
What is belief - what is faith - if you don't continue it after failure?Collection: Belief
You could be writing the book that changes your life.Collection: Book
In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.Collection: Men
He found himself weeping. Not for the future or for the emperor. These were the tears of a man who saw before himself a masterpiece. True art was more than beauty; it was more than technique. It was not just imitation. It was boldness, it was contrast, it was subtlety.Collection: Art
If you are anything like me --- Clever, fond of goat cheese, and devilishly handsome --- then you have undoubtedly read many books.Collection: Clever
You are nothing if not exhaustive in your self-congratulatory made-up logic.Collection: Self
The right belief is like a good cloak, I think. If it fits you well, it keeps you warm and safe. The wrong fit however, can suffocate.Collection: Thinking
When men fought, they connected. You became brothers as you traded blows.Collection: Brother
I strive for nothing if not consistencyCollection: Consistency
Sing!" Grandpa Smedry yelled, his voice echoing down a hallway to the right."Sing!" If he breaks into song I think I might have to strangle myself... I thought, cringing.Collection: Song
God is the creator of all things, right? He is the force that dictates the laws of the universe, and is therefore the ultimate source of ethics. He is absolute morality... We claim to be doing good. But the Lord Ruler - as God - defines what is good. So by opposing him we're actually evil. But since he's doing the wrong thing, does evil actually count as good in this case?Collection: Law
And Vin liked solitude. When you're alone, no one can betray youCollection: Solitude
How do you 'accidentally' kill a noble man in his own mansion?" "With a knife in the chest. Or, rather, a pair of knives in the chest.Collection: Men
The look of disbelief that ran across the boy's face was somehow more disturbing than the despair it had replaced. This creature had given up hope long ago; he probably begged out of habit rather than expectation.Collection: Boys
I'm Teoish," Sarene said, successfully spearing something that looked like a marinated piece of shrimp. "We're all this tall." "Father's Teoish too, Kaise," Daorn said. "And you know how tall he is." "But father's fat," Kaise pointed out. "Why aren't you fat too, Sarene?Collection: Father
Men had always told Kaladin that he fought like nobody else. He’d felt it on the first day he’d picked up a quarterstaff, though Tukks’s advice had helped him refine and channel what he could do. Kaladin had cared when he fought. He’d never fought empty or cold. He fought to keep his men aliveCollection: Men
Raoden turned to regard the large Dula. "What does it matter? It's not like we have anything pressing to do. It's actually quite pleasant up here—you should just sit back and enjoy it." An ominous crash came from the clouds above them, and Raoden felt a wet drop splat against his head. "Fantastic," Galladon grumbled. "I'm enjoying myself already.Collection: Clouds
You're a mean old man, Your Grace." "And that is the way it should be." Roial informed. "Mean young men are trivial, and kindly old men boring. Here, let me get us something to drink.Collection: Mean
Oh, Wax has always been solemn, but when he's at his best, there's a smirk underneath.Collection: Smirk
I was thinking that work is like fertilizer in that I'm glad it exists; I just don't ever want to get stuck in it.Collection: Thinking