@@randomrick Couldn't hear the guy either. According to subs tho: In order to be in the military, one has to have a spouse slash fighting partner - but the MC is a BYU freshman and can't find his wife.
random rick basically his story premise is a military that only takes couples that fight together. And the story revolves around a new recruit that’s just starting out and he needs to find a mate.
@@Demigord I recently read a story that takes place on Earth, and it was about some 14 year old kid saving his friend from an abusive father, and it was engaging as hell. You don't need an epic fantasy world to tell a beautiful story. I encourage you to try and write one; it's an incredible experience, I think you'll find you're far more capable than you realize.
True. I'm watching this series not really for the content (which is great) but as a perfect lesson in how to structure a lecture. Interactive and full of insight.
Love the fact he's upfront about what he can and can't spell, because it really eases my mind over the idea of "because I write, I should know all the words in my language, and how to spell them."
@@Fleischygeruch wow, really? Great to know! 🙄 The point that you either didn't get - or ignored - was that being a writer doesn't necessarily mean you have to know how to spell everything. Having a dictionary or thesaurus to hand still doesn't mean you *know* how to spell these words 😜
English is a straight up nonsense language compared to many more logical and consistent ones, so I never feel too bad when I can't remember the spelling of every word.
@@Fleischygeruch yeah but at the same time do you know how many times i've heard the stupid axiom of, "if you have to look in the thesaurus, it's the wrong word?" like i get the meaning, but it still fucked with my brain HARD, for a long time.
As someone writing her first Fantasy series and can't afford to go back to school for creative writing/English, this kind of education is priceless. Thank you Brandon for sharing your knowledge.
I still haven't seen the animated series (it's next on my list) shout out to the person that called out dune. Probably my second favorite book series of all time.
13:03 "The murder happened at Comicon and it was Naruto day" *The detective is a mom* Watch in agony as she asks every person in the place if they are Naruto.
It would be fun if she had to get her nerdy brother whos a slacker or maybe her son/daughter that she's had trouble connecting with who has an extensive knowledge of nerd culture. So the detective is also a fish out of water.
Very grateful for two things: 1. Sanderson's fab lectures. 2. The positivity of the comments in this thread! It is wholly refreshing to see peoples energized and thoughtful reactions to the work of others and to see selfless and respectful sharing of opinions, jokes, and joy for writing. Thanks for the ray of light, y'all!
Yes absolutely, lol Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming! As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
Yesss I've devoured them! I love listening to people who are passionate about a subject. It makes me excited to learn and there is so much valuable information in this particular series it's hard to just watch one.
1:40 What does World Building mean to you? 6:00 World Building in the context of Sci-Fi and Fantasy 8:08 or 8:40 World Building in service of Story > Info Dumps/Ways to Conveying information in an interesting way 13:42 Pyramid of Abstraction > Showing vs Telling > 22:04 >Grounding you into the World First/Through the Eyes of a Character > Mistborn/Ways of Kings/Robert Jordan 25:19 mini Q&A. Watson/Apprentice Characters, Portal Fantasy, Journal Entries The List: Examples of World building Enhancing the Story 30:40 John Wick 33:00 Avatar The Last Airbender 38:19 Firefly 41:32 The Expanse 42:25 Dune 43:56 Physical Setting and Cultural Setting 55:39 Exercise: Enhancing Genre(/Plot Archtype) by coming up with ideas that focus on one Aspect of Setting 1:08:11 Debriefing the exercise, Pick a Narrow Focus and Interconnect them
Thanks for this list! Im also just replying here because I felt lead to share the gospel. Please consider the message I write. To anyone reading this, There is a loving God who wants to know you and save you. Jesus died on the cross and resurrected so we can be forgiven of our sins and be saved. Repent and believe the Gospel! Please consider the state of your soul. Believe in Jesus, turn away from your sin and follow Him so you may have salvation. Life is short, please make the right choice today!
I actualy put down Stormlight midway through Kalladin's apearance. (i think that is the third prologue) I was SO burned down with the other two that I just didn't care anymore. Now the problem was that that was the first time I read something from Brandon. After reading mistborn first era, the reckoners, warbreaker, elantris and a bit of mistborn era two, I begun stormlight again and it became one of my favorite series now. I understand why he says that was a big risk.
@@maddybemus3729 I've read Warbreaker at least three times and loved it. For the life of me I just can't get through like the first two chapters of Mistborn. Don't know why. After I'm done with my first GoT read thru, maybe I'll try Mistborn on audible or something.
It's interesting hearing him say this. I picked up Stormlight *after* reading (and loving) Mistborn and Warbreaker, and after reading (and hating) Elantris. I dutifully plugged my way through WoK without any sense of the "promise" of the story and then put it down and have not looked back. I have absolutely no desire to read on. I cannot for the life of me tell what the story is about, and I can't figure out why people like it (beyond simple Brandon Fanpersoning).
@@EmonEconomist basicly Kalladin it's a good character, and the storytelling it's spot on as well. The world is weird and different, it takes a while to get used to it. There are reasons for why the book starts how it does, it will pay of eventually but it's a shame, that start is a huge barrier for new comers. I would suggest to try to push yoursel through 2-3 more chapters but only of Kalladin's story, skip any other chapter, and if you are not interested yet, rest asured the book is not for you. That is how I did it, I only read Kalladin's and some of Dallanar's chapter at first, my second reading.
Just purely from a teaching standpoint it was fun to see how animated the class got when they were allowed to shout out the physical or cultural aspect of different genres, and suggest their story concepts. Really fun teaching technique to get the class involved.
The section on abstract vs concrete information is such a nugget of gold! I'm planning on using this to help me become a better DM for D&D. Notes: Concrete: all of the readers/listeners are imagining the same thing in their head. The benefits of this information is that there is less dispute or confusion among readers, and it puts them more in the minds of the characters, and less in the mind of the author. A negative is that it can slow down a story when you explain too much, often leading to boredom. Abstract: all of the readers/listeners are imagining different things based on personal biases and life experiences. The benefits are that you can easily talk about the themes in your story, and the reader can make their own conclusions about the subject. A negative is that it can feel like a lecture from the author instead of the character's point of view, and it often leads to disparity about what the author meant. - More words often equals more concrete information, less words often means more abstract. -Anytime you can use less words to make something more concrete, do it! -You should be writing in concrete terms most of the time, but the reader still needs some abstractness.
I'll argue that the peak of the pyramid itself shouldn't be a writer's goal. Neither should it be that everything is stone-cold concrete. Give the reader details to set off their imagination. Let their imagination bloom in the abstract. Resist the Urge to Explain.
Agreed. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming! As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
I agree. I full heartedly believe it shouldn't cost anything to learn a skill because that's the point of life! It would be like saying to a five year old "Oh you want me to teach you how to ride a bike? Okay give me $50." If anything I have the view that it's much more costly in the longrun not to have easy access to an education be it k-12, tradeschools or even colleges.
I'm not even a writer (just watching these videos for fun), and the part about the abstraction pyramid was so informative about communication in general.
Yea this lecture was fantastic. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming! As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
I've never wanted to participate in a lecture more - found myself wanting to ask and answer questions as I'm watching this. Very envious of the students!
The encouragement Brandon offers is amazing. A lot of literary educators teach in the manner of "don't do this, don't do that" whereas these lectures are so full of positivity. Very grateful this is publicly available.
I fell asleep, in my dream I was getting a lecture that was helping me put together some ideas for my dnd setting that I’ve been working on but was stuck on a road block of inspiration. I woke up, had to write down my ideas, and continue the lecture awake. Brandon Sanderson is so overflowing with creativity he not only helped me get past a dam of inspiration but he blew that damn apart while I was sleeping. That’s pretty bad ass. Totally random but Brandon if you read this, there’s a magic system in you revolving around sleep.
Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished.
I picked flora and mystery and then thought: what if the trees started killing people? Before I knew it I had a declining career as a filmaker. Thanks Brandon....
Well, Annihilation (2018) has something close to mysterious plants killing people... So it's not really the idea itself that is bad.. It's more likely that generic plant monster movies/ giant mutant shark/ crocodile movies are poorly written and filled with lousy CGI.
@@ReconUnPro The Happening? I think the movie was about plants releasing chemicals that was carried by the wind to kill humans because they were a poison to the earth. Not sure if I remember that exactly lol
@@starmorpheus I just looked it up and... Well, the film didn't do very well. Tbh, I think any movie that mainly focuses on plants don't really make much of an interesting story.. Man-killing plants, that's pretty much the only story where plants are the main part of the story, and it's way overused
Yea it is. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming! As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
55:06 - and yet Sanderson himself manages to get almost everything on the board into the Stormlight universe in some way or another. That's the true mark of his brilliance as a writer, being able to stuff so much into a book series without it feeling overwhelming for the reader!
I love the fact that the peeps attending the lectures are now way more confident than they were initially P.s I am referring to them completing Brandon's sentences!
I remember how impressed I was in one of the WoT books, in Siuan Sanche’s POV. They way she spoke in fishing village idioms and themes… it was so concrete and solidly placed her as a lowborn who has gone up in the world without dumping lore on the reader.
18:08 This is some excellent advice, and an interesting way of presenting this. I call this "being a Mandalorian author", because that's who taught me that there comes an ability to command respect with being a man of a few tactfully chosen words.
Heck yea. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming! As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!!
Coming to this video two years later, its interesting to hear Brandon talking about how he's never done a fast blitz release where he announces an entire line at once... before the Secret Projects happened. Also really wierd to hear someone shout out "Coronavirus destroys China's economy" as a horror idea. That must have been super early days in the pandemic before it got everywhere.
Brandon, I want to vehemently thank you for trading your knowledge for my time. Every minute I spend on your lectures is 1 day I save in writing my books.
And another excellent lecture by an amazing author. Brandon sharing his own methods is incredible. Few authors are willing to give away their secrets. Thank you Brandon!
I thought these world building episodes were going to be the least useful to me as I'm not really writing a whole fantasy world at the moment, but this was amazing to think about how the environment can impact the story, and is still really relevant for setting things in the real world. The whole series has been amazing so far!
I have always thought about worldbuilding and fantasy aesthetic in general as a way to explore the human condition in a way that emphasizes aspects the author wants to focus on. The aesthetic and world of middle earth calls the conflict between industry and nature. Its a way of exploring very human concepts in a fantastical way
More than the educational content of all these lectures, watching Brandon struggle with penmanship and spelling like I do gives me the most hope that I can write some day.
I love the fact that I'm watching this after several months of COVID, when a student suggested it as the horror theme...like bro you had no idea. None of us did.
Another way setting can influence a story: Step 1: Driving my car to work, listening to these lectures by earphones. Step 2: "Pssst....you shouldn't be doing it while driving" Step 4: "Come on, how interesting and distracting can it be?" Step 3: Hit the car in front, 10 minutes later. The end. This is pure gold, and for free. Thank you so much! Ps: We have, in Italy, romance by combat. We call it Marriage.
im doing my best to tell a story that ive had in my head for a while now and this lecture series has been really encouraging me to keep going, sorta demystifying the art
I wish more teachers and professors were this good and got people this excited. I've had a few teachers when I was younger that were absolutely amazing and got you excited to learn and made the experience so much fun because you were feeding off their excitement. Last time I was in collage courses I didn't have a single professor that seemed excited or even enjoy the subject they taught. It was all just monotone info dumps.
One of the greatest "worlds" for me has always been Starship Troopers. That novel felt so much larger than the book actually was when twelve year old me read it.
@@shinobi-no-bueno all of the movies are fun. I recently went back and powered through the book again and while I still enjoyed it some of the "size" had disappeared.
The argument for the encyclopedia entries: No matter how well you fed me that broccoli, i immediately forgot it and forgot where it came up to reference back.
I think that one of the most compelling aspects of worldbuilding in Fantasy/Sci-Fi is that it allows you to exaggerate aspects of the real world to a degree that those exaggerated aspects (or themes) can pose a much greater danger, or have a much larger impact, than they normally would. It also allows us to create contexts where a character _could_ exist (air benders can't exist unless elemental bending where a reality). This sets stakes in a story higher than you could reasonably find in a more realistic setting.
I don't know why the tax one got me so hard. I was laughing so hard. "You wake up on April 16th, the day after taxes are due... and they aren't done." True economic horror.
As for understanding the "show vs tell" rule, the book that was most illuminating to me was The Rhetoric of Fiction by Wayne C. Booth. Booth was a literary critic. Curiously his parents where Mormons from Utah, where he was born. He introduced many interesting things in that book. The basic idea of the book was the vision of writing as a form of rhetoric. Another idea was the argumentation against the dogmatic vision of that "show vs tell" rule. It was also in that book that the "unreliable narrator" was first officially introduced, or so i think. And probably most important and maybe paradoxically, it was the fact that the author of the book was an essential part of the story in the mind of the reader. I really recommend this "old" book to anyone, be it reader or writer.
Am I the only one who loves how down to Earth Brandon is? Like he can't spell some easy words. I've always thought professional writers to be on some next level. Makes me feel better about being a writer and not knowing my alphabet.
I'm with you. I always get confused about which end of the pencil is the eraser and which end is the other thing and your comment made me feel much better about myself
Hahaha I'm a journalist and still mess up "i before e". The point is telling the story and honouring either the idea or the reality behind it (depends on if you're a fiction or a non-fiction author). Spelling is of course important but it is really such a small part of what makes language, and all the things you can do with it, so wonderful. A few mistakes are okay here and there. the point of spelling is so it's easier and quicker for other people to understand what you've written. It's a tool, not the whole point.
44:22 46:22 cultural 48:11 Tolkien 53:33 worldbuilding quickly Can combine w hyper descriptions of random things to help get iceberg effect and feel like world is super developed + give yourself sense of wonder cus you don’t know either = Skyrim 1:08:18 Don’t need to worldbuild everything to make amazing deep story Most of the time your not gonna be telling readers any of it anyway because it’s vomiting info on them And increases learning curve and make sit hard to want to read But you can make amazing worlds and stories by focusing on 1-2 worldbuilding element s Like haikyuu just sport worldbuild + action adventure which then goes into smaller worldbuild points of the schools, culture etc but main worldbuild is the sport How it’s played, diff tactics, the bracketing, teams, divisions, champions, etc And feels so immersive 1:08:55 1 of them done really well is better than doing 5% of all of the worldbuilding elements ------ 55:39 example w 4 genres of stories First is action adventure + climate 59:00 mystery + fashion 1:02:11 romance + military structure 1:05:11 horror + economics --- 1:09:03 his example of storm light And how he applies this & Utilizes iceberg effect by then focusing on the sub topics of worldbuilding that relate closely to main worldbuild topic of weather And goes into heavy detail on these minor things, so that when reader sees this they think hes done this with everything and the readers imagination then creates the rest 1:10:14 then main topic into another sub topic worldbuilding element 1:10:40 using each worldbuild topic to ask relating questions “How does this (developed topic) effect (new worldbuild topic)?” -- 1:13:10 Explanations for worldbuilding don’t matter so much as much as making it feel real and grounded Afterall we’re ready in fantasy and magic just say it’s magic But the execution of it, making it feel real is the art of writing and worldbuilding and expose
My favorite world building is the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The Land is a beautiful and wonderful place. But he really makes the Land exquisite by the characters that populate it. Moram's dignity, Foamfollower's laughter, Elena's extremity all make me love the place more and hate what Despite is doing to it.
Thank you so much for putting up this lecture series. I don’t go to BYU - likely never will - but even if I did, this would be the best way for me to come to this material myself and learn about it. Exceptional.
My favorite nugget of wisdom: Your setting can be broken down into bullet points, created into scenes, then melded into the story just like a character. Wow. aAAAAnd now I’m thinking about when the TARDIS became an actual woman.
I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum, worrying about not building my world in enough fields, and I'm reassured that I don't actually have to dive in detail into fashion, economics, geopolitics, and all that stuff.
6:33 7:22 worldbuilding disease 9:22 info dump without being boring is skill Do through eyes if chars that exemplifies the char and as side effects tell people about the world ---- Grounding world through characters below is how to get reader to care enough to then talk more about the world 13:55 is one way, building a interesting easily visualized, solid foundation for reader to see, to then do some dialogue on top of it 21:30 making reader care about big event or ideas, through something similar but smaller affecting the beloved characters 22:26 example 23:05 cuts first fight scene because would need to explain a lot o worldbuilding and he knows not right time 23:22 way of kings he threw it at you from the start, because of a few reasons And it was a risk he as willing to take for some people to drop it cus learning curve too high 24:44 Robert Jordan great at describe a char through they talking about things
00:00 Semana de Construção de Mundos: Por que você quer aprender a construir mundos? 05:57 A construção do mundo deve servir à história e aos personagens 19:29 Coloque seu leitor em um mundo que pareça muito real. 25:39 Comece histórias de fantasia com um personagem alcançando um objetivo por meio de magia, baseado em suas motivações. 37:04 A construção de mundos aprimora a narrativa ao criar um universo indiferente e transformar o cenário em um personagem. 42:23 Uma construção de mundo eficaz requer atenção aos cenários físicos e culturais. 54:06 Terceira Lei de Sanderson: concentre-se em melhorar a história com pontos de construção de mundo. 59:07 Usando moda e construção de mundo para aprimorar uma história de mistério 1:08:00 Escolha um foco específico para sua história e interconecte-o para criar uma fantasia épica ou ficção científica. 1:13:24 Aplausos durante uma aula
I'm not going to lie, I almost put the WoK down for good. The prologue just really didn't do it for me. Luckily, my brother, who had recommended it, convinced me to go a little further. Honestly, nothing really landed for me until the Heretic chapter, where Challan's motivations are revealed. That's where the story started to get interesting for me, and I've loved it ever since.
Honestly this guy is the first Mormon I've ever heard of that doesn't immediately give me bad vibes . What a professor ! Excellent stuff , thanks sm for making this resource available to the general public !
I am here to implore anyone who hasn't read Mistborn, or any of the sanderson books mentioned in the series, TO DO IT. YOULL REGRET IT if you don't, he talks a lot about them as examples and they work amazingly well as tools to understand some of his points, especially in worldbuilding in service of the story AND characterization. Mistborn was such an interesting read, a unique magic system and a story that feels new, original and pristine even 30 years later. Read it before it anyone spoils it, you'll love it. So, so worth it
29:00 I was about to say Tamara Pierce had a steep learning curve, but then I realized that that was only because my local library didn't have most of the books so I started with Daja's book, which was the third in a series of four...
I really wish I could take one of your classes one day! @Brandon Sanderson I just loved all of the classes you uploaded here and are helping me write my own story! thanks for this.
So true about the low star reviews for Way of Kings. I put it down after a few chapters the first time. I put it down after the first arc the second time. But the third time reading it I was already somewhat familiar with the world due to the first two attempts at reading it that I was able to enjoy the story more and my god did I love it...
I'd say relating to the apparent power of these characters and how the worldbuilding affects that, that every time you see an extremely powerful bender, it showcases just how much potential and power Aang has with his ability to master all four elements. By extension it showcases how powerful Lord Ozai must be. Throughout the story, the inherent rule is that Aang has to master all four elements and potentially even the Avatar state in order to even compete with this man, and he's just a firebender.
I tried and failed. I had my writing program, and I watched all your videos about a year ago, and I kept writing and all my world-building ended up in large groups of paragraphs that made no sense. I finally thought maps are good maybe I should draw a map, and that wasn't very good. I kept daydreaming and actually writing was not happing. Finally, I bought a program called campfire, and that was what I needed. Everything you suggest has a card for it, and it's wonderful for staying organized. So I redrew my map and found my two-year day-dream had given me enough idea I filled an entire world, and then some. Who knows maybe I finish my book before I am 50.
The key point in this lecture is that the first priority is good characters, then second is a good plot, and that setting/world is third and only works when it supports and enhances the characters and the plot.
1:05:08 Can you imagine having Brandon Sanderson tell you “That’s a good idea, you should write that story”? Like shit dude, now I really gotta
No doubt. It sounds like a great premise for a story too.
what did he say? i didn't understand this dude because of shitty speakers :D
@@randomrick Couldn't hear the guy either. According to subs tho: In order to be in the military, one has to have a spouse slash fighting partner - but the MC is a BYU freshman and can't find his wife.
random rick wddoddd wdppdd
random rick basically his story premise is a military that only takes couples that fight together. And the story revolves around a new recruit that’s just starting out and he needs to find a mate.
By the way, this man is not only a genius author, he's a brilliant educator with wonderful inflection, masterful pacing, and positive examples. Bravo.
Yeah, I don't have a creative bone in my body, so I can't use this, but highly recommend it to those who do
@@Demigord I recently read a story that takes place on Earth, and it was about some 14 year old kid saving his friend from an abusive father, and it was engaging as hell. You don't need an epic fantasy world to tell a beautiful story. I encourage you to try and write one; it's an incredible experience, I think you'll find you're far more capable than you realize.
True. I'm watching this series not really for the content (which is great) but as a perfect lesson in how to structure a lecture. Interactive and full of insight.
All of that and then he goes ... climate .. fk do I really need to spell that ... xD
As a prffessor I find he's a bit scatterbrained, but he's an author first and that's invaluable.
"My real life is boring" probably my favorite answer
Kevin Golinveaux Aha, and it was said so deadpan.
Escapist fantasy in a nutshell
Love the fact he's upfront about what he can and can't spell, because it really eases my mind over the idea of "because I write, I should know all the words in my language, and how to spell them."
Omg me too! I’ve wanted to write for a long time, but I haven’t because I’m not a strong speller.
It's almost as if online dictionaries and thesauruses exist.
@@Fleischygeruch wow, really? Great to know! 🙄
The point that you either didn't get - or ignored - was that being a writer doesn't necessarily mean you have to know how to spell everything. Having a dictionary or thesaurus to hand still doesn't mean you *know* how to spell these words 😜
English is a straight up nonsense language compared to many more logical and consistent ones, so I never feel too bad when I can't remember the spelling of every word.
@@Fleischygeruch yeah but at the same time do you know how many times i've heard the stupid axiom of, "if you have to look in the thesaurus, it's the wrong word?"
like i get the meaning, but it still fucked with my brain HARD, for a long time.
As someone writing her first Fantasy series and can't afford to go back to school for creative writing/English, this kind of education is priceless.
Thank you Brandon for sharing your knowledge.
Well I work with individuals in the publishing industry and can say that politics and agendas are a miniscule part of it.
my best wishes to u
Shout out to the guy who said Avatar: the Last Airbender and everyone went AWWWWW YEEEEEEEEAAAAAH
I still haven't seen the animated series (it's next on my list) shout out to the person that called out dune. Probably my second favorite book series of all time.
@@lefty411o so I'll be the one to ask then I guess. What's your first?
@@nvwest Stormlight Archive
@@lefty411o awesome :)
Avatar tLAB is the best thing ever brought to the screen.
13:03 "The murder happened at Comicon and it was Naruto day"
*The detective is a mom*
Watch in agony as she asks every person in the place if they are Naruto.
Lol, Now that’s a Comedy Mystery.
The killer was seen....."running" away. XD
It would be fun if she had to get her nerdy brother whos a slacker or maybe her son/daughter that she's had trouble connecting with who has an extensive knowledge of nerd culture. So the detective is also a fish out of water.
I'm a mom who is 200+ episodes into Shippuden!
Very grateful for two things:
1. Sanderson's fab lectures.
2. The positivity of the comments in this thread! It is wholly refreshing to see peoples energized and thoughtful reactions to the work of others and to see selfless and respectful sharing of opinions, jokes, and joy for writing. Thanks for the ray of light, y'all!
Has anyone else become swiftly addicted to these videos?
Me and i’m not even a writer
Yes absolutely, lol
Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming!
As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
Yesss I've devoured them! I love listening to people who are passionate about a subject. It makes me excited to learn and there is so much valuable information in this particular series it's hard to just watch one.
oh yeah. I watch all his other stuff too. he's sooo funny.
1:40 What does World Building mean to you?
6:00 World Building in the context of Sci-Fi and Fantasy
8:08 or 8:40 World Building in service of Story > Info Dumps/Ways to Conveying information in an interesting way
13:42 Pyramid of Abstraction > Showing vs Telling >
22:04 >Grounding you into the World First/Through the Eyes of a Character > Mistborn/Ways of Kings/Robert Jordan
25:19 mini Q&A. Watson/Apprentice Characters, Portal Fantasy, Journal Entries
The List: Examples of World building Enhancing the Story
30:40 John Wick
33:00 Avatar The Last Airbender
38:19 Firefly
41:32 The Expanse
42:25 Dune
43:56 Physical Setting and Cultural Setting
55:39 Exercise: Enhancing Genre(/Plot Archtype) by coming up with ideas that focus on one Aspect of Setting
1:08:11 Debriefing the exercise, Pick a Narrow Focus and Interconnect them
Doing the Lord's work
Thank you, Victoria.
I definitely don't understand the angle brackets.
Thank you so much 🙏
Thank you!!!
Thanks for this list! Im also just replying here because I felt lead to share the gospel. Please consider the message I write.
To anyone reading this, There is a loving God who wants to know you and save you. Jesus died on the cross and resurrected so we can be forgiven of our sins and be saved. Repent and believe the Gospel! Please consider the state of your soul. Believe in Jesus, turn away from your sin and follow Him so you may have salvation. Life is short, please make the right choice today!
"Avatar: The Last Airbender"
-*Everyone liked that*
Even me, who has only watched the first seven episodes and assorted clips.
I actualy put down Stormlight midway through Kalladin's apearance. (i think that is the third prologue) I was SO burned down with the other two that I just didn't care anymore.
Now the problem was that that was the first time I read something from Brandon. After reading mistborn first era, the reckoners, warbreaker, elantris and a bit of mistborn era two, I begun stormlight again and it became one of my favorite series now.
I understand why he says that was a big risk.
When I got into Sanderson's books, everyone told me to read Mistborn and/or Warbreaker first for this exact reason
@@maddybemus3729 I've read Warbreaker at least three times and loved it. For the life of me I just can't get through like the first two chapters of Mistborn. Don't know why. After I'm done with my first GoT read thru, maybe I'll try Mistborn on audible or something.
@@mattkhourie4037 The Mistborn audiobook is really good. That is how I experienced it and I loved it.
It's interesting hearing him say this. I picked up Stormlight *after* reading (and loving) Mistborn and Warbreaker, and after reading (and hating) Elantris. I dutifully plugged my way through WoK without any sense of the "promise" of the story and then put it down and have not looked back. I have absolutely no desire to read on. I cannot for the life of me tell what the story is about, and I can't figure out why people like it (beyond simple Brandon Fanpersoning).
@@EmonEconomist basicly Kalladin it's a good character, and the storytelling it's spot on as well. The world is weird and different, it takes a while to get used to it.
There are reasons for why the book starts how it does, it will pay of eventually but it's a shame, that start is a huge barrier for new comers.
I would suggest to try to push yoursel through 2-3 more chapters but only of Kalladin's story, skip any other chapter, and if you are not interested yet, rest asured the book is not for you.
That is how I did it, I only read Kalladin's and some of Dallanar's chapter at first, my second reading.
Just purely from a teaching standpoint it was fun to see how animated the class got when they were allowed to shout out the physical or cultural aspect of different genres, and suggest their story concepts. Really fun teaching technique to get the class involved.
The section on abstract vs concrete information is such a nugget of gold! I'm planning on using this to help me become a better DM for D&D.
Notes:
Concrete: all of the readers/listeners are imagining the same thing in their head. The benefits of this information is that there is less dispute or confusion among readers, and it puts them more in the minds of the characters, and less in the mind of the author. A negative is that it can slow down a story when you explain too much, often leading to boredom.
Abstract: all of the readers/listeners are imagining different things based on personal biases and life experiences. The benefits are that you can easily talk about the themes in your story, and the reader can make their own conclusions about the subject. A negative is that it can feel like a lecture from the author instead of the character's point of view, and it often leads to disparity about what the author meant.
- More words often equals more concrete information, less words often means more abstract.
-Anytime you can use less words to make something more concrete, do it!
-You should be writing in concrete terms most of the time, but the reader still needs some abstractness.
I'll argue that the peak of the pyramid itself shouldn't be a writer's goal. Neither should it be that everything is stone-cold concrete. Give the reader details to set off their imagination. Let their imagination bloom in the abstract.
Resist the Urge to Explain.
Two Sanderson Lectures in a week? Easily the best thing that has happened this week.
And his panel with Dan where he read a chapter of Stormlight 4.
Don't forget the much anticipated Apocalypse Gaurd that he and Dan are collaborating on together.
@@justinclarke4180 which might never see the light of day
how long do they usually take?
Agreed. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming!
As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
Nice to be able to watch these without incurring into CRIPPLING DEBT.
I agree. I full heartedly believe it shouldn't cost anything to learn a skill because that's the point of life! It would be like saying to a five year old "Oh you want me to teach you how to ride a bike? Okay give me $50." If anything I have the view that it's much more costly in the longrun not to have easy access to an education be it k-12, tradeschools or even colleges.
"The weather disintegrating their clothes"
Are you sure that doesn't belong to romance?
XD DYING
Is that what he said? Huh.
@@williamturner6192 59:52 oh yea boi das wut he sayd
Erotica more like it.
The 'murder mystery where everyone wears masks' was a classic SF short story written by Jack Vance - Moon Moth.
I'm not even a writer (just watching these videos for fun), and the part about the abstraction pyramid was so informative about communication in general.
I'm a romance writer and this class is still very useful to me. This is just a very good writing class - scifi or not.
Yea this lecture was fantastic. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming!
As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
This came sooner than expected
Storming Beautiful
I've never wanted to participate in a lecture more - found myself wanting to ask and answer questions as I'm watching this. Very envious of the students!
The encouragement Brandon offers is amazing. A lot of literary educators teach in the manner of "don't do this, don't do that" whereas these lectures are so full of positivity. Very grateful this is publicly available.
I fell asleep, in my dream I was getting a lecture that was helping me put together some ideas for my dnd setting that I’ve been working on but was stuck on a road block of inspiration.
I woke up, had to write down my ideas, and continue the lecture awake.
Brandon Sanderson is so overflowing with creativity he not only helped me get past a dam of inspiration but he blew that damn apart while I was sleeping.
That’s pretty bad ass.
Totally random but Brandon if you read this, there’s a magic system in you revolving around sleep.
1:05:29 "The coronavirus destroys China, so the economy is in chaos"
And it comes with a plot twist!
Sigh... such a plot twist...
A never-ending plot twist.
I mean.... it was pretty obvious which way things were heading when they put scientists in charge and we put.... THAT GUY in charge.
"ironic"
When the big Chinese dam breaks, the real fun starts...
Romance by combat. "Kaguya Wants to be Confessed To" is a fantastic example of this.
Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well.
The worldbuilding is pretty good too
Honestly, we're so lucky that these lectures have been uploaded for free!
Brandon: How does Avatar: The Last Airbender use worldbuilding to enhance its story?
me: this is gonna take awhile...
Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished.
Dee Joy yes that is the prologue.
The extremely decentralized Earth kingdom was extremely interesting to me.
@@sonofthewolfguardianofthef1214 m
@@writingdee 0
I picked flora and mystery and then thought: what if the trees started killing people? Before I knew it I had a declining career as a filmaker. Thanks Brandon....
Well, Annihilation (2018) has something close to mysterious plants killing people... So it's not really the idea itself that is bad..
It's more likely that generic plant monster movies/ giant mutant shark/ crocodile movies are poorly written and filled with lousy CGI.
@@ReconUnPro The Happening? I think the movie was about plants releasing chemicals that was carried by the wind to kill humans because they were a poison to the earth. Not sure if I remember that exactly lol
@@starmorpheus I just looked it up and... Well, the film didn't do very well.
Tbh, I think any movie that mainly focuses on plants don't really make much of an interesting story..
Man-killing plants, that's pretty much the only story where plants are the main part of the story, and it's way overused
I liked _The Happening_
Did y'all watch Splinter?
This is really really awesome!
Yea it is. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming!
As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!
@@lightsandlights6983 Weird, I was doing the EXACT SAME THING! Except all my music is classically orchestrated.
55:06 - and yet Sanderson himself manages to get almost everything on the board into the Stormlight universe in some way or another. That's the true mark of his brilliance as a writer, being able to stuff so much into a book series without it feeling overwhelming for the reader!
I love the fact that the peeps attending the lectures are now way more confident than they were initially
P.s I am referring to them completing Brandon's sentences!
students/people, not just guys
I remember how impressed I was in one of the WoT books, in Siuan Sanche’s POV. They way she spoke in fishing village idioms and themes… it was so concrete and solidly placed her as a lowborn who has gone up in the world without dumping lore on the reader.
Thank you so much for making this publicly avalaible. Thank you, thank you.
18:08 This is some excellent advice, and an interesting way of presenting this. I call this "being a Mandalorian author", because that's who taught me that there comes an ability to command respect with being a man of a few tactfully chosen words.
Brandon Sanderson is the teacher I always wished I had ❤️ Awesome Lecture
Heck yea. Sanderson is incredible. I write videos on storytelling and world building, and am also slowly releasing a music soundtrack to accompany a story world I am creating. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my channel and my music there, and possibly subscribed to see what else I have coming!
As someone who also enjoys writing, it would mean the world to me. Thank you!!
Coming to this video two years later, its interesting to hear Brandon talking about how he's never done a fast blitz release where he announces an entire line at once... before the Secret Projects happened.
Also really wierd to hear someone shout out "Coronavirus destroys China's economy" as a horror idea. That must have been super early days in the pandemic before it got everywhere.
Yeah the lecture was published in early March of 2020. So Covid status was still at "if you've returned from mainland China in the past two weeks..."
Maaaaan this video really did age super well huh
I like that there are two notes on the board that say "Good" and "Shameful" that point to two sets of markers.
Two in a week? I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve such kindness but thank you sir!
We skipped the week before though.
48:56 "if your first book is pretty popular, that moves to once every 10 years. no names mentioned"
me: ROTHFUSS 🤬
That's PRECISELY who I thought.
But Harper Lee is still the champ at that...
GRRM as well...
Robert Jordan
I can’t believe this is actually a series. Thank you so much master Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson seems like such a sweetheart, and very passionate about his craft. I would love to attend these lectures in person
And here I was thinking I’d have to wait a week for part two. Silly me.
It's nice to see Brandon have trouble spelling words, he is human!
The pyramid of abstraction bit is some of the best writing advice in the history of writing
Economic horror: Monster's Inc. But make it scary
wdym, that scream collecter machine in the first movie scarred me as a kid
I bet there r scary pics of this lizard dude on deviantart
Monsters inc is scary😬
Based
Horny horror: Monster's Inc. But succubi.
Brandon, I want to vehemently thank you for trading your knowledge for my time. Every minute I spend on your lectures is 1 day I save in writing my books.
And another excellent lecture by an amazing author. Brandon sharing his own methods is incredible. Few authors are willing to give away their secrets. Thank you Brandon!
I thought these world building episodes were going to be the least useful to me as I'm not really writing a whole fantasy world at the moment, but this was amazing to think about how the environment can impact the story, and is still really relevant for setting things in the real world. The whole series has been amazing so far!
I have always thought about worldbuilding and fantasy aesthetic in general as a way to explore the human condition in a way that emphasizes aspects the author wants to focus on. The aesthetic and world of middle earth calls the conflict between industry and nature. Its a way of exploring very human concepts in a fantastical way
More than the educational content of all these lectures, watching Brandon struggle with penmanship and spelling like I do gives me the most hope that I can write some day.
I love the fact that I'm watching this after several months of COVID, when a student suggested it as the horror theme...like bro you had no idea. None of us did.
I just read the Broken Earth series and it has some of the best world building I've ever seen.
I subscribed because I learned more in six hours than I did in a year watching other lessons. Bravo!
Another way setting can influence a story:
Step 1: Driving my car to work, listening to these lectures by earphones.
Step 2: "Pssst....you shouldn't be doing it while driving"
Step 4: "Come on, how interesting and distracting can it be?"
Step 3: Hit the car in front, 10 minutes later.
The end.
This is pure gold, and for free. Thank you so much!
Ps: We have, in Italy, romance by combat. We call it Marriage.
Brandon Sanderson a day, awesome book not far away
im doing my best to tell a story that ive had in my head for a while now and this lecture series has been really encouraging me to keep going, sorta demystifying the art
Wow, this will actually help a lot with my worldbuilding. Thanks for the great lecture! I will now go forth and build some worlds.
I wish more teachers and professors were this good and got people this excited. I've had a few teachers when I was younger that were absolutely amazing and got you excited to learn and made the experience so much fun because you were feeding off their excitement. Last time I was in collage courses I didn't have a single professor that seemed excited or even enjoy the subject they taught. It was all just monotone info dumps.
You’re spoiling us at this point Brandon! I’m so grateful for these videos ❤️
One of the greatest "worlds" for me has always been Starship Troopers. That novel felt so much larger than the book actually was when twelve year old me read it.
I always preferred the first movie to the book.
@@shinobi-no-bueno all of the movies are fun. I recently went back and powered through the book again and while I still enjoyed it some of the "size" had disappeared.
Never thought I’d get to be in a writing class. This is marvelous.
I love that these are here, I feel very fortunate to be able to watch these like this!
The argument for the encyclopedia entries:
No matter how well you fed me that broccoli, i immediately forgot it and forgot where it came up to reference back.
Love that respectful call out of Patrick Rothfuss
I think that one of the most compelling aspects of worldbuilding in Fantasy/Sci-Fi is that it allows you to exaggerate aspects of the real world to a degree that those exaggerated aspects (or themes) can pose a much greater danger, or have a much larger impact, than they normally would. It also allows us to create contexts where a character _could_ exist (air benders can't exist unless elemental bending where a reality). This sets stakes in a story higher than you could reasonably find in a more realistic setting.
Thank you so much to whomever captioned these lectures!
I don't know why the tax one got me so hard. I was laughing so hard. "You wake up on April 16th, the day after taxes are due... and they aren't done." True economic horror.
Thanks for making these accessible! Your classes have been incredibly helpful 💛
I appear to be the only one cursed with the knowledge that Thomas and Friends has worldbuilding lore second only to The Lord of the Rings
Animorphs bro......animorphs.
Really?
G-unit
@@TomorrowWeLive it has crazy extensive lore
you're not alone, brother
As for understanding the "show vs tell" rule, the book that was most illuminating to me was The Rhetoric of Fiction by Wayne C. Booth. Booth was a literary critic. Curiously his parents where Mormons from Utah, where he was born.
He introduced many interesting things in that book.
The basic idea of the book was the vision of writing as a form of rhetoric.
Another idea was the argumentation against the dogmatic vision of that "show vs tell" rule.
It was also in that book that the "unreliable narrator" was first officially introduced, or so i think.
And probably most important and maybe paradoxically, it was the fact that the author of the book was an essential part of the story in the mind of the reader.
I really recommend this "old" book to anyone, be it reader or writer.
Am I the only one who loves how down to Earth Brandon is? Like he can't spell some easy words. I've always thought professional writers to be on some next level. Makes me feel better about being a writer and not knowing my alphabet.
I'm with you. I always get confused about which end of the pencil is the eraser and which end is the other thing and your comment made me feel much better about myself
I can't spell as an English teacher🤣
Hahaha I'm a journalist and still mess up "i before e". The point is telling the story and honouring either the idea or the reality behind it (depends on if you're a fiction or a non-fiction author). Spelling is of course important but it is really such a small part of what makes language, and all the things you can do with it, so wonderful. A few mistakes are okay here and there. the point of spelling is so it's easier and quicker for other people to understand what you've written. It's a tool, not the whole point.
"My vampires aren't like these other vampires"
Looking directly at you, Twilight.
My vampires are not like the others is the trope now.
oh my god they're so quirky
Other vampires: Scary/Mysterious/Creepy
Twilight: Sparkling
I love to collect hobbies. So I have been forcing myslef to write a short story after i watch each episode. Thank you so much Mr. Sanderson
I've watched these about 10 times now. Great to revisit when you are stuck.
44:22
46:22 cultural
48:11 Tolkien
53:33 worldbuilding quickly
Can combine w hyper descriptions of random things to help get iceberg effect and feel like world is super developed + give yourself sense of wonder cus you don’t know either
=
Skyrim
1:08:18
Don’t need to worldbuild everything to make amazing deep story
Most of the time your not gonna be telling readers any of it anyway because it’s vomiting info on them
And increases learning curve and make sit hard to want to read
But you can make amazing worlds and stories by focusing on 1-2 worldbuilding element s
Like haikyuu just sport worldbuild + action adventure which then goes into smaller worldbuild points of the schools, culture etc but main worldbuild is the sport
How it’s played, diff tactics, the bracketing, teams, divisions, champions, etc
And feels so immersive
1:08:55
1 of them done really well is better than doing 5% of all of the worldbuilding elements
------
55:39 example w 4 genres of stories
First is action adventure + climate
59:00 mystery + fashion
1:02:11 romance + military structure
1:05:11 horror + economics
---
1:09:03 his example of storm light
And how he applies this
&
Utilizes iceberg effect by then focusing on the sub topics of worldbuilding that relate closely to main worldbuild topic of weather
And goes into heavy detail on these minor things, so that when reader sees this they think hes done this with everything
and the readers imagination then creates the rest
1:10:14 then main topic into another sub topic worldbuilding element
1:10:40 using each worldbuild topic to ask relating questions
“How does this (developed topic)
effect
(new worldbuild topic)?”
--
1:13:10
Explanations for worldbuilding don’t matter so much as much as making it feel real and grounded
Afterall we’re ready in fantasy and magic just say it’s magic
But the execution of it, making it feel real is the art of writing and worldbuilding and expose
Literally just put my hand up at a question, I’m that immersed 😆
My favorite world building is the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The Land is a beautiful and wonderful place. But he really makes the Land exquisite by the characters that populate it. Moram's dignity, Foamfollower's laughter, Elena's extremity all make me love the place more and hate what Despite is doing to it.
Thank you so much for putting up this lecture series. I don’t go to BYU - likely never will - but even if I did, this would be the best way for me to come to this material myself and learn about it. Exceptional.
It would be fun if Brandon actually writes the book about Elvis and killer penguins as one of the fun relaxation projects. =D
My favorite nugget of wisdom: Your setting can be broken down into bullet points, created into scenes, then melded into the story just like a character. Wow. aAAAAnd now I’m thinking about when the TARDIS became an actual woman.
This is one area where I often go too far, so learning to narrow the scope of things like this is extremely helpful.
I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum, worrying about not building my world in enough fields, and I'm reassured that I don't actually have to dive in detail into fashion, economics, geopolitics, and all that stuff.
I like the energy of the class and the info is amazing!
6:33
7:22 worldbuilding disease
9:22 info dump without being boring is skill
Do through eyes if chars that exemplifies the char and as side effects tell people about the world
----
Grounding world through characters below is how to get reader to care enough to then talk more about the world
13:55 is one way, building a interesting easily visualized, solid foundation for reader to see, to then do some dialogue on top of it
21:30 making reader care about big event or ideas, through something similar but smaller affecting the beloved characters
22:26 example
23:05 cuts first fight scene because would need to explain a lot o worldbuilding and he knows not right time
23:22 way of kings he threw it at you from the start, because of a few reasons
And it was a risk he as willing to take for some people to drop it cus learning curve too high
24:44 Robert Jordan great at describe a char through they talking about things
Brandon Sanderson is an excellent teacher!
Surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.. thanks for two vids in a week
00:00 Semana de Construção de Mundos: Por que você quer aprender a construir mundos?
05:57 A construção do mundo deve servir à história e aos personagens
19:29 Coloque seu leitor em um mundo que pareça muito real.
25:39 Comece histórias de fantasia com um personagem alcançando um objetivo por meio de magia, baseado em suas motivações.
37:04 A construção de mundos aprimora a narrativa ao criar um universo indiferente e transformar o cenário em um personagem.
42:23 Uma construção de mundo eficaz requer atenção aos cenários físicos e culturais.
54:06 Terceira Lei de Sanderson: concentre-se em melhorar a história com pontos de construção de mundo.
59:07 Usando moda e construção de mundo para aprimorar uma história de mistério
1:08:00 Escolha um foco específico para sua história e interconecte-o para criar uma fantasia épica ou ficção científica.
1:13:24 Aplausos durante uma aula
I'm not going to lie, I almost put the WoK down for good. The prologue just really didn't do it for me. Luckily, my brother, who had recommended it, convinced me to go a little further. Honestly, nothing really landed for me until the Heretic chapter, where Challan's motivations are revealed. That's where the story started to get interesting for me, and I've loved it ever since.
It's Shallan bro. And I get it. It took a while but now it is easily my favorite series
Honestly this guy is the first Mormon I've ever heard of that doesn't immediately give me bad vibes . What a professor ! Excellent stuff , thanks sm for making this resource available to the general public !
I am here to implore anyone who hasn't read Mistborn, or any of the sanderson books mentioned in the series, TO DO IT. YOULL REGRET IT if you don't, he talks a lot about them as examples and they work amazingly well as tools to understand some of his points, especially in worldbuilding in service of the story AND characterization. Mistborn was such an interesting read, a unique magic system and a story that feels new, original and pristine even 30 years later. Read it before it anyone spoils it, you'll love it. So, so worth it
29:00 I was about to say Tamara Pierce had a steep learning curve, but then I realized that that was only because my local library didn't have most of the books so I started with Daja's book, which was the third in a series of four...
The Butlerian Jihad is like the greatest background event ever created in science fiction
I really wish I could take one of your classes one day! @Brandon Sanderson I just loved all of the classes you uploaded here and are helping me write my own story! thanks for this.
Hey Brandon, love your work in the book, AND in the classroom! I feel blessed to have access to these courses. Ty for being you.
So true about the low star reviews for Way of Kings. I put it down after a few chapters the first time. I put it down after the first arc the second time. But the third time reading it I was already somewhat familiar with the world due to the first two attempts at reading it that I was able to enjoy the story more and my god did I love it...
It makes me so happy that I'm not the only author who can't spell to save his life.
7:35 I agree COMPLETELY, some writers overexplain their environments and it really takes away from the setting, rather than adding to it.
I'd say relating to the apparent power of these characters and how the worldbuilding affects that, that every time you see an extremely powerful bender, it showcases just how much potential and power Aang has with his ability to master all four elements. By extension it showcases how powerful Lord Ozai must be. Throughout the story, the inherent rule is that Aang has to master all four elements and potentially even the Avatar state in order to even compete with this man, and he's just a firebender.
Love the fashion concept of everyone has to wear face masks. Perhaps this lecture was more than sci-fi instruction, but is actual Prophecy!
i would gladly give it two likes. kelek, that's inspiring! and even makes me less afraid of my stupid improfeciency in english spelling. thanks!
I tried and failed. I had my writing program, and I watched all your videos about a year ago, and I kept writing and all my world-building ended up in large groups of paragraphs that made no sense. I finally thought maps are good maybe I should draw a map, and that wasn't very good. I kept daydreaming and actually writing was not happing. Finally, I bought a program called campfire, and that was what I needed. Everything you suggest has a card for it, and it's wonderful for staying organized. So I redrew my map and found my two-year day-dream had given me enough idea I filled an entire world, and then some. Who knows maybe I finish my book before I am 50.
The key point in this lecture is that the first priority is good characters, then second is a good plot, and that setting/world is third and only works when it supports and enhances the characters and the plot.
@@DavidSharpMSc but always remember the zeroeth rule: err on the side of awesome (: