How Do You Keep Your Drive to Get Published in the Wake of Failure? - Brandon Sanderson
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2021
- This is a short segment from my 2021 Creative Writing Lectures at BYU. If you want to watch my lectures in their entirety, you can watch all of my 2020 lectures here: • Lecture #1: Introducti...
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Brandon has no idea how many future authors will grow up on his lectures. God bless you for making these available for free
Brandon, if you're reading this, you're amazing.
Underrated comment
Never even read his books but he's been a great voice throughout writing my first novel.
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Jean-Luc Picard
I'm not a writer, but still love the content.
You just don't know it yet.
Maybe you would write something someday! I mean the content on this channel is great and some advice applies to other stuff too.
I was a fan of sanderson before I even read one of his books
Ah, the chaotic good 😂
@@---nu4ed best players never skip texts
So, he talked for 7 minutes, but all I heard was:
"Journey before destination."
Good one.
That is Perfect.
YES
Love it
Lol, "I've never been in a bar" I get how that feels talking to people is hard.
"Why are you so quite?" - my favorite question to get asked. "Why are you so loud?"
I too, have never been in a bar and I'm well over the drinking age 😂
My first time in a [proper] bar (as a patron, not the child daughter of the cleaner who had full access to certain areas when no-one else was around....) was when I was doing my hospitality course.
What's your biggest fear?
Regular students: snakes? spiders?
Creative writing students: *starvation.*
Your message, Brandon, reminds me of the message in Pixar's film "Soul." Especially the scene at the barbershop when the main character believed his barber was so talented, he was born to become a barber--and discovers that his barber didn't aspire to become a barber. In fact, his barber had wished to become a vet. Life can throw you curveballs and your aspirations may change. It doesn't mean that you should not write. Only that you might do a great many other things, on your writing journey. In fact, it can only make your writing richer in the end to have gone through all those different jobs and life pursuits.
I really needed this video. I have always been terrified of being forgotten so part of me wanting to be a writer when I grow up is because I want a legacy and to not be forgotten. I have always felt like the forgotten friend and person in every group and/or gathering. Writing is the only thing I can see myself doing at the moment. I have no other skills in computers, science, math, sports, law, engineering, cooking, or anything. Writing is the only thing I'm okay at and I have no other hobbies that I feel like I could turn into a business or career. I stress myself out all the time over not writing every day even though I'm just a 16-year-old high school student who needs to be focused on school and doesn't have a full career as a writer yet. I've just gotten myself stuck in this loop of perpetually stressing myself out over writing and becoming emotionally exhausted over it. So thanks, Brandon. I needed this video today.
You can do it! I know 16 might not feel like it, but you've got tons of time to figure out what you want to do for a living. If you were 24 and still didn't know, you might have a problem, but if you're 16 you've got a couple more years. Your career doesn't define you or your happiness.
@@scotwilcox1771 Thanks. I find myself hitting writer's block a lot in both school writing and personal writing. I just have a massive struggle with perfectionism.
I'm 25, and still working on finishing my first book. You've started the journey early. Just keep a daily writing habit. And read other writers works, jot down techniques. You'll make it. You've started early.
Hey, I'm almost 37 and I've only really just matured enough to start trying to publish. Don't sweat it too much :)
May the force be with you 😎
And relax.
Our mind is such an egoist that it grabs on to whatever good is in our life and tries to juice it out for good, in order to create an identity around it. And I can sense that you are trying to create your identity around writing. And the problem is that the mind is like a finicky diva who wants to possess every shiny new thing, asap. It may happen that you stress yourself to work on developing your craft so much that you might end up in the 'burned out' zone and then you might start to hate writing because it isn't giving your mind the identity it craves for.
And by the way, the legacy part will be taken care of. No man dies without leaving a legacy of some type.
We also want to realize that there are also options to self publish as well. You may not be successful, however it IS possible to be published. If you don't get a novel published, you may be able to get a novella or short story published. :) As cliche as it sounds...you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. If you don't try, then you won't make it.
Brandon has it right, even if it's a small niche group that likes your stuff, that's still a success. I have a small group of friends that genuinely enjoy my writing, and even though it's not a published work, it's still satisfying. It's the same reason we all sit down to play D&D, sometimes the act of story telling is the enjoyable part, not the publishing portion.
Loving the process rather than pining for a result is also a good mindset to have to not burn out on gym going/healthy eating and stuff like that.
The easiest first step is to start thinking of yourself as a person who engages in the process: "I'm a writer", "I'm a regular gym-goer" etc.
I had to take over my aging parents business and I have cared for them (my father passed away in 2018) but between running their business and giving them extra care, I have an Aunt who asked me "Do you ever find time to get away? Take a vacation? " and I told her: "I do. I write on a sci-fi novel Ive been working on since 1994 whenever I need to escape. (Which is similar to 'me playing Barbie dolls' without the physical dolls & accessories) I call it "grown-up safe Barbie escapism." 😁 Every time I book a real vacation I end up canceling it, so I am content with my writing escape!"
But in all honesty, my friends who have read chapters of my unpublished 'thing' have begged me to at least make it available for people to read online. But I can't send something that I care for to (what seems a bit like) a meat-grinder of criticism right now, because I have real responsibilities that don't need me feeling defenseless. Right now I just enjoy the escape to my private undisclosed island.
I forget Sanderson said this quote or not, might've been King, but it's "in the writing world, you have to kill your babies."
You've been working on a book for almost 30 years and it's not finished. Probably time to move on to another work, my guy.
Very good advice for life and not just writing
This is one of those things that's hard for me because i literally have no interest in anything else but writing. I can't see myself going to law school or doing computer programming or any of that if i don't make it, and even if nothing ever happens, of course i'd write anyway, but again, the problem is i have interest in nothing else, and that's where I begin to have some sort of existential crisis.
I never liked to write, but one day I had a dream of a scene in my head. It inspired me so much that I began to learn and practice how to write and started developing a whole fantasy story around this dream. Wish me luck guys. My biggest inspirations for writing is george rr martin and Brandon Sanderson.
and where r u at your prject now? revision? brandon also hates the revision time :D
@@tigerpilz1 Currently working on a outline and working on character ideas. I have been practicing writing the prologue and early chapters. I need to work on the magic system though. But I see alot of potential in the story I have been coming up with. I might work on other smaller scale stories first before I fully commit because I dont want to mess up this story.
My awakening was in a shower.
@@abdoul5176 why do you sleep in the shower? kind of dangerous... but now seriously... what did you wake up in yourself?
@@tigerpilz1 😂 it's all good. What I meant by my "Awakening" was how, just as I was starting to take a shower, I was greeted with strong imagery about a fictional story about a galaxy wide conflict involving many different factions that was oddly specific and particular. When that happened I just knew I wanted to write.
By far my favorite Author and storyteller.
I apply his words with all forms of art
I want to write in order to get the ideas in my head out in circulation. I hate the process, but I've written and published 11 chapters with between 1000-1400 words each on an light novel app... Hopefully I can learn to love writing itself by the time I finish the story. I already feel good each time I post, so my goal is to find joy in every step
Probably find a different outlet for what you do. Sounds like you have prolific story telling, writing sounds like the wrong form of art in your case
Edited: I think
Learning to enjoy the process is the hardest part for me as well but I noticed everytime I write I have a sense of satisfaction I wouldn't have if I didn't try.
@@abdoul5176 then keep it up 👍 don’t shy away from different outlets though, don’t pigeonhole yourself
What is this app you mentioned? Sounds like something I might be interested in
Hey, i also love to create theses stories. i play many scene by myself when i am alone at home. I love plotting, writing is "okay".
and yeah, Brandon said often he hates the revision and so i do... its like reading the same book 999 times and u knew at first round what happening... I think my (and maybe yours) perfect dream would be to make movies like we can write books.
But where do u get the actors, equipment and so on... here in germany i am very dissapointed from the moviemaking. no budget, no passion - gues i am a hollywood-victim.
So seems like i wont get the chance in next time to make my stories real. so i could do only the plotting and let the Stories die in my drawer?
I tried to answer you and now i am also asking you something... sorry hehe :D
Well, I've written 3 short stories and posted them in Wattpad and Webnovel, not much readers but putting them out there is success enough for me, for now. 😎👍
i'm going to lose my MIND i need the full thing!!!!
I make video games but your content has been incredibly helpful for me. I just wanted to say thank you.
Definitely going the self-publishing route.
PLEAAAAAAAAAASE post the full classes. :(
I have had this coming to heart with myself and my writing group but it’s still good to hear. Thank you!
I'm coming at it from the other direction
I just started writing my first (maybe only?) series.
I'm going to self-publish and release them all at once (spaced out to give people time to read, but the last one will be complete before I release the first one)
If I get mainstream success, awesome
Not what the appeal is for me
I fell in love with the idea when I realized I could do every step of the process myself if I want
And no one has the authority to make me change anything
I've never had that level of control in anything of substance I've done
I write ✍️ because it makes me happy and it’s one hobby I know that I will continue for my entire life even if I don’t go professional.
This guy is pure gold!
I did not expect a shoutout to the HU.
This advice is a soothing balm for my soul. You are right, I love writing. Thank you, Doc Sanderson. :-)
Fantastic! Brandon always has the words I need. Love all the videos!
I LOVE coming up with stories so so much! I'm doing it my whole life. During my younger years, I was basicly doing nothing else. The idea, that I might never be able to share all this with the world is really scary for me. Because my desire to create something people enjoy is so big.
I hate this about life. That not everyone is able to do what he/she loves.
I still gonna write and I gonna give it my everything! I wanna get there - I want to get published and I'am convinced I am able to do it!
And to all of you trying too: Keep trying! Don't let anything push you down! You can do it, if you love it!
I can say this, as someone who started writing as a hobby in my late teens.... the older you get, the better you get. People in their early 20's simply don't have the wealth of life experience and insight into the human condition (through no fault of their own, it comes with time), and it shows in their writing. I'm a perfect example of this. I look back at the stuff I wrote when I was 21, and I cringe. At the time, I thought it was brilliant. Not necessarily because I was a bad writer, but because my vision of the world was naive and narrow. Now, 20 years later, with a lot of experience, practice, introspection, and a lot of READING in a variety of genres, I've finally finished the first book of a dark fantasy series I started two decades ago, and have started the process of hunting agents. While I know the writing itself is of publishable quality, it's hard to know if the story is sellable/marketable. We'll see... That's the part of publishing that's a crap-shoot. A lot of it is subjective. The key to retaining my sanity has always been that I'm writing because I want to. I've never had the mindset that becoming a published author is be-all, end-all. That's also the reason I won't self-publish. The way I see it, if nobody else will publish it, it's probably just not good enough. And I'd rather remain unpublished than shoehorn trash into the market.
The Outsiders was written by a teenager.
@@AmeliaOak there are always rare exceptions
@@blackhawksfan2525 I know, I was just saying lol
Eragon was written by a teenager too, but I wouldn’t call that book amazing. Just alright.
@@AmeliaOak I would have to imagine the author only got better with time though.
@@GroundbreakGames well sure, hopefully so.
thank you Brandon as an aspiring novelist in my fifties I needed to hear that.
Great advice for Screenwriters as well. TY, Brandon!
Yep, I definitely had to decide that I'd be writing whether or not I ended up earning a living. Which is good. A decade in, I definitely don't. Still working on the networking, and that's decidedly the most exhausting part of the process. Thankfully, that seems to be getting a lot easier to do online. Thanks for the brutal honesty!
This speaks to me on a spiritual level.
Fortunately the online sphere provides other options for aspiring writers and artists.
It's tricky, but there's a lot of Room in online circles to create a community that loves your art and writing.
That being said, everything Brandon said is true.
This really helped thank you.
Perfect timing in my life👌
great advice sir!
Throat singing is AWSOME
That The Hu reference made me chuckle. Although, Tenggar Cavalry have been making waves too haha
Great advice
Loved last year's class! Are you going to be posting this year's class, too?
Thankfully I do have a good backup-plan: I am a chef! Like that is my dayjob! And that is extremely liberating! That means I can write whatever I want without having to think about making money from it, I get my money from cooking!
I mean sure, I would love if I could write an amazing bestseller that would blow open doors and make me a household name! And I do try to write everyday and work on something everyday! But I need to pay my bills somehow. And I enjoy cooking, and it's a job that requires me to be active. I mean imagine if I had a job as an accountant where I would be sitting at a desk all day and then go home to sit at another desk!
And I have had to take a serious look at what constitutes as "success", because I know people who are good writers, who have written a lot of good yarns. But all of a sudden they gave up because it didn't sell. If you ask them why they aren't writing they'll usually reply "Well, it didn't sell so I was just wasting my time". Yuck, I wanna go "Mind your language!" :D
So I have adjusted my own goals and thought "I am simply going to write the best possible book I can write. And after that I will do it again. And again."
And I'll send them out and if they do get picked up by a publisher, GREAT. But it cannot be the end-goal!
Besides.... That would explain why I know authors in my country who only published ONE book and then vanished. Their goal was achieved, their mission was over: They could put "author" on their resume.
You goddamn lucky stiff XDDD
But seriously, I love your mindset about this. I'm still looking for something besides writing I care about enough to get good at, because I don't want my sense of self-worth as a writer (and, person) to be tied to whether my books sell either. If I can make a career at doing this, like, f yeah! But fundamentally, my goal in life is to write stories I love and not die in a gutter; as long as both those bases are covered, I reckon I'm fine.
@@iiiiitsmagreta1240 "care about enough to get good at", well I am not a great chef, but eh, it pays the bills.
You're very lucky to have another passion that brings with it a safe career. Many of us can't say the same.
A reference to The Hu! Awesome!
I thankfully decided to write cos I enjoy it a long time ago, if it turns into a career great but I'm not going to help myself getting worked up about it.
Of course I feel like some people would argue if I wanted to get published that badly I wouldn't write the stuff I do
My goal:
Pay off college debt or get a writing job
I WILL DIE ON THIS ROCK 💀
Glad you realise they're mutually exclusive
@@nicholasmedich7493 Funny, I literally paid off my 35k student loan with my writing/comics.
@@littleripper312 what do you write?
Good advice👍👍
Even if you only make a few hundred dollars a year from your books, that's still a nice Christmas bonus.
I've written 4 complete novels, and published nothing. I desperately want to publish because I desperately want to add my work to the pool in the world, but man the fear of failure is crippling.
Go for it, start sending them around. At least failing to publish won't cause any public shame :D
I work in a slaughter house, I don't like it. While at the back of my mind I know that ill die of old age still working there. I love writing my stories and dreaming about being published.
You are not helping, my friend.
@@MRJTD99 not helping what?
Hi Brandon, I realise this is probably a huge longshot but - with the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance getting the UK cover designs released in hardcover this year - do you know if they'll be selling any more Oathbringer with the UK cover designs in hardcover? I'm desperate to get my hands on one!
Also I appreciate the work you do to build other authors up! Your interaction with us and your fans is really great! Thank you!
Can we get the full things please
Thanks for narrowing down the pool a bit 😏
I write for myself, I always have. I do want to make a living from my writing eventually, but long ago I accepted that it might not happen and I am OK with that. I will always write, whether it be short stories (my main focus), screenplays, Comic scripts etc because I love the Craft and the feeling of creating something from nothing.
Besides, if I stop writing for a few days I get 'itchy,' haha, so it's a need as much as a passion. I'm a storyteller. Success for me is enjoying the stories I write and feeling fulfilled finishing each one.
maybe you have an advice for me. i also love to create stories, their world, their monsters and charakters.
i could plotting stories all day.
writing is okay for me, but revision... i have no patience.
My love for plotting leads me often to long stories...
@@tigerpilz1 The best advice I can give regarding revision is to take your time and to try work on your patience. I understand it can be tedious going over a piece you've finished, especially when you have another idea burning inside (happens to me all the time haha).
But it does make the work better in the long run, so I would advise you to learn the patience necessary to revise.
That being said, don't feel compelled to spend months (or years) on revisions, only do as much as you feel is necessary then let the work out into the world.
In case you are interested, one pro writer I like who gives solid advice is Dean Wesley Smith. He talks about revising and other topics of the Craft on his blog. His advice is great and has helped me a lot with my own process.
@@matthewgordonpettipas6773 oh yeah this dammit thing with patience :D but i should know... after the first completing book, i will get a kind of routine between writing, outling and revision.
Now i am at my first project and yea--- a big project... that beat be back.
now i am on revision and started a smaller project...
thank you very much :)
Engineering student here: 10% is quite accurate
Damn that intro is beautiful :0
Hey. I need some advice.
I grew up with a talent for creative writing, which I nurtured from childhood through to my late teen years, and then for university went to law school because I was advised that I had the qualities to become a lawyer and creative writing wasn't likely to earn me a living. I then struggled with studying law for 12 years, never truly enjoying it, at points almost giving up, but carrying on because of "being pragmatic", not wanting to lose the time invested, the prestige of the profession, etc. During that whole period I'd wonder about the creativity I used to have but left behind. Eventually, I came to the realization that I didn't want to spend my life practicing law and would like to try resuscitate my creative writing ability---at the age of 31.
Is this too late to switch from a career that's all about convention and conformity to one that involves creativity and imagination? Can creativity wilt to the point of death from years of neglect?
How do you get in Brandon’s class?
But when will I'm Making a Mess with the Papers Vol. 4 come out?
are the 2021 lectures not gonna be recorded?
id like to know if starsight is gonna have a continuation
I've never heard the term 'one of the 15', what does it mean?
What does he mean by one of the 15? Publishing companies?
There are only 4 publishing houses for traditional book publishing, known as the Big 4. There were 5 but Simon & Schuester was just sold to Random House. 1/15 writers will make writing a pro career.
@@RYAN-xn9tz Ah, thank you
I'm just here to ask for the Rythamist part 2.
Nice
On the topic of Mongolian throat singing, I highly recommend the Drinking Song by Hanggai. ua-cam.com/video/m6WBtzsqbbU/v-deo.html
What I wanna know is, how do you determine if you're just hopeless and should quit?
Have you even started? Can you link us to some of your work? If not then you haven't actually tried so how can you quit?
@@littleripper312 what a badass question. my respect, wish u the best.
@@littleripper312 I'm not talking about getting published. I'm talking about being good at writing.
Not everybody writes for a publishing contract, or for other people's praise. I just want to do it for myself, but most of the time it feels like I only have the desire to write, but not the talent.
So I often wonder, where is the point, where you just admit you don't have the talent required. Because to me it feels like that I already got the theory of it all down, I know what works and what not in theory, I have my ideas, I have a gigaton of notes, and so forth, but in the end, what it all amounts to in the end, is pretty sub-par, at least by my standards. So yeah, having tried for years as well as having read, watched, listened to all kinds of things about the art of writing, I kinda feel like I might be at the point of facing the truth that learning the theory is one thing, actually possessing the ability to be a good writer is quite another and no amount of effort and training will change that if you don't have the talent to go hand in hand with your efforts.
Honestly, I feel like the more I learn about the theory of it, the more I realise how bad I am at this. It gives me a better understanding of why I suck, but it doesn't actually improve my skills at all. If that makes sense.
Basically, at this point, I can look at my books and pinpoint exactly that "Oh, yes, that's why that doesn't work", or "this part would need X and Y things to happen", but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to actually fix the mistakes. So it does feel a lot like the talent part for writing is missing. Kinda hard to explain. It's like knowing all the moves in martial arts but being totally unable to actually perform them.
So it would be useful to know, how a talented writer would judge if someone is truly just wasting their time with their efforts, since that's a topic nobody every talks about.
A video about that topic would be nice, but I guess it would be too much of a downer for most viewers.
@@unitron2005 I work full time as a comic book artist/writer and I have well below average talent. You wouldn't know that others were more talented than me because they don't put their work out and disappear after a few months. My skill also grew over the years and will continue to do so. Talented people used to scare me but I've seen it a million times now.
You say you only want to write for yourself however I have a feeling that's only partially true. Are you scared of peoples opinions and feedback? Are you defensive of your writing? Don't assume readers are dumb and their reactions are useless to you. Their feedback has been incredibly valuable to me over the years and you learn with time how to filter them. You can still write for yourself while posting it somewhere suitable. People often make fun of the fan fiction writers on wattpad or other sites however some of them have more experience and skill than many aspiring writers simply because they sit down and write a chapter every week or two.
Stop learning and worrying about theory. Read/watch stories and write stories. It's as simple as that. You're disorientated because you're doing the equivalent of trying to learn tennis from a book. Sure you need to learn some things but really you need to get on the bloody court at some point.
Have you ever heard of the Dunning Kruger effect? Here is a link to a wikipedia on it, I have a feeling you might be on the part of the curve where the better you get the less confident you feel in yourself. You may feel like you are not very good but you are likely better than you think and I agree with Butterfly that reading and watching vids can only go so far, just write more and your skill will improve. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
I like to think of writing as getting to play the lottery for free.
Just consider that we now think of George RR Martin as being up there in terms of mainstream success with the likes of Stephen King or JK Rowling but Martin only really became a household name in his sixties. And at one point well before he started Ice and Fire he wrote a book that, while good (in my opinion), sold so poorly it nearly ended his professional career.
Everyone who does get success gets it at different ages to others.
Stories like his (and other successful people in history) make me feel better about not having gotten published in my early 20's like I'd planned. :)
Hey everyone! How're you doing? What're you working on?
A short novel about an old dragon that gets trapped in a cave with a young prince who came to slay him. Through many tribulations, trials, and overcoming obstacles that nearly break him, the young prince learns how to be a great king, and ironically still ends up killing the dragon even though he came to be friends with the creature, who shares stories and wisdom with the boy during their time together, before the princes men finally are able to free the prince. He returns to his kingdom and deals properly with his fathers passing, takes the throne and rules as he was born to, not the way he felt expected to.
@@DarknEx666 Damn, that's intense
Thanks
I am writing a short story about a hunter in a snowy forest for my English project (My mother language is Turkish). It's a character story according to Mary Robinette Kowal and it's gonna be my second work. What about you?
@@mckarahan326 that sounds fun. Balancing words when in the same region for extended periods of time. Knowing when to drop those hints of dazzle and spark is fun.
I'd like to self publish novels for free. I write for the love of it, not for a living. Is this bad because people might think I don't value my own work?
There is actually very successful and awesome Mongolian throat singer youtube guy, ahah.
A few hundred fanatical people can give you a living income if you put out a few hundred bucks worth of content per year.
THE HU
#Writingcommunity will turn their 1st novel into a bussiness
Yuve Yuve Yu
Hello there
General Kenobi
GENERAL KENOBI!
General Kenobi
What is the “fifteen?”
I think it's another percentage, because he talked about the "ten" concerning the percentage of those in a writing class that become published
i'm buying your t.
I think he's being too humble. If you took all 4 books of Stormlight (or any 1 of them) and dropped them onto an editors desk, you cannot convince me he wouldn't get picked up. Sure, a few may reject it but certainly at least 1, if not many, editor would pick it up. He broke in with Elantris, but tbh, I thought Elantris was boring! And if that was his 11th (or so) book, I'm betting his previous were even more boring. But he's now progressed to be one of the best fantasy writers of all time. So I think yes, market taste certainly play a big part, but I think it's a matter of skill. If you've got the skills to tell phenomenal stories, it's only a matter of time before you're found and loved.
Come on, Brandon. If you're gonna think big, it's worth thinking really _big_ ... I mean really, really big. Like 150 years. Or 1000 years... okay, maybe not _that_ big.
Hah! First!
first!!!