Lecture #3: Plot Part 2 — Brandon Sanderson on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

These lectures have helped me rationalize some writing of my own and help me to teach my own writing club genres and prose in future. Thanks Mr. Sanderson.

Hah! The promise of a heist can be broken via substitution. One of my favorite heist movies does that. It's the heist that goes all to plan, you know part of the plan and you get the rest along the way - which is part of what you described... But then they start doing things that seem out of scope and shit gets a little weird... And then you get the substitution: it wasn't about making a heist - it was all about framing another guy and getting him convicted by leaving evidence that an overthinking detective would link up in a way that incriminates the mark. Because the mark is a piece of shit (and not part of the heist team) which is abundantly shown in the prep part. It's a little romp called "Vabanque"

"It gives poor guys like me hope."
"WISH FULFILLMENT!"
Witty comeback, sir. I laughed out loud at that one.

Thank you for everything you do for the writing world! We appreciate it so much!

Was never able to solve Scooby Doo mysteries

Finally got around to listening to these series. I wished I listened earlier!

I have found your lectures to be super well spoken and informative. I am not sure how I can thank you enough, not only for the information, but for the way you deliver your thoughts. Stay epic, and keep doing big things.

omg I totally didnt realize infinity war is a heist! No wonder it was so good

This lecture helped me realize that I already have an effective outline strategy for writing music. I'm going to try to marry that to what I've learned here as I start to write fiction. Thank you!

Anyone know what a heading is?

The real irony of Sherlock Holmes is that the reader will almost never be actually able to deduce the solution because of the conceit that it is written by Watson, who is less observant than Holmes, and the end of it is almost always Holmes pointing out something that Watston (and the reader) missed.

Brandon, you are a legend. As a speed reader who has read around 1,000 books and reread ten times over that, I can honestly say you are my favorite author. Thank you for this resource as I now look to write my own novel.

i use the yes/but no/and but it's not necessarily about making things going wrong for the character. most of the buts are just little twists that make the rabbit hole of the story deeper

Thanks a ton Brandon!

Can anyone link me to the video where he dissects more of the plot archetypes? He mentions it but I'm having trouble finding it 😕

Why does the student in the white T-Shirt consistently wave his arms around whenever Brandon makes a film reference?

These lectures have been infinity helpful. Thank you brandon, this was truly a great thing you did

this is the first time ive EVER heard another author dedicate so much time to talk about HOW to outline your plots and im so glad! outlining has always been something that ive struggled with, so to get an author like brandon to just state "here's how i outline, heres an example" is invaluable. thank you for putting this series out for us to watch!!

That is so right! I knew i hated Ocean's 11 and now you explained to me why i did!

You're an amazing lecturer Brandon, keep that attitude up.

Just saying ChatGBT is amazing for finding plot archetypes

This lecture connected a lot of things together for me. Plot has been my weakness and I think it came from years of group-writing. We had a great setting, we each have our own characters but we don't plot too much. I took that to my fiction and I ended up with characters wandering around my elaborate setting (crazy worldbuilder, right here). I needed to re-learn how to outline a plot. I see why I was failing and becoming disappointed with my own story. Thank you so much.

I don’t know if this comment section is still active, but what plot archetype do y’all think is The Godfather? Im currently reading it, and I can’t figure out the plot type.

Praise the sun!

Elantris is one of my favorite books from Brandon Sanderson

Im loving the shirt choices. I believe last episode was The Dragon Prince, and now, he's got a dark souls Solaire shirt on. 👌👌

Brandon, I loved Mistborn profoundly. When they were planning the heist it made me feel like I was over your shoulder watching you write the book. I've never felt so close to the author.

I will say that for other readers having the gaps in plots swapping between characters like in The Way of Kings is a way to keep things fresh for some readers. As a person with ADHD view point swaps feel like when you described the first hour of writing isn't productive and being interrupted restarts that hour. Im with Kaladin and Syl then suddenly im with Dalanar and I think to myself "I was on Roshar and it was cool. Where is my spren?"

The fact that he's wearing a sun bro shirt let's you know he's here to help.

"for old people it's nice to remember how it used to feel"
I never thought of this and it made me super sad for some reason.
But hooray for books!

Just in case anyone wanna look up more from Campbell, its Joseph, not James.

If anyone cares to respond I have a question with no wrong answers. I'm trying to write a story (it will be animated) where I want the vibe to generally be almost like ASMR videos, very relaxed and cozy. I am not sure though how to make the scenes consistently engaging while maintaining that mood however. Anyone have any suggestions?

I totally get Brandon's approach to outlining works for him - every writer has their own approach - but I think it's one reason when I've read his books, which I've enjoyed for many other reasons (characters, world-building, structure), I nonetheless feel like the chapters are indeed always driving towards something in the scenes - the plot-based or character arc bullet points he lists here - and much more rarely do they ever seem to slow down and take in the atmosphere of their own surroundings more. I still need to check out Stormlight Archive, so that may change in that series (though as a massive series I'm not certain I will ever get to it), but from what I have read his writing strikes me as very well-constructed and thought-out in terms of the plotting, the characterisation and more structural elements, but with less room made for those special unexpected and organic flourishes to emerge that makes the stories more than just a mechanical construction, but something that is alive and breathing! After finishing Mistborn I felt very satisfied and admiring of the carefully crafted fantasy story and world, but it has not left a great impression on me in terms of its artistic resonance, and I think it is this more mechanistic approach to his writing and storytelling that is behind this lack.

It's why I think outlines are useful up to a point, as a kind of skeleton framework to work off, but they should not be a substitute for the flesh and skin of a story as well, and at least from what I've read of Brandon's work, that's the impression I'm left with. In addition, the way he writes and produces his books at such breakneck speeds compared to most writers does create that impression of a 'factory line' where volume seems just as important as overall quality. Even so, Brandon has a great deal to offer in terms of his writing craft teaching and I am very appreciative that these lectures are available freely online - I am picking up many useful points from them!

Ironically I don't write outlines . I had this conversation with company that is editing my first book , Conan Rise of the Warrior Queen, which is a 25,000 word Novella that was supposed to be the Prologue to my intended first book , Lorianah Warrior Queen. Ironically this completely changed my story I had planned out in my head . So now that is shelved while I rethink the epic but I am still starting a second book , VENPIRE. I have one common theme that was also my theme when I wrote all through high school and into my early 20s . The first thing I figure out is the very last line of the story and build up to that line .
P.S for Conan fans . My only exposure to Conan is the Robert E Howard stories 😎

Thanks, Brandon! I really appreciate your teaching

These videos have helps break down the mammoth task into smaller chunks. It has been a really great resource for some practical tools to use. Thank you.

Loved this. I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am for the fact that these lectures are available on this website for free. They are helping me tremendously to organize my thoughts and write the story I want to write.

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

"The Matrix" is a heist plot nested in a hero's journey.

Camiseta linda. Solaire é o cara.

Do Professors often get standing ovations after a lecture? Ok I might exaggerate but it seems funny to me like people have come to watch a show or performance rather than a college lecture.

when she says "see" her pitch is very close to the actual note "c". just an observation.

Every Time Brandon mentions his handwriting i get a confidence boost.
My handwriting is TERRIBLE and i know it and I don't CARE.
Because i CAN write pretty, but I have to concentrate on the process and really go letter by letter and it'd take me half an hour to make pretty what i could have laid down in 5 minutes.
As you may have guessed this is not optimal for chasing an idea that may slip your mind.
Also the School system didn't help with this either, they only criticize me while asking that I write faster and faster every year.
So thank you modern world for the alternative writing methods that I have available.
(From typing to speech to text)