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

Brandon, I’m not sure if you’ll ever see this, but thank you for making these free for us. It’s really a treat. Cheers

I'm more invested in this class than in my actual college classes

Brandon, half-heartedly: "let's do claaaaass!" Me, clutching phone, tears streaming down my face: "FINALLY CLAAAAASS"

"it gives poor guys like me hope" -random lecture student

Brandon Sanderson: "All right guys, let's do class! Yaaay! Oh boy! Class! Me, alone in my living room celebrating with a little dance: "Oh boy, class! Yaaaaay!"

I'm not even a writer, just a fan of Sanderson's works, but listening to him lecture about his craft makes me want to try writing in my spare time. What an incredible lecturer.

There's something ironic about the fact that this free writing course was preceded by an ad for a paid masterclass

I struggled for a long to time to actually get a first draft done because I didn't realize I was an extreme discovery writer. If anyone struggles with just getting words on the page, try unbridled discovery writing. Just write without concern for it being good in any way. Even if it's a total disaster, each word written and then later studied is a learning opportunity. I learned so much faster this way than by trying to plan anything. However, I also feel like this only works so well for me because I actually like revision unlike Brandon. I like going back and "optimizing" what I've done. It's like playing Factorio, learning something really cool, and then trashing your previous build to replace it with something more awesome.

Not content with being the greatest living fantasy author, Sanderson has to remind everyone what a fantastic teacher he is. What's next for him? Nobel prize in Medicine? Olympic medal in Judo? Only time will tell.

Thanks Brandon for putting these lectures up. You're helping a ton of aspiring writers. I've paid for content that's way less useful than yours. So to get all this information for free is a blessing. Cheers.

4:00 Pros of an Outline 6:40 Brandon’s Outline 10:08 Plot 35:51 Outlining Backwards 41:17 Bullet Points 54:21 Plot Structures

59:10 Brandon: "-having been changed so much that the Hero is no longer the person who can stay home, and often there's an epilogue where they just wander off..." Me, watching: "So basically the end of Fallout-" Brandon: "...Fallout, right?" Me: *Surprised Pikachu face* I wish I had lectures like this.

This is the most helpful insight into writing I've ever seen on YT We don't deserve Brandon

Brandon : Why is there romance in every book? Random Student: It gives poor people like me, hope. ❤️❤️

Brandon Sanderson is my writing guru, I have watched this lecture series three times through at least since COVID-19 lockdown on march 13th

You gotta love how on the ball Brandon was with the romance question. "Why do writers put a romance in everything?" Student: gives guys like me hope! Student isnt even fully done speaking... Brandon: WISH FULFILLMENT!!! Yes!

PRAISE THE SUN!

Wonder if the young man in the middle will one day regret the fact that his expressive arm motions have been immortalized online. Low key sour grapes on my part since I really wish I could be in this class.

The Kaladin underdog story was some of the most impactful stuff I’ve ever read! It brought out so many emotions in me

I don't even want to be a writer, but these lectures make me feel like I get to pick your brain an hour at a time. PRAISE THE SUN!

about when you pitch an idea (46:00 ~) a friend of mine gave me a great tip: start from the most interesting, outstanding, awesome scene in your story... and then as the convo progresses, get into details. A lot of times screenwriters\authors try to start describing the story from the start, which is not always that interesting, because of all the details. So instead, just start from the fun, and gradually go into depth. I hope this helps anybody!

You know,i always feel guilty when i can,t write and then i watch something related to writing. I am so happy because today i managed to write 7 pages in 3240 words. I write in portuguese so i don,t know it this changes a lot but anyway,i am so happy that i can hear this with no guilt trip whatsoever. I can do it,you can do it,just sit you ass down and write,goddamnit!!!

I'm a natural discovery writer, and I'll share the tool that has helped me write nine of my books: Jami Gold's (free) story structure spreadsheets. The idea is that you work out the rough structure--enough to give you a path, and then discovery write from there! (This means everything from opening hook, inciting incident, doorway of no return, midpoint, pinch points, dark moment, climax, etc) As an added bonus, it also gives you something to share with your editor, so they can give it a look before you dig in too deep. (Even though I may not follow this spreadsheet exactly, it helps me come up with a much cleaner first draft! It also helps with tracking multiple plot/character arcs.

Keep them coming Brandon. Your knowledge and expertise are invaluable and its such a selfless thing you do to share it for free. You're a gentleman and a scholar, literally!

Dropped out of college 5 years ago, back in college on RU-vid. Thanks Brandon for making class interesting

I hard stopped a 30 Rock episode when this showed up. So...A+ on engaging lectures?

The fact I'm procrastinating my own uni lectures to binge watch all of Brandon Sanderson's at once

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!!

I love how Brandon gets an applause every time he's done with a lecture.

Brandon Sanderson - you begin talking about the heist archetype, and something dawned on me. One of my favorite novels as a teen, and even now, The Hobbit, could very well be cast as a heist story. Thank you for putting out these videos. I'm greatly enjoying them.

This class completely unlocked me. It was like fog all over my uni where they teach us again and again about plot structure but never about plot archetypes! Now I see it! A thousand times thank you for your gift.

Your man at 50:26 reeeeeeeeeeally likes Inception. He even does a little dance after it's mentioned.

Thank you, Brandon. You break it down in such a way that makes me go, "Oh yeah! I CAN do this." Having all the tools is part of it. It's so awesome that you've made these public. Love your work, love your humorous teaching style. You're a class act. Again, thank you.

Can't stop watching these since I discovered them the other day. Thanks so much for providing these to all of us!

The whole progress thing, and how important it is explains so much about my frustrations with Game of Thrones' final two seasons.

I was going to listen to this guy while I was doing something else. I couldn't do anything else. I had to stop and listen.

I would love to see that Skyward or Steelheart outlining.

>Brandon Sanderson talking to a Russo Don't do that, don't give me hope (for a massive, MCU level adaption of Stormlight Archives)

*devours every word” I look forward to these, I’ve run out of previous years’ lectures to watch, I started watching them again. I get new things out of them each time that I can apply to my own writing to make it better.

Im 38 years old and was brought up by a family where college never a real option outside of crippling debt which I passed on bit ive always loved writing and have always wanted to take classes. I very much doubt that I will ever write anything that will inspire or change the world in any way, but yhe fact that I am essentially taking these classes for free as a middle aged man makes me very hopeful for the future. 20 years ago when I was 18 simple creative writing classes seemed put of reach. If time continues with the same rate of progress future generations will be more well equipped for life than we could ever imagine. Could just be wishful thinking tho

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.

The fact these lectures are free for everyone online is so cool, so great getting to see the inner workings of a mind like Brandon's in a long structured format. I become more of a fan each day!

"If you cheat at a mystery and the reader couldn't figure it out, it'll feel unsatisfying." This is exactly why I hate the BBC Sherlock show. The viewer never has a chance to solve the mystery themselves. We're never given enough information because Sherlock just magically knows everything.

PRAISE THE SUN BRANDON! And thanks for the lectures. -Brendon

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.

And here I was, getting ready to be productive, OOOOOH WELL.

38:50 Not Brandon listing out an EXACT scene I have in my romance WIP my jaw dropped

These lectures are amazing. There's so much directly useful info here that I ended up creating a plot with a setting and a rough story outline while watching, instead of just taking notes for later use. Pure gold! Thank you very much!

I am so thrilled that these are on RU-vid!

Watching these lectures are amazing. I am learning so, so much. It is SO helpful to see the students ask questions and to have Brandon giving good and bad examples of things and relating the terms to real works. Thanks so much for making this available on YT.

That guy's red beanie is like a beacon lol

This man is literally changing my life

Thank you so much! A true masterclass without the price tag. It feels like you’re sharing your experience with us aspiring writers out of the goodness of your heart & genuine love for encouraging the writing community. What a lovely way to spend my New Year’s Eve: sitting by the glittering Christmas tree taking notes from Brandon’s class and planning my next novel 💕

Brandon, thank you so much for making these public. Your lectures have been so helpful to me.

These nuggets are awesome. That relatable archtype to ground your plot, especially if there’s a lot of worldbuilding going on….. *chef kiss*

15:36 "you sonofabitch, i'm in"

Thank you Brandon. These lectures are priceless.

I love to hear Brandon Sanderson talk about his craft. Truly he is a master at it.

Thank you, Brandon Sanderson, for your existence and for sharing your knowledge.

You explain everything better than any writing youtuber and I love it. You really make writing feel more freeing than the cage it has become about writing right and like others.

This is the video that _really_ tied my story together, before I've even written it. Until now I was flailing along with only vague and rather weak ideas on how my story was going to go, but not by the end, not every half hour, not even twenty but rather at least every five to ten minutes I was having revelation after revelation, big idea after big idea, overall a real, tangible sense of the many different ways I could go with my story and a multitude of ways to get there. This one video just turned my book from clay to pottery, and now I know that all I gotta do is paint it. Thank you _so_ much, Brandon, I can finally flail around with my story freely as a beginner novelist without actually feeling like I don't know what I'm even trying to achieve.

Thankyou so much for making these videos for free! It's really helping with my own writing attempt, as plot is one of the biggest hurdles for me.

Watching through these as I build the skeleton of my first attempt at a book and grapple with self-doubt on writing ability and follow-through. Thank you for providing the structure and motivation to take these initial steps!

this is very good, thanks for posting. And it's the most cost-effective class I've ever taken.

Updated bucket list: Convince Brandon Sanderson to have a dark souls co-op adventure with me.

I wish I would have found your videos earlier. I learned so much of this the hard way, through trial, error, and piles of rejections. Thank you for posting this info! You're doing writers a huge service!

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.

Hey Brandon! I know you're way too busy to see this, but thanks for putting these classes on RU-vid. I've learned so, so much from these! Thank you.

"You cannot escape so easily, Dragon. It is not done between us. It will not be done until the end of time.” Then he was gone, and the mountain and the island stood alone. Waiting. Chapter 1: Some-BODY

These lectures are truly a treat. Thank you Brandon.

Definitely the best talk I've seen about writing. Fascinating stuff :) In the discussion about how to keep the reader from forgetting plot points I'm reminded of Robert Jordan. When I was reading the Wheel of Time series there were so MANY characters that appeared sporadically and so far apart that I would forget who was who.

This class was exactly what I needed! Thanks, Brandon! I'm going to start outlining and getting stuff out of my head now... Maybe it'll stop rattling around in there so much :)

Will you post your Steelheart or Skyward outline to your website?

Only started writing a few months ago at 34 years due to having way more time on my hands. These lectures are a great asset to me and I'm thankful that it is free of charge. :D

Mr Sanderson, thanks for all the work you put in. I hope one day I'll be published and can write about how much you have impacted my writings. I don't believe I would have ever started writing without your videos and I think I would have regretted that decision. Thank you.

So excited that you're including Indie-pub this year!!!

For the Act Structure, I find a really useful, functional definition is "A point where your character makes an irrevocable choice." Basically a decision is made and that sets or alters the course moving forward from there. And maybe a more elaborate definition would be "makes a choice they wouldn't have made at the start of the act." so that we're not just counting decisions made because of circumstance that don't offer any suggestion of character growth. In movies there are typically two to five acts. Three acts is plenty common in movies or plays, which is where the 'thee act structure' sort of comes from. But I don't see how anyone can look at a movie and a book and say: "yeah, one of these is five times longer than the other, with five times the detail, plot, and character interaction, but it'll still only have 3 acts." The longer books I've read I could consider as having over a dozen acts.

This is such a valuable resource that you've put online for free. Thank you so much for sharing this class, I'm learning so much already! And you're such a charismatic teacher c:

I’m in Arizona I feel like I would want to do this drive just for this! Your writing inspires me to continue in my work. I hoping one day you will get to hold my book in your hands!

I would very much appreciate a copy of that Skyward outline referenced. Thanks for posting these, I love your books but have so much appreciation for your podcast and other material you publish regarding your methods. Thanks Brandon!

To Brandon Sanderson: You have given us a true trove of knowledge. It is an invaluable treasure for aspiring writers that are perfectionistic like me. Whenever I have time, I watch these videos, take notes and link these to my own writing. It is thanks to you that I broke off doing world building upon world building, although I’ll keep making maps still. TL:DR Thank you very much for sharing these lessons with us and for putting out so much content about writing on your channel. Thank you for enabling my passion to bloom from a seed to a bud.

I really appreciate this lecture series. It's completely reinvigorated me as a writer.

Ahhhh, Brandon Sanderson.... where do I even begin? Oh, How I love you. You bring your great knowledge onto us feeble peasants for a mere price of.....nothing. Simply, our time to learn. I edge to this video series weekly. The pure....passion. It.... gives to me is..... unmeasurable. I love you, Brandon Sanderson. You. Are. My. God

I'm not a writer, I'm a reader. But I'm also a software developer, and like with video games or technology in general, it's amazing to see behind the curtain the magic, sweat, and knowledge authors have when crafting what I and others take for granted when teleported to different worlds.

PRAISE THE SUN, PRAISE THE STORM!

I love your passion for teaching and the craft as a whole. Thank you!

I’ve learned more from one of these videos than an entire trimester of a school course. Thanks Brandon!

This is godly knowledge!

Love that he’s wearing a Dark Souls shirt.

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

These lectures get me so excited to write! Thank you Brandon!

I'm at 6.5 pages of notes at this point in the series. By word count, I think I've taken more notes for these lectures than I did for a full semester of many of my college classes. Thank you for putting these up, Brandon.

Will we get to download example outline as well? :)

Brandon has reignited my muse and I'm currently working on finishing my novel. He's truly a gift to anyone interested in Writing/ Reading/ Understanding literature And A gift to me

I have honestly never been this excited about a class before, or even watched an hour-long video without being at least a bit bored at some point

Here's me realising George Lucas named his MC Luke...

Omg, I'd love to see the Steelheart/Skyward outlines like you mentioned. I hope it would be public and not just for the class :-(

I don't know if Brandon still reads these comments, but his style of plotting was a game changer. It makes it so much easier to write scenes now without stressing about the entire plot

Oh thank God I've been devouring these for the last two weeks and was sure I was about to run out of vids I hadn't seen.

It's so crazy that I hear Conan O'Brien giving this lecture