Sanderson 2012.2 - Plots and Genres

Brandon Sanderson’s 2012 Semester at BYU: Creative Writing, Lecture 2

This video is a mirror of the materials posted by user writeaboutdragons. I’ve linked together the parts of the lecture into a single video, and provided some notes with timestamps below. Enjoy!

*Notes*

0:12 / What makes a good plot
Book is an intersection of three things: character, setting, and plot (concept), with a conflict
Biggest rookie mistake is making an inactive protagonist; you should place them close to the conflict
As soon as you start to place your characters at these conflict points, the story begins to emerge

10:25 / Idea generation from stories you loved reading
Boil down the story to its core, and build your own story with a similar core
Usually one idea is not enough; try to intersect a few separate ideas

14:44 / Examples of conflicts between parts of a story

16:30 / Outlining
Brandon thinks of cool ideas then looks for conflicts/relationships between ideas
- When he has enough of these links, he starts a story
Brainstorm to fill in holes in the ideas to have good conflicts
Plot backwards: what are the cool things to happen in the book?
- Cool things trump idea consistency; you can find ways to make it work after
- Once he has these “big moments”, then step backwards: what needs to happen before this moment will be satisfying?

28:16 / Points on a map

29:12 / Questions on brainstorming and plotting

37:42 / Plotting by discovery for Alcatraz books
Adding viewpoints complicates a book; as a new writer don’t over do it off the bat
- Fewer viewpoints also makes it easier to write without an outline
Generate a few interesting/funny/cool events, then brainstorm to make it work together
- For kids, random elements mixed together can be humor; doesn’t work for adults as well

51:10 / Children’s genres and audience
Knowing your genre will help you place where you are going to market you book, and help guide decisions
Middle grade: targets 8 - 13
- Sweet spot is 6th-7th grade
- Max is 55k words
- Often whimsical stories; leave our world go into another; often the adults are useless in the plot
- Usually 3rd person; usually 1 viewpoint
YA; targets 13-19
- Max is ~75K words, but less strict
- Frequently set at or around school; frequently boys & girls; often adults are untrustworthy
- YA is not content curated by publisher as MG, so books can be graphic and intense
1:09:00 / Adult genres
The big fantasy divisions are: epic, heroic, and urban.
The big SF divisions are: military, space opera, hard sci-fi.
- Dystopian right now is more often in YA

1:11:50 / Epic fantasy
Large cast
World-building focus
The world is at stake
Suggestion for new writers: write it as a stand alone with sequel potential
- Don’t stop in the middle until you are an established author
120-150K words

1:14:31 / Heroic fantasy
Gritty “dudes with swords”
Smaller cast
80-100k words
Lots of action and movement

1:16:42 / Urban fantasy
“Chicks in leather kill demons”
Our world but with a dark fantasy underworld
Often mystery-style plots; often very fast paced with thriller-style hooks in each chapter
70K words

1:18:43 / Military sci-fi
Space marines; big space battles that are realistic
Familiarity with military helps; guns and ranks
80-100K words

1:21:00 / Space opera
Adventures in space
- Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars
80-100K words

1:23:28 / Hard sci-fi
“Written by people with PhD”
The details matter, the science and how-it-works are part of the story
80-100K words, but much more lenient