19:19 Shoutout to the guy with the pen in his mouth who just keeps it there for 15 seconds with the camera on him the whole time. And when you think he's reaching his hand up to take it out, nope, he just readjusts it in his mouth. What a legend.

People actually stop going to his class? I've gotten annoyed at hour long videos because they're TOO short lol I could listen to his ideas on writing a book for hours on end.

Not gonna lie, your magic systems are some of the reasons why I'm so engrossed. I love theorizing about how the books will play out based on what you've already laid out for us.

"we only know so much because we know how little we know about our magic" huh. i like this.

Gosh. Whenever I watch these I get super jealous. At the end whenever he asks if anyone has questions, I'm like "me me me I want to ask questions too!" XD

FYI the ring’s temptation is exponentially proportional to the person’s power, a wizard or elf who is already ridiculously powerful is super tempted, the eagles were on the power level of dragons and wizards. That said since that wasn’t in movies, it is in the Silmarillion, it is one of those things that should have been added say at the counsel of Elrond, so people would understand.

It's good the entire class is also shown. Not just Brandon. Makes you feel you're really part of the discussion.

This is like making a good riddle: before you know the solution it should seem impossible, but after you guess or hear the solution it should seem obvious. I think that's the feeling of satisfaction Brandon is describing. The feeling of changing from "I have no idea" to "of course, that's the only way, why didn't I think of that before?!"

"Eagles can't take you because of reasons." Had me laughing so hard 😂

Rule #1 (around 10:45) makes me think a lot about Avatar: The Last Airbender and how Toph discovers metalbending based off of what she already knows about the applications of Earthbending and seismic sense.

I'm reading a book by Brandon Sanderson while listening to Brandon Sanderson talking about how to build a magic system like Brandon Sanderson. nice.

Watching this I could not stop thinking about the Nen system in the HunterxHunter anime, by Yoshihiro Togashi. A magic system that allows the character to create his or her own magical ability based on his or her creativity and even invent their own limitations to their ability in order to make it even more powerful. It's obvious that this freedom is only possible by following certain rules in the system, and it's these rules and limitations that move most of the plot. This is certainly one of the best systems ever created.

Next video should be up next week. I believe there were four more lectures filmed that I plan on putting up. Enjoy!

Love how he says, “Tolkien nerds don’t kill me” and then immediately gets attacked😂😂

I clicked on this video thinking he was gonna give a lecture on ancient esoteric occult magic rituals...I think my YT algorithm might be more lost in the rabbit hole than I am. I still listened though, it was cool I learned something

I have become a HUGE Brandon Sanderson fan in the past few years. His plans for the cosmere are so ambitious though. I hope he lives long enough to finish the entire thing but it seems unlikely as it would mean a total of something like 140 books.

These people are so lucky... I would sacrifice many things to be present at one lecture by Brandon!

I love his magic systems BECAUSE they have rules, we don't always know them, sometimes we do but is CONSISTENT! :D And the "wonder" comes from how his characters use their magic and their limits creatively :)

43:54 he just perfectly explained the problem with "no man´s sky"

Love Sanderson. Thanks for uploading this series of videos. Gonna check them all out. And of course, thank you to brandon sanderson for this and much more

As an aspiring writer these videos have been great. It's really made me look at what I put into my story with new eyes

I've been designing a very weird magic system. It's basically a super rigid hard magic system, borderline mundane in it's scientific rigidity (mundane as our modern world would be to someone of the 1800s) but with an underlying mysterious soft magic system. So it's sort of inside out? So happy to see a long video just for magic systems!

I remember on the commentaries Peter kept asking 'why can't the eagles just take them?' and his wife and friend (the other co-writer) would keep saying 'because of the Nazgûl', and Peter would say 'oh, yeah, that's right'. Hhaha, best nine hours of my life (or however long the extended comms are for the LOTR, but now it is time to buy the Hobbit 15 disc box set).

SHOUTOUT to Camera Panda for uploading these vids!! Doesnt hurt to have a youtuber providing Brandon's lectures for budding writers!

Pleasant surprise, been waiting for this. Im not writing myself, but am fascinated by these lectures. They make me enjoy my first reading of Way of Kings even more :) thanks for this!

There is a show called Once Upon a Time. It's an amalgamate of classic fairy tales where all the characters are mixed into one general story. And some of the rules to the magic are, "every curse can be broken." and also, "All magic comes at a price".. and that is what makes the conflict more interesting. What must be done to break the curse, and what are the repercussions for the magic that people choose to use? and, why are they choosing to use the magic? and those rules don't really limit the directions that things can go, or everything that can be done through magic.

Oh man a story were the main character is in a world where the magic is fading away but their magic is getting stronger. At some point everyone panics and blames them. At first everyone else has the upper hand and then the tables turn.

10:17 Vin vs Shan in The Final Empire. Vin vs Zane in The Well of Ascension. Bravo Brandon.

Sanderson is one of the best in constructing a magic system.

I can't imagine how amazing having Brandon Sanderson as my DM would be. Please be my DM!

I know nobody will read this but as I am just starting my writing career I would say what I consider my method of making magic systems: I use one seemingly unimportant character from a video game, book, or some comic book and I create a totally deeper lore for that character to the point that I make their existing power complex. For example Teemo's stealth and darts, Darius's bloodlust (I treat as magic), Alpha (VG) infinite reboot and scanning ability. And I over extend the abilities to create a group of people using their skills.

In some ways, watching these a second time now that I've read Mistborn and part of the Stormlight Archive is more interesting. There are certainly things I understand better now that I've seen them in Brandon's work.

44:00 lol No man's Sky

Sanderson is the most charismatic nerd I've ever seen. I'm swooning.

I wonder what Sanderson would think of Hunter x Hunter's nen.

I'm impressed: he's a giant in fantasy-adventure but seems so approachable.

I started watching the 2020 videos, and now checking this out. I don't even think the lectures get better over time. They're just all really, really good.

brandon sandersons writing style is so satisfying and his magic systems are so fun to get lost in as a reader

I stumbled upon this today and I had no idea it would come out, so awesome :)

Brandon What about dragons?

I LOVED hearing this. I am trying to write a sci-fi/fantasy novel, and this was very helpful. Many of these were concepts I understood, but hearing them explained by Sanderson helped me to grasp them more thoroughly.

“Next week you’ll have a sub…who the hell can sub a class for Brandon Sanderson?!”

YES! I've been refreshing all day yesterday and today waiting for this!

Thank you for putting these videos on youtube. It's always very interesting to see into other peoples worlds like this. I'm an engineer so a creative writing class is not something I ever got to take, but I am glad that I can get a glimpse into it with your videos.

Anyone notice that someone was goofing off in class, and Brandon did the world's best "pay attention" move *without* being mean? It was adorable

at 36:00 - I think The Never Ending Story 2 had a really good one, where every wish he made it would cost him one of his cherished memories or something like that !

The talk of "dungeons" reminds me of the difference between Legend of Zelda and Skyrim. Open world is cool and all that, but a series of between 8 and 16 dungeons which are really well thought out and fun to explore is much more interesting than the countless Dwemer ruins, Ancient Nordic tombs, bandit forts, and random, underground tunnels which are all over the landscape. Although, those random underground tunnels full of Falmer did get pretty cool, with their giant, glowing mushrooms.

I thought of 3 new magic systems while writing this, and was able to go deeper into 1 of my current systems as well. Damn, Sanderson. Well played.

I would love to hear his lectures live, these guys are so lucky! Thank you, internet (and BS obviously)

I love the costs in magic systems; it forces one to be creative and in videogames entire builds can be build around it. Most games for example use a magicka pool that is dipped in order to cast spells; the more magicka you have, the more, better and cost worthy spells you can cast. In Skyrim your magicka can become obsolute when your enchanting is high enough and magic becomes free to cast (I found that boring). But economic coud also play a part, with a bit of tweaking; scrolls are one time shoot and forget, can be cast by anyone, but cost money to buy or resources to make. The same goes for staves, which have more uses, but will run out and need recharging with gems that cost money to buy or knowledge to be filled up. And then there is blood magic; where your limited (but often stunned) magicka pool can be filled up by sacrificing your own life forces, which takes time to recharge and can even be life-threatening when not used carefully. I love that type of variety.

I'm a video game designer... MAGIC HAS RULES! It better be tactical. It better be fun! It better be visually aesthetic.

The one we've all been waiting for!

I've only seen the Extended Editions of Lord of the Rings, so I'm always baffled to hear what got cut out of the theatrical release. Most of it seems to have been super important.

Thanks for uploading! It's so exciting to hear his wisdom. 😄

im glad brandon said that about uprooted, bc ive heard a lot of ppl critizise it for its magic system and i always thought it was unfair. glad brandon confirmed that for me lol

The astronomy class I'm in now is amazingly helpful, especially the history of astronomy!

Here are my notes I took in case anyone wants a summary (or to cheat I guess): *Magic Systems Fundamentals:* - If the reader doesn't understand the magic system's rules, there are no rules - Sanderson's laws 1.) Your ability to solve problems with magic in a *satisfying way* is directly proportional to how well the reader understands the magic - get the reader to react to the magic how you want - the magic is explainable 2.) Flaws and limitations are more intereting than the powers themselves - flaw = weakness; limitation = exclusive usage - What can't the magic do? What is it bound to? etc. - Limitations: - cost (economic, emotional, physical, mental, social, moral, etc.) - boundaries (specific parameters, "yes, but-") 3.) Go *deeper* into a magic, instead of wider - quality over quantity - if the magic plays a *minor* role, deal with the current characters using it, then leave it alone - you can write a sequel that delves deeper into it - it's "okay" to write rules of magic when you need to... but you SHOULD try what you've already done, expand it further, and *make it work* for the situation - set this up ahead of time in revisions!! - you can leave holes in or chip away at your rules - this leaves wonder and mystery, ehich can be enhanced through foreshadowing 0.) Always err om the side of what ks *awesome* - "This is cool, let's make it work!" - don't write yourself out of what was the awesome concept that started the idea - do it cuz it's cool * These laws are storytelling laws/rules-of-thumb adapfed for music - What if the magic doesn't work, in the story, as it supposedly should? - That can work! Ask yourself "what emotion am I looking for in the readers with *this disappearance* of magic?" "What is it *doing* for me?" - What if the magic is unlimited and overwhelming? - make the reader scared that the character will be forced to use the magic. - if they do use the magic, *make the bad thing happen* - think Ice King/Simon from Adventure Time - Is too many flaws/limitations possible? - yes, 100% - don't make the reader keep track of the rules on a spreadsheet - the best magics are the ones that are both elegant powers and elegant limitations

when Brandon was talking about error on the side of awesomeness was anyone else thinking about the final empire? I was remembering Kelsiers last fight with the inquisitors.

I have only ever seen the extended edition i had no idea the ghost thing wasn't set up at all.

Even ignoring how awesome his books are, and his fascinating insights, Sanderson seems like a fun teacher.

Great camera work and editing/cutting between them.

Lord Denethor stood at the balcony, a rock guitar in one hand. "Thunderstorm..."

Now that I think about it, that's what makes Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy so fantastic for me. Apart from having geniously funny scenes, there was a super computer knew the specs to build something that would give them the ultimate question... All you need is time (like the scotty thing he was talking about). But time runs out 5 minutes short of victory. As the reader I was feeling as silly as the main character in that story.

Someone talked about magic vanishing, and it made me think of one of my favorite fantasy, Dawn of Wonders, because it doesn't bring up magic for real until near the end and together with the title, it gives a sense of magic being created or the origins of this worlds magic, which I have never read before.

Brandon, I cannot believe you of all people have not seen the extended editions of Lord of the Rings.

thank you for posting this! I love this !

I would love to be able to take a writing class from Brandon Sanderson

man i love your lectures!

When he talks about superhero stories having hard magic systems it actually kind of blew my mind. That's why their powers typically never change or improve, as say, someone's power would in My Hero Academia, another piece of superhero media. That's why I thought MHA was initially refreshing, but as the story continued, it became frustrating when I noticed it was impossible to tell what the limitations or boundaries of one's quirk was.

Amazing lectures!

His knowledge is amazing

Sanderson book recommendations: "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik (good example of a soft magic system)

I love this guy! He has his own laws

"We introduce one of three things to the story: 1. The thing that takes all his powers away 2. Someone just as strong as he is 3. A woman" Woof, just imagine if we had all three combined in one.

1:03:12 I like that he uses "sapient" instead of "sentient". People too often mistake the latter for the former, like saying animals aren't sentient when they are. Most animals are sentient, the one's that aren't would prolly be corals and stuff like that. But animals like pigs or cows definitely are. While humans are also sentient, what we uniquely are is sapient.

Love the limitation in Piers Anthony's "On a Pale Horse" right at the beginning on the money-seeking stone he buys. It always seeks the nearest unclaimed money. Which is usually (in fact, always in the book, before the protagonist gives up) a very low-value coin.

52:24 Pretty good Jack Black impression actually

love you guys :D

Writing prompt:Several authors discover that writing IS magic, and these lessons from Brandon Sanderson are the "rules" for this magic. Eventually they each get writer's block and their understanding of the rules of magic are directly proportional to how well they can overcome their writer's block in an interesting way.

This is the nerdiest thing I've ever seen haha awesome

i hate when there are no rules in magic, fantasy, even superhero stories. you need rules, even if theyre not explicitly stated, because otherwise you end up contradicting yourself and if your reader was paying attention (which you want them to) their suspension of disbelief is destroyed. doctor who (and a lot of time travel shows, to be fair) has become really bad about this. the rules that were established were thrown to the wayside in favor of plot, but then the really fanatic watchers became so irritated by this that they just quit. but how could a panel of established authors say you can't have rules! no rule sounds incredibly boring: ie, they never get tired, the magic has no restrictions, there are no obstacles ok so where is the plot. that doesnt happen often because in reality, almost every magic system has rules whether the author outright writes them down or not.

About the "width versus depth" in magic and worldbuilding in general. I absolutely and completely agree, it's much more satisfying as a reader to discover one deep rabbit hole rather than a bunch of shallow pits, so to speak. However! To play the devil's advocate for a second. What if, in theory, you're able to pull off a combination of the two. Have a wide array of everything, 20 races, 7 villains, 10 schools of magic or something like that. All of which are thoroughly fleshed out with complexity and depth while remaining consistent. Would this ultimately ruin the experience, or enhance it despite much of the "content" likely going unnoticed?

What people need to understand about magic systems most of the time in anime (specifically Shonen) is that the magic system is primarily used for combat/ fight scenes. Like Bleach, Naruto, HxH, Shaman King, and even FMA uses its “magic” for fight scenes to make fights more unique and engaging. Hell I'd even say stories like Harry Potter, Eragon, The Dresden Files eventually use all their creative magic stuff for fights. All of their spells and casting inevitably gets used for offensive and defensive battles maneuvers and tactics that you see in climax of each book/arc or ending of a series. It's not a bad thing in anyway, just an observation that these things are used to fight and kill their inevitable enemy.”

i REALLY wish i could attend a lecture on constructing magic systems given by brandon sanderson that would be like... my dream vacation or something haha

@14:50 the #1 complaint i get when i try to introduce new people to fantasy is there are too many characters with different names and stories to keep track of who everyone is. I was told this by my friend who read the first part of WOK, mom who read first part of Final Empire, and wife who read the first part of NOTW. All three people enjoy fantasy films but for whatever reason can't keep track of the characters while reading.

I want to take his class so badly.

Every time I hear poke fun at LOTR, about how the eagles couldn’t fly them; i’m thinking, “You wrote the answer yourself!” Journey, BEFORE, destination

This is really helpful

I can’t believe this shit is on KZfaq. I feel like I should be paying for this shit

Can't find my comment on some authors struggling with teaching how to write fantasy fiction, I might have left it on another video. Just wanted to clarify I was mainly talking about writers of the early 20th century like CS Lewis - brilliant fiction writers whose lectures on writing fiction could come off as having too much jargon or advanced English that is difficult to understand. Anyway, thank you for this delightful video, Brandon's videos of his writing lectures are always fun to watch, and easy to understand. I also enjoy Shadiversity's videos on worldbuilding, they are so helpful.

I hate writing and am terrible at it , but these lectures seem like a lot of fun lol. A lot more fun than the boring IT lectures I had to sit through in college

Imagine getting a lecture on building magic systems from the master of it

I honestly wish I could attend his classes. I feel like he would massively help me finish my idea for my book. I did an MFA but focused on my love (poetry). Zip ahead four years after, and I'm trying to resurrect a story I kind of outlined/wrote 7 or 8 years ago. I hate writing fiction. Not even really a fan of reading fiction. But I have this story I need to get out and that has been the struggle.

I just finished Mistborn and really liked it, up to the last chapter when Vin fell into the usual teenage girl trope of thinking that all she really wanted was a hug from her teenage crush. That was a major disappointment. I do plan to read The Well of Ascension because I need more explanation of this world.

My favorite kind of magic system is one where the rules are gradually introduced, then meaningfully broken

45:00 Naruto and Marvel do this very well. No one would read these if there were only a couple of different abilities. There's lots of fantasy worlds out there which feature more than a few magic abilities or super powers, they sell well and people don't get bored reading them.

Stormlight archive does have 20 different types of magic tho

Pleased to know the magic system in my fantasy series passes muster.

43:29 The Dragon Prince comes to mind with few races but done well. Either way I do like several races/species.

I like the Slayers magic system. It follows these rules hard.