I'm gonna give a shoutout to the girl playing terraria, thanks for paying for this class so I can enjoy Sanderson's lectures

Gotta give props to those students who are paying for this lecture and therefor paying for my college level education too.

if i was even a third as invested in my online classes as i am in these lectures...

Time stamps 1. Establish empathy (save the cat) 5:18 2. Establish rooting interest (motivations; why can’t they have it) 8:05 3. Showing progress 10:29 4. Sliding scales (likability, proactivity, competence) 12:26 5. The journey (stories work by a sense of progress or awesomeness overload)(start by showing a difference between what the character wants and what they need) 24:19 6. Flaws, limitations, and handicaps 26:40 7. Quirks 34:58 8. Flaws, limitations, and handicaps defined 38:20 Q&A Multiple character viewpoints 40:45 Goals and motivations 44:56

I wanna say thanks to the on-site students. Asking good questions and bringing a cool vibe.

I've taken a lot of writing classes at this point. I took James Patterson's writing class. I took a creative writing class as well as some other generall writing classes from this adult school thing. I've also listened to other lectures and done extensive research on writing a novel. Nothing has been nearly as useful as these free videos. Nothing. I wish I would have watched these before I wrote my first book. In other classes, I feel like I'm being talked down to, and I feel like the teacher is hiding things. They teach the most general and obvious things (to me). Brandon on the other hand...it's almost like every idea is revelation. Some of his points are things I kind of understand, but then the way he explains boosts my understanding of it a ton. These videos are so incredibly practical. Also, the other students' questions are actual questions I have myself. Thank you so much Brandon for teaching this class, especially in such a fun and engaging way.

I am a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson even though I have not yet read any of his books.

This guys needs to go teach hollywood writers. They need the help.

Start low end high. Start high end low. My screenwriting teacher said every single scene should either go low to high or high to low. And if it doesn't do that then you better have a damn good reason for the scene. I like to pause movies and see exactly where the low-high, high-low happens. It's kind of neat! Of course he also said that if you're writing a comedy there better be a joke/gag every minute. That class was exhausting. Comedy is so freaking hard to write y'all.

So, here's the trick I have, as a 95+% discovery writer: If the characters aren't going where I want them to go, I open a new separate text document, sit down with them (sometimes framed as a dream where I use some sort of mentor figure as a mouthpiece if they aren't going to talk to *me* me), and just straight-up ask them why they're doing this, where they want to go instead, and then see if we can brainstorm together about where this goes next. I then file this conversation away in my cutting-room floor file (the same place I put the "darlings" that I have to cut from the story). I've practiced this so much that I now have these conversations with my characters inside my head while in the shower, or while walking the dog, or whatever. But a text file works really well if they won't talk to me that way.

"What do you want for lunch, Michael?" "I want my soooooooooon!" I spit out my tea. hahahaaaaaaa My husband and I couldn't stand that character. He basically only had one line for a season- "They took my son!"

'Repeated for the internet audience' thanks Brandon! :)

Last time I was this early, Kelsier and Mare were robbing a house.

1. Establishing Empathy -Show that the character is like us. that they are relatable . -Show that they are nice. -Let them Save the Cat. -Show people liking them. 2. Establishing rooting interest -Show that what the character wants is interesting to us -Show us their Motivation. -Characters who want things are naturally more interesting to us than characters who don't. -What do they want? -Why can't they have it? -Establish personal connection to the plot -Suddenly it's personal. 3. Progress -How are the characters going to change? -A flaw that they have. -Character Journey. -Mystery or Question -Willl they be able to become the thing that we know they can become. -What is going to change.

So I'm halfway through, and I just realized something. The 539,592 views is probably not anywhere near that number of people, just a lot of rewatches. Because that is exactly what I am going to do. There's so much to learn from this brilliant lecture.

Hodor was a one-note character who really paid off in the end.

1:00:00 speaking as a PhD candidate in at an R1 institution, a protip on writing dialog for academics (in a modern, empiricist tradition): academics tend to hedge *a lot* more than normal people. if you have your "academic" character basically ever use the word "every" or "all", that's a red flag, unless they follow it up immediately with something to qualify that statement's scope. Chidi Anagonye is a caricature, but he's one that cuts deep.

Brandon thanks for more exposition on how to do everything involving the writing process. Have a blessed one with your family and stay safe.

I love (and am incredibly grateful) that Brandon added these lectures to his channel for free. This is so much more helpful than the Masterclasses a lot of other authors have done for actual money. Although I can't help but be annoyed at the lady with the messy bun and the dude right beside her in the bottom right playing freaking video games together on their laptops while in a class thousands of others would kill for the chance to sit in on physically. The camera didn't zoom out enough to see them in the audience until about 15 minutes in but once it does you can see them playing some game involving shooting guns and a blue inventory screen/hotbar against each other for THE ENTIRE CLASS! Talk about disrespectful...

37:00 I’m going to give an example of using quirks that become so much better when connected, from the famous manga One Piece. Character: A retired general in a fishing village Quirk: Has a pinwheel on his cap Motivation: while this seems random quirk at first, a flashback establishes that when heroine was a baby, she was scared of the general’s ferocious face, so she would cry anytime he got close to play with her. But she starts laughing when the general experimentally snaps on a pinwheel on his hat. Ever since, he has always kept the pinwheel on, because he could make that girl laugh and he could get close to her without being scary. Years pass, bringing struggles and loneliness to the girl, all through which he keeps the pinwheel on his head to be a source of her laughter. And finally, when the girl makes trustworthy friends and goes on an adventure around the world with them, the general takes off the pinwheel because the girl now has a reason to laugh happily other than his pinwheel.

Can confirm, Nick Cage whisked me away to Morocco three years ago.

"Hit your characters HARD in their flaws, if you want the story to encourage them to change." GOLD

Im watching these after nearly 40 years of trying to write my novel (which is itself based on a short story I wrote) and sitting here nodding my head like a bloody idiot while staring at a blank screen on the laptop. I have the entire series of books in my head but its getting it from there to the pc that is the issue. All that Brandon says here is amazing and I wish I had him around for these tips years ago. What I dont think anyone can teach is how to get it out. I'm nearly 61 now and fear my amazing (in my head) characters will never see the light of day.

Why can't I get credits for doing a class this way?

"You're wrong. I've stabbed three people like you and they all died. You're wrong." That is an interesting character. Lol.

Goodness, I don’t write, and don’t plan on writing….. but still this is pure gold! I never had a class this good in university! Wow and well done Brandon!

@1:04:00 shows a point where Sanderson gets really passionate about a question and just spewes a ton of what seems like GOLD info. I think right there he just summarizes the entire lecture into author gold nuggets. Just an observation. I really liked it and made notes of a ton of it.

I just love it when I have a burning question and then one of the students asks that very question.

Regarding the three sliding scales, it's cool to have just read the first 6 Dune books watching this. Dune Messiah in particular is like watching an iconic character slide down the like-ability scale.

Love these lectures. Just happened to look at the students around 1:06:10 and noticed two of them playing Terraria 😂

Wow, just wow your advice around character voice and conveying character and setting between the lines. "Thank you for such great content," he added politely and professionally.

Been watching my way through all of these and loving them. They actually make me feel better about my writing rather than like I'm a fraud. Thank you! Also, the Gorilla in the phonebooth thing just reminds me of every time people have a conversation when one of them is driving in a film or TV show. I can never pay any attention to the conversation because I spend all of it going 'look at the road, you're going to crash. You're going to crash the car! LOOK AT THE ROAD!' I wish they wouldn't do that.

I am floored that all of this is available for free. Thank you so much!

The girl in the row closet to us on the right is playing Terraria during the class. lol @1:06:00

SO much can be learnt from Lost. Almost unlimited great examples of how awesome the audience found certain things, only to be dissapointed later when much of it was left unexplained. Tons of strong characters, who both worked and didn't work for numerous reasons.

Any other One Piece fans here thinking that Luffy subverts a ton of these tips entirely and yet remains one of the best shonen protagonists ? Oda is truly a master. We all know Luffy's goal but 20 years later and his exact motivation for that goal is still the subject of much conversation and wonder. Great lecture!!

I graduated university with 2:1 BA in English Literature and Creative Writing; and I’ve learnt more from Brandon than my previous university syllabus.

Thanks so much for making these public, Brandon. I can't tell you how valuable this is to me.

these lectures are SO GOOOD

AT LONG LAST! CLASSSSSS!!!!

"Gorilla in the phonebooth" is such a fun analogy😂

He definetly had success making me think about "Sandersons Law" whenever I am writing something.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Greatest writing teacher of all time. I like how he explains what makes characters work. Likability, Proactivity and Competence. Never heard of that before - that's really interesting.

Wooo, finally! I've been looking forward to the lectures on characters for weeks.

This deserves more views. I can't believe this is free

27:00 how to make char motivation feel “ proper” to reader 40:20 42:00 how to not write chars that feel like roles rather than indiv real chars Make each char believe they are the protag in their own story or viewpoint and write accordingly Rather than written as the “goofy sidekick” or the “love interest” 47:28 how to make chars do what I want them to

This is seriously valuable information for every fiction writer to learn. I recommend taking notes.

I really like Angela from the Inheritance cycle. (I got her name right, right?) She's on-screen very little compared to other characters but is super fun to read about. Every interaction she has is fun to read because of her interesting personality. She's awesome!

I am so invested by his videos that I died and came back.

Now I have to read his books. It's the least I can do for the hours of free advice he has given me

Notes for my personal use regarding the first 40 mins which is a little confusing, in case you would like to use them :) If I have made a mistake do let me know. YOUR CHARACTER WILL HAVE AT LEAST ONE OF THE THREE 1) Establish Empathy - They people like us, who other characters like or dislike 2) Establish a Rooted Interest for them in story - What is your character's motivation? Why can't they have what they are motivated to achieve? What is their personal connection to the plot? 3) Establishing progress - What is the flaw they have or the journey they must undertake? What question/mystery keeps readers hooked to your character (i.e. what milestones will signal to the reader that there is progress, e.g. will spiderman become a hero)? The Scales of Character Your characters will fall somewhere on these three interconnected scales (proactivity and competence can go hand in hand for example) 1) Likeability (How much empathy you establish for the character in your story) 2) Proactivity (Motivation and what they do to achieve what motivates them) * 3) Competence (Where are they on the progress scale of what they want to do/can become? This isn't always swordplay, it could be their ability to talk/become assertive and grow in their interaction with others) * difference between motivation and goal is story ends when goal is met, whereas motivation goes on. (e.g. Your character is motivated to win the tournament (goal). Why? Because his father never believed they were competent enough to make it (motivation) ) Movement on any of these scales will create a sense of motion for the story as a whole. *WILL NOT TALK ABOUT THE ICONIC HERO, COS NONE OF MY CHARACTERS ARE BUT IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND ABOUT THEM PLEASE SEE **15:45* FLAWS,LIMITATIONS,HANDICAPS A lot of times when characters have problems its because you haven't foreshadowed their motivation at the beginning of the story. This could affect their actions and dialogue. For Example, you may artificially include an argument in dialogue that would appear wooden to your reader because you included the argument for creating tension, rather than letting your character's motivation drive the dialogue. Realistic characters have many motivations. You may want to be a novelist, but your family may want you to become a doctor, while your parish priest might want you to become a clergyman. QUIRKS/FLAWS/HANDICAPS ARE NOT PERSONALITY If you can connect either of the above with the aforementioned establishment and scale they will appear less like a replacement for personality. For example if you have a character who is a stamp collector, it could be a minor quirk, but they could be proactive in their collecting stamps when they can't be proactive in other areas, What is their motivation for collecting these stamps? It could be because they cannot travel to these locations as they have a physical or economical (in my case lol a sad South Asian passport) handicap, they prefer to collect stamps to substitute their travel. Ta Da all combined and believable and empathetic. Then if you could connect it to their journey/plot it seems very digestible to the reader even though award winning actor Nicholas Cage is present. When building your character think about the above and how they create empathy/motivation/competence and how the conflict could arise from this. 50:20 - How do you make a non-viewpoint character interesting/motivated when your main cast doesn't know what they're thinking? DO NOT MAKE THEM A VIEWPOINT FOR THE SAKE OF IT. What you could do is - suggest to the reader, that your character's inability to understand a non-viewpoint character will be a plot-point as that character has their own motivation/interest.

I am absolutely loving these lessons, so much knowledge is being received on my end. Thank the student who asked the last question on how to write a character unclear of their motivations👌it answered quite a lot with regards to my current wip

I'm so grateful for the people who gave him feedback about female characters

"Lot of fantasy and sci-fi writers comes from a world building-perspective." So true! My project -literally- started with me imagining a bad ass-looking suit of armor.

How do you make characters people care about...Love this. I think this is crucial to writing a good story. Can’t tell you how many books I’ve put down because characters weren’t relatable or undeveloped. So glad there’s a Part 2! Gold

Shout out to the girl playing Terraria, you a real one

Wow, I love this guy. I just discovered him, and literally has helped me so much already to understand pieces of my process I didn’t quite have gripped. Masterful.

All characters exist on a sliding scale with three toggles. Likeability - how much empathy is established for the character. Proactivity - the character's motivation and what they are doing to achive their goals. Competence- how good they are at it. A character moving on even any one of these scales creates a sense of progress. An Iconic Hero Does not move on the scales Ex. James Bond and Sherlock Holmes If someone is high on the proactivity scale you establish a really stellar motivation.

Very important to make villains relatable so they aren't just a moustache twirling villain. That's very boring after a while. A good villain should be to the protagonist "in some other circumstances, we could've been friends"

How I come up with a story: I think of a really weird event that just shakes a big portion of the world. Then I think of what effects that would have on general people. Then I have roles for fixing this problem that need to be filled. Then I think of a trait, or a quality, or a theme. And build my characters around that theme to fit the job they need to fill in the story to fix the big weird thing

This man is a genius in every sense of the word. Brandon Sanderson is a master of writing and storytelling. Just wow.

7:20 That's a good one. I recently saw a very average movie where suddenly, one of the baddies (a guy) was protecting another (female) baddie from some falling rubble. That instantly made me like that bad guy, even when he didn't even have a major role and I was like: "I see. So they are not just some sociopaths..."

It is going to be really important to understand later in the story. Exhibit A: the reason the ending in Casablanca works. Rick listens to a story from a girl from Bulgaria about why she is having the affair with Claude Rains. She now regrets the affair, and she doesn't want her husband to find out she cheated to get an exit visa. So, Rick signals the guy operating the roulette wheel that the fix is in. Rick tells the husband to bet everything on 22. Remember? That one little incident is the reason he tells Elsa that she is getting on that plane and she is not going with him. Rick loves Elsa, and he wants the best for her, and it is NOT him. "Because you will regret it."

Nothing to do at work, and I'm specifically working ON my characters right now? This must be a sign from the Cosmere...

Yay!!! I've been waiting for this. Loving the lectures, thank you for giving these out. An absolute gift 🙏🏾

Sanderson really does follow the idea of recognizing a character by the way they speak. I realized who someone was by using just the words “I think” as a big clue when I read Mistborn...

Character is my one area I worry the most about. Really excited for this class 😁

Another example of a quirk making a character proactive. Po from Kung-fu Panda. His quirk was he was a fat panda, but Shi-fu was able to use food as a driving vehicle to make him a Master fighter after he was willing to understand Po and see his potential rather than compare him to Tigress.

Thanks for posting these videos! This is what I wish I had gone to college for.

I love that reference to My Immortal at 1:04:27

Been watching 1 lecture a week. 9th week of serious study. I love that these are available!

This is probably the best lecture from the series

what a time when I can watch this for free whenever I want. thanks for the lessons, sir.

Branderson the Manderson, I watched one of these and now I'm on the second one, just now realizing I will have to treat this as a uni course and get my notebook out and scribble. These are a treasure! Thank you!

Sawyer was my favorite lost character. Followed by the Jin-Soo and Sun-Hwa.

Lecture # 9 CHARACTERS Introduction purpose of characters, how to make people care 1 Establish empathy - like us, nice, show people liking them, save the cat or kick the dog 2 Establish rooting interest - motivation, why can't they have it, personal connection to the plot 3 Progress - flaw they have, journey they have to go, sense of mystery, what is supposed to change Character scales likeability, proactive, competence iconic hero is hero who does not change in scales. Includes superheroes generally. Ex- Han solo, Luke, Leia, Joker Motivation of characters Spiderman is likeable becoz he high on empathy, increase in competence Motivation shift things he wants and need, with great power comes great responsibility Sanderson's Laws establish motivation at start of story, act in contrary to move the scene. duty to family vs. duty to yourself vs. duty of religion dangerous to give only one motivation- Michael Mars in Lost, wants to be a good father, yell only my son one note character - become very tiring, no progress Drug addict guy, who change over course of story Quirks and Personality Quirk who somehow connect to these things it makes story much better. A handicap guy who is stamp collector can't travel . Get's invited to Morocco. how to do multiple viewpoint? not writing characters in a role. Character roles limit ability of character feel real. make every character protagonist of their story. one identifying characteristics which does not give a role stereotype why motivations over goals? goals are easier then motivations. ask why question. How to use story to teach character? discovery writes question. I back up and look at the story, and if the story is stronger. I will pull the character or change the story. if you want to make a character to change, hit them hard on their decision before in story. gorilla in a phone booth. person get stabbed and continue to talk. if ending is working it is okay to change the beginning. How to separate character voices? letting the character background, motivation and personality. person who studied argue logically vs. one who lived on street talk his guts * Learn how to write dialogue without descriptions don't use adverbs more often, "shut up!" instead of "shut up" he said angrily How to craft villain motivation? how far on scales. Iconic villain like Sauron vs. Gollum who has motivations. Villain vs. Antagonist Antagonist who is not evil or good? cross purpose with protagonist. Character who do not understand their own motivation? what they need, what they want.

I was looking forward to the next episode of the course. I am a big fan of your books. I have read all of them. Thank you very much.

Woooooo it's class time!!!! Partyyyyyyyy!

This has been so useful. Can't wait to use it. Thanks.

Imagine an entire story centered around a protagonist who simply wants a cup of tea and everything happens to stop them. Oh the possibilities. It could be action, fantasy, suspense, all of that in between just for a cup of tea 🤣 if it was written well, that would be a most interesting breath of fresh air

Good job on your class Brandon. I watched a few of your viseoa a long time ago, and got back into it. Im a piblished author as well. A famous author once said that as soon as you're paid for your work, you're a professional author, so I am now, and proud of it.

Great classes, and all of them here online for free! It is wonderful.

Speaking of depression in characters, NHK Ni Youkoso (a short novel that has an anime adaptation) has three main characters and all of them have mental problems of some sort. But they are very, very proactive throughout the whole story, because they always try to solve whatever problems they have, just not by directly confronting these problems. It does a very good job of having progress that even seems positive, but it wraps that progress into events that make you question the very nature of mental health problems and elevates that melancholy on a higher level. It's a great anime title that oscillates well between comedy and tragedy and doesn't just waste your time with cliches, but it has a heavy "anime industry ruins people" theme used here and there. I think novel is even better, but I may be very biased, because I've read it soon after re-watching the anime. It also has some "darker" elements that weren't shown in anime, like psychedelic drugs.

Truly opening my mind. Going to improve everything I will write. Thank you.

I mean this is an awesome lesson about human nature and charisma in general...

I didn't realize these were so new that I have to wait for the next week's!

Characterless fiction is possible to some extent, but it almost definitionally needs to be short and have an unconventional plot which forefronts elements of setting and mood in such a way as to create a kind of character arc through those elements. The elements of place and, indirectly, the author become the protagonist. Thomas Ligotti's much-lauded horror novella "The Red Tower", which essentially stretches out the sort of conceit he had cut his teeth on years earlier writing vignettes where characters as such are largely sidelined or absent ("The Spectral Estate", etc.), does precisely this quite excellently… but then he *does* bring a narrator at the end, almost as a twist, which gives structure to the narrative, but beyond that character's relationship with the actual subject of the story, we don't learn much at all about them. This kind of plays into Ligotti's philosophy of the horrific as being about expressing personal experiences and worldviews, of being an intimate form of emotional communication between author and reader, rather than about the mechanics of storytelling and intense "objective" verisimilitude, although I suppose that's easy for him to say given the quality of his work from the get-go. :P

Thanks for posting this. I keep making notes on the lecture then stopping to make notes for my book!

I wish I put half as much effort into my actual uni degree as I do this class.

These lectures are amazing, thank you!

I get so excited every time Brandon starts the class! So enthusiastic, and I am so eager to learn! Where was this course when I was in uni? But, I am glad I found it now :)

Thank you for sharing these, very interesting!

I've always related very well to Tolkien style or Gandalf-esque wizards. I'm chronically monochromatic in dress, grumpy, bearded, forever spouting "wise" or "scratchy beard" words, just show up whenever I want, and always disappearing right when I'd be most useful because I totally need to go punch a necromancer in the face and not take a nap and then enjoy a wonderful ham sandwich with lemonade and a beer. Or twelve. I am absolutely one hundred percent punching on a necromancer and not off for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Lastly if you dare question me I'll get huge at you and put a whole bunch of bass in my voice like the angry love child of a shaved cat and Barry White.

Hi Brandon, Will you please put the link to your sample outline in the description so we can access it? Thank you so much for posting these publicly!

I want to take a Brandon Sanderson master class

I make up characters, and develop the character growth. Using a character sheet and stats with levels and powers, backgrounds, items. I’ll make a hundred characters this way, I use the same world. Then I try to match up characters and run them through scenes, when I figure out a good character match. I’ve already an idea of the story they may do based on the scenes I wrote to match them up. Basically complete a character, take them on an adventure, meet friends and adversaries. Let things play out naturally, by breaking your complete character up into levels from 1-20. Each level is progressing the story, each character is the same system. Conduct an interview between you and the characters. Go on mini missions, you can write a hundred different scenes to establish a plot. You can shuffle scenes you write and glue it together with plot and motivation.

He has to be the best teacher! He’s amazing

My MC, being an unreliable narrator who has a thing for morbid jokes and is a protagonist only because he is requested written evidence: **chuckles** *I'm in danger*

Not gonna lie...this whole nick cage stamp collecting adventure movie in morraco sounds worth watching

Merci beaucoup Monsieur !! From Marseille 🇨🇵