Brandon Sanderson Lecture 4: Character Creation Examples Part 1 (5/6)

[@EC-rd9ys]

7:20 I think they just remade the concept for Fullmetal Alchemist with Edward Elric as a 17-year-old girl derp

[@shaywitherstone6588]

Eva Kuehler That is so true

[@ImadeIyamu]

same thing i thought.. lol

[@improvementTime10.3.17]

5:40 basic passions less quirky can be more empathetic and relatable 6:40 add secret to their pasts they don’t want others to know about 11:20 fine to think love interest for 28yo girl but think beyond their age and sex, think a bit more and can pot find something unique

[@james4727]

The necromancer story actually sounds really cool, i could imagine a chained up dad possessed by a demon in the basement that a girl uses for help when desperate would make a cool story.

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

8:54 Ooooohhh, that can be good!!!! He might discard something that dont exist yet or his job might have a different meaning. The fact he's like this now also create a dichotomy indicating an incident, since he's old he also had a long life opening chance for a story within a story and a HUUUGE plot with other characters like in AOT.

[@amak206]

The absent mother of the 28 yo female was the last Dark Lady of the region. The family had to go into hiding when she was defeated to avoid persecution. Now the father is invalid and the younger siblings think they shouldn't have to work because they come from a family of conquerors. So the older sister has to work the smithy to make ends meet while ensuring the family secret doesn't get out so they avoid execution.

[@techgeek3366]

There's a reason the first one sounds like a good character - its the story of the main character of one of the most famous Anime ever, Full Metal Alchemist.

[@Maerahn]

Huge kudos to Brandon for the point he made about stereotypically making the 28-year-old female the one with the love interest. Especially with him being a fantasy writer himself, where that trope is just EVERYWHERE.

[@thorodinson6649]

You sound gay

[@IanWorris]

I believe that it could have worked with the secret being both immortality and a bomb: he created a bomb that somehow (nanotech would be my first pick) makes the brains of the people caught by the explosion self-sustaining and perfectly self-repairing, but at the same time separates it from the body, leaving the victims trapped in a And I Must Scream state, potentially forever.

[@hibak8196]

I really don't think the students were "being ridiculous"... That's the nature of brainstorming, and especially brainstorming in a class. Besides, them giving those ideas freely allowed Brandon to point out some interesting things: add normal passions to make them sympathetic, think outside the box of the "dead family member" and "love interest", etc...

[@TheFYI1]

Having just finished Way of Kings for the first time, I can confirm this is how Brandon creates his own characters.

[@TheGoauldApophis]

"What is the 52yo old guy passionate about?" "The 6yo boy!"

[@Maerahn]

Actually, I immediately had the 6-year-old boy as being a grandson he never knew about, unexpectedly dumped on him for... reasons.

[@toddgreener]

The necro-grrrrrl has a similar back story to the Elric brother from FMA :D

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

10:43 They can if is different time periods, planets or realities, they could be or seem unrelated or be unknowingly affect each other. Also this whole family death and sexuality cliche suck, it pops over and OVER. Her dark part could be that she works maintaining a war that makes her people or other people miserable, she says she has to for their survival, she's a tough woman, but feels very guilty. She's also too young to have a family and wish more freedom and self disscovery. Her siblings could also work with her - like Askeladd - and child labor is NOT cool. Think Frostpunk with AOT.

[@gingervogel1912]

9:12 I keep thinking, "It just sounds like you're making a older, human version of WALL-E."

[@nebeskisrb7765]

17 yo girl's story is very similar to FMA's beginning.

[@kittyrolls]

These videos really are fantastic, thank you so much. :)

[@touchpoint7848]

I think that the secret for the 28 year old weapon smith is that her father illness is keeping him from working and she is doing the work while claiming it her dad's (a renowned master) work. All to keep the family supported.

[@zengamer321]

This is what u get when u have 30 different writers try to create a character at the same time. Its gonna be WILD.

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

6:06 I dont like how they, or i should say Bran, made the girls like men just to make them strong, i HATE that. Feminity is no opposite to great character and they can like girly things cause that's how most girls are. Things like cooking, herbology, fashion have a BUNCH of high level skills that are adaptable to a bunch of situations and bring a lot of conflict depending on the context and challenges. Think Vagabond's starvation arc, Funger's Olivia and Pathologic's Haruspex ("he thought this herb medicine made up! And he it is keeping you alive!!!"), film's Cruella - fashion has a lot of knowlegde about perception, angles, colors, marketing, drawing, anatomy, nutrition. You could literally make a Battle Shonen like Bakuman but with fashion - about people trying to outdo each other and even using manipulation to get chances. And those premises can always be broken by an incident that throw them in another situation that ask them to adapt (i certainly had to develop a lot of skills that i didnt gave damn and couldnt avoid applying and adapting things that i already knew to that). Like the Prehevil Festival with all those unlikely groups trying to survive, those characteristics doesnt need to form their whole personality either, they can even have an unlikely combination of skills that turn out to be lethal, like Chrollo combining Korutopi, Sharu, Machi and his stamps powers to be very op, What??? Powers that weren't suit to combat suddenly became very dangerous. Think about the habits they've built to sustain that major passion too, good luck being a great lifter without planning, nutrition, habits, search and even comunication skills (and i didnt even mention the others).

[@YinHuang]

it's breathtaking to see a criticism about gendered cliches advocate that writers should not insult women and instead focus on "girly things like cooking, herbology, and fashion"

[@savannahm9943]

Oh God, some of those kids read too much YA. Family members dying, forbidden love interests...

[@hinasakukimi]

+Brianna Milligan there's no such thing as too much YA, it's an essential part of a teen's reading because it both gets them invested in reading and is sometimes just enjoyable.

[@w0mblemania]

@@hinasakukimi Thanks for that PSA. We all need more people telling us how to think.

[@hinasakukimi]

@@w0mblemania i can't tell if this is sarcastic or not 😅

[@Rik-B]

What's your problem?

[@xXPandoraPrincessXx]

in the website there's a playlist writeaboutdragons . com /home /brandon_w2012/

[@BlueGuise9]

I love this guy!

[@QuickMoba]

Awesome lecture, just annoying students.

[@zAcceleration]

yeah fuck the students

[@pawnstorminreno]

Are the BYU English students usually like this? I've watched several videos and whenever he asks for ideas they always try to act like clowns instead of learning from the activity.

[@killyourtelevision999]

I think they just like Sanderson and they're comfortable with him.

[@Maerahn]

I don't think they were necessarily 'acting like clowns.' Group brainstorming will usually produce a certain type of mindset; they're all trying to impress Brandon and, to some extent, each other, with their creativity - the "Oh, pick me! Please pick my idea!" longing for recognition, in a bunch of people who are all trying to shine in their own way. And one way to stand out is to be the one who comes up with something so 'off-the-wall' and 'unique' that 'no-one else would ever have thought of THAT!' That's all they're doing - or at least, trying to do. (But, bless their little cotton socks, many of them are still green enough that a lot of what they THINK is 'new' and 'innovative' are actually well-worn tropes already. 😊)

[@johnnyD_166]

That was the first thing I thought of as soon as they said that.

[@BigTexasRed]

Wish there was a student mute button

[@w0mblemania]

A very clear example of the difference between fantasy/sf writing and literature.

[@JohnColtraneOfficial69]

Oh man i wanted the 52 year old guy to get into wizarding school

[@shaywitherstone6588]

Croquettqueetetqu?? XD

[@NekoSamaIru]

When he asked what the 52 year old guy was interested in, my answer was '6 year old boys'. It was on the board, and when I was in school, just saying whatever was on the board used to be the correct answer.

[@shackledore]

does the first story remind anyone of shadows for silence in the forests of hell ... plot twist: he wrote that story a year after this lecture.

[@NothingReallyMattersInTheEnd]

Hello suvo

[@TheJmax04]

I'm really annoyed that some of the students weren't taking the task seriously, being too silly.

[@hinasakukimi]

+Josh O'fortune they were just havin' fun lol

[@TheJmax04]

***** Yeah, you're right, just would have liked some nicer examples in the video

[@hinasakukimi]

Josh O'fortune yeah i get what you mean. but hey, if you take away the croquet thing i actually don't mind the 17 year old necromancer. the zen garden trash man string theorist was... pretty painful though i'll admit xD

[@TheJmax04]

***** I liked the smith girl who has to take care of her siblings, I think that was the one that the students did really well on.

[@hinasakukimi]

Josh O'fortune yeah that one was definitely the best, i'd legit like to see a story based on that.

[@jhizzlefoshizzle6406]

5:07 I literally said that two seconds earlier lol