...the more it seems he's one of those writers who get easily bored with their own creations and abandon their novels at about the point where the really hard, more laborious work should begin.
He could use an extra helping of perfectionism, or an editor far less indulgent who pushes him harder. It's not lack of skills or talent, it's lack of work (and quite different from laziness).
His whole notion about his prose being invisible (it's anything but, it's just visibly careless and even occasionally distracting when it gets to the point when for example he makes semantic mistakes with common words or repeats the same metaphor or turn of phrase too many time over the course of a novel without any real intent to create leitmotivs) smacks more of an excuse not to make a few passes of laborious revisions just to polish his prose, not to stop and spend time questioning his story, or deepening his character development. Rather than taking advantage of the facts he doesn't seem to suffer much at all from writing blocks or lack of ideas and that he can draft extremely fast it seems to have become a kind of "it's good enough" syndrome and an excuse not to work on his weaker skills.
But well, if nothing else he might earn one day the Guiness record for the writer who'll have created the most worlds and magic systems in his career...
He could use an extra helping of perfectionism, or an editor far less indulgent who pushes him harder. It's not lack of skills or talent, it's lack of work (and quite different from laziness).
His whole notion about his prose being invisible (it's anything but, it's just visibly careless and even occasionally distracting when it gets to the point when for example he makes semantic mistakes with common words or repeats the same metaphor or turn of phrase too many time over the course of a novel without any real intent to create leitmotivs) smacks more of an excuse not to make a few passes of laborious revisions just to polish his prose, not to stop and spend time questioning his story, or deepening his character development. Rather than taking advantage of the facts he doesn't seem to suffer much at all from writing blocks or lack of ideas and that he can draft extremely fast it seems to have become a kind of "it's good enough" syndrome and an excuse not to work on his weaker skills.
But well, if nothing else he might earn one day the Guiness record for the writer who'll have created the most worlds and magic systems in his career...
Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor's Soul
18/11/2012 08:43:13 PM
- 1580 Views
Sounds like my kind of Sanderson book!
19/11/2012 01:48:56 AM
- 763 Views
De gustibus...
19/11/2012 02:28:10 AM
- 937 Views
The more Brandon's career evolves...
19/11/2012 04:35:26 AM
- 910 Views
Speed kills
19/11/2012 04:38:27 PM
- 844 Views
I agree with both of you
19/11/2012 05:27:30 PM
- 896 Views
You wouldn't put Erikson in that category?
20/11/2012 06:03:05 AM
- 889 Views
Although there are uneven moments, I think his work accomplishes a shade more than the other two
20/11/2012 06:11:34 AM
- 824 Views
Re: Although there are uneven moments, I think his work accomplishes a shade more than the other two
20/11/2012 03:12:45 PM
- 848 Views
Re: Speed kills
19/11/2012 08:59:14 PM
- 943 Views
With Martin it's what I call "Robert Jordan Syndrome"
20/11/2012 02:31:22 AM
- 1679 Views
Re: With Martin it's what I call "Robert Jordan Syndrome"
20/11/2012 04:12:03 PM
- 1038 Views
I don't think it's very accurate to call Dance with Dragons a "CoT".
20/11/2012 07:53:59 PM
- 789 Views
Re: I don't think it's very accurate to call Dance with Dragons a "CoT".
20/11/2012 11:56:55 PM
- 858 Views
I just want to throw out there - I really appreciate this analysis, DomA. Interesting tidbits.
22/11/2012 01:31:17 AM
- 1003 Views