Finding a Work/Life Balance When Writing-Brandon Sanderson
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- This is a short segment from my 2021 Creative Writing Lectures at BYU. If you want to watch my lectures in their entirety, you can watch all of my 2020 lectures here: • Lecture #1: Introducti...
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Brandon, thanks to your work, I literally went from not reading a book in 5 years to reading 26 books in 2020 and then writing three drafts of a 100k word book over 6 months, which is going out to beta readers next week. I cannot express how much your work as an author and as an educator has had a positive impact on my life since quarantine began, and I just wanted to say thank you and to keep doing what you're doing! Us here at the Brandon Sanderson School of Creative Writing at CZcams University appreciate you!
In 10 years you'll be known as Sando Brego by your community, and thus the cycle continues
Hell yeah! I'm trying to get though my blocks so I can start writing light novels.
Wow! Amazing story! Congrats!
That's the strangest writing schedule I've ever heard of but I'm glad you shared it. John Green referred to that writing state of mind as "being in Cheyenne, Wyoming", which I think was in turn a reference to an older Vietnam war film. During a firefight, when asked if he's ok, a soldier replies "I ain't even here, I'm in Cheyenne, Wyoming" or something to that effect - Green did a video on it a while ago. I told my family about this and now they jokingly refer to it the same way. It takes a lot of concentration to not be in that state all the time, so it's nice hearing someone refer to a 'spin-up' and 'spin-down' time that needs to be solitary and scheduled. Really simple but probably my favourite video you've released so far.
Brandon's schedule is interesting because in some ways he seems to brute force his way through things like writer's block because he writes as much as he does. You can also see how it evolved from his earlier schedule, which was "Work the graveyard shift at a hotel and write the whole time". I'm fairly confident that the majority of writers can't do what he does, but if they could they might be able to reach similar levels of productivity.
It's very validating to hear that other writers can have a "catastrophic" time dealing with interruptions. It's almost impossible to motivate myself to write when I know I'm going to be interrupted every 20 minutes over the next couple of hours.
Brandon, these short advice videos are great daily motivation. They're the main thing keeping me going with my own creative pursuits. From a fellow Brandon, thank you so much!
Wow I really had a thing in my brain where I thought brando sando was a big morning person. And now I've watched this, I'm surprisingly taken aback by the fact that he is in fact mortal like the rest of us. The more you know!
Writing is not a strong interest of mine, but I really appreciate all the advice you have given on time management and motivation, as these are things I struggle with. These are things which make you a great role model to me. The fact that you make great books is good too.
Brandon: ‘the watcher from Belgium’
Me, a girl from Belgium: ‘how does he know a Belgian’s watching??’
CZcams analytics? ;)
I wonder how many of us who watch these are outside the US. I'm French. :)
Other Belgian girl here! :D Glad to see I'm not the only one :D
@@noannellesky9360 Belgians unite! :D
I’m also from Belgium 😂👍
How most aspiring authors will execute this advice (myself included):
"How was your writing time? Productive?"
"Did you know we know more about space than we do about the bottom of the ocean?"
"You didn't write anything did you?"
"Well I imagined a ton of cool stuff, I just need to write it down tomorrow. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go feel guilty about the last 4 hours and hope to God I convince myself to write tomorrow."
I hate that this is calling me out thank you
@@michaelogara9056 Hey someone has to call us out ; ) Here's another on the house, someone told me once "Ideas are worthless if they never leave our heads and are never expressed."
Brandon has a great tip to help with this; Think about the specifics of your next scene and what will make it so great beforehand (a day to a few hours before). It could be a defining character moment, some witty banter, or maybe just a really good line you've been holding on to. It can be anything, but you must be specific with the thought process. Knowing EXACTLY what you're gonna write (not just the outline cliffnotes) can help a lot with getting back into the process.
Oh thank God. I thought I had a problem with losing all momentum after a few hours or getting distracted. Knowing how normal that is is a serious motivational boost.
The way I keep from "spinning down" when interrupted is to just say "can it wait a moment?" That doesn't knock me out of the zone, and people around me understand that I need to concentrate, and when I'm done with the thing that needs concentration I can give them my full attention.
Thanks for this Brandon. Some of the best advice I’ve ever heard have come from your channel. I’m 28 and not married in the Utah community, and knowing that you weren’t married until 30 gives me hope and encouragement.
Personally I try to write every day. I don't have to write a lot, even just a hundred words, but just getting in the habit of doing that every single day has been incredibly helpful.
Same here. I've settled on 250 words a day. I can do that on the most uninspired day without much problem, and also pretty fast, too. People may say that's not much, and that's exactly the point. Yet 250 words every single day is a minimum of 91,000 words a year. There's your book right there. So far I'm at just under 2000k words :)
Really appreciate that Brandon is speaking on this. I hate it when people think it's either work or family. Balance is hard, but it leads to a more fulfilling life IMO. Doesn't relate to the family aspect, but I think it's relevant. Forcing myself to take a few hours off each day really helped me feel happier and more productive (varies between days, but I won't go into details). It's especially important for creatives IMO since we need inspiration to work. You're never gonna get that if you don't actually live your life and keep your work in a vacuum.
Not a writer, but very much relate to the 'spin-up' & 'spin-down' and interruptions being catastrophic. Walling off time for family and walling off time for writing (or other projects) is BRILLIANT. 'Not even think about' current project= ouch. You have had a tremendous literary impact on our family by providing characters and struggles my husband and sons can relate to. Wax & Wane jokes are my favs, love what you did with the relationship with Steris! And could go on and on...Lyft & sword Nimi...THANK YOU!
This is helpful for journaling too! I just got through the Emperor's Soul, and the concept of diaries and sifting through them, sifting through them TOO much, resonated with me.
Omg haha i'm a watcher from Belgium
Same. Gave me a fright!
Me too and got married at 30 😂
Me too. Scared me for a second 😅
Great advice Brandon. You're helping so many writers like myself shape their work ethics and way of life. 😊👍
Such great advice! I found this really applies to my life as an artist as well - and I've had some hard won lessons about balance and burnout in the past that I think this advice would have helped curtail.
So helpful! It’s great to hear someone as successful as you are who cares about family and holistic living
Your lecture series have given me the confidence to start my first book. I have major neck issues that showed up last year, making 2020 even more obnoxious. After your lecture series, I started my own outline, got 3000 words in and started my own book a few days ago. Consistence is the key. I'm 3600 words into my Novel(not including the outline) and I'm convinced that I can do hard things. Thank you for not only being a great author but a worthy teacher.
I have no idea why I listened to all of this. I'm a developer and have 0 interest in writing, but I will say that a ton of this applies to development work as well. Especially the warmup/cooldown portion of the talk.
These daily uploads are becoming part of my writing routine honestly! I sit down, check YT and there's a new Brando Sando video to gas me up into a writing frenzy. Thank you so much Brandon, I wouldn't be writing or reading at all in my life right now if it weren't for you.
I love Brandon Sanderson. Proper good bloke.
This is great advice for everyone I think - really applies to recording music too, in that you can just let the time you spend on it spiral. Can Brandon somehow become my life coach
This is deeper than any other work life balance i've heard of so far
Senpai Sanderson thanks for uploading these videos for us to watch for free.
love how he kept this short and sweet! very insightful .
Wow! This is such valuable advice for any creativity focused profession!
Thank you so very much Mr. Sanderson. I've watched many of your videos on writing advice, to include all but 1 of the 2020 lectures [ Didn't watch the short stories video I must admit]. It's refreshing to hear an author as successful as you are reiterate points about family time, and even getting some 'down' time to play games [Magic anyone!?...yes please!] and other leisurely activities. Here's to your continued success good sir!
Praise be to Brando Sando! Our LAWD and savior!
Important advice, especially for me, who is starting to get burnt out after the first draft of an 80K hard-sci-fi space westeren. :)
Thank you for sharing these! I don't think I'd have gotten as far as I have without them. :)
I can't even reach 20k of my story lol last year's nanowrimo was completely chaotic to me.
@@marianacarina2580 Just keep at it! I had to write that draft while limited to 600 words per day because of tendonitis. :)
Wish I had this video a year ago when writing almost cost me my marriage. Then, with marriage councillor, we figured out new regime. My "guarded" schedule is 9-12PM, then I have 1PM-5PM - my light schedule where I work on stuff like responding to work related emails, cooperating with other colleagues and departments. After that till 9pm is my strict family time.
Follow this man's advice... marriage councillor is expensive!!!
Oh also, your Skyward Narrator is AMAZING. PLEASE KEEP HER! (The US version)
1:07 No wonder I've not been up for writing much lately.
This is such helpful advice, thank you, Brandon!
It's kind of funny because I'm one of those people who can pop up my computer absolutely anywhere I am and immediately start writing. Of course I can focus better if I'm left alone for a longer time but the way I write is always in bursts of 5-15 minutes, followed by short breaks, and I can pretty much hit the ground running when I start writing. It's a pretty neat skill at university.
I'd love to hear more about how to enter and maintain that middle productive period/flow state. I feel like I get into it sometimes, but also lose it randomly. As a result, my wordcount per hour can vary a lot, and so does my enjoyment and 'writing stamina'.
7:00 5 h family time
7:35 2nd writing session then, me time
8:10 time away is also important so no burnout and have things to write about cus experiencing life
also cannot write passionately without a passionate life and relationships
Hope you get time for some exercise too. Maybe a bridge run or four.
Genius
I work part time and write when I'm home but my husband and I are currently living with family. I dont have an office so it makes it difficult to write without interruption. When we are alone, we go our separate ways for his games and my writing in other rooms as just his presence is distracting. Sadly lol
Though I am not a writer, this video actually inspired me and actually helped a lot.
So make good time for the things that are important👍
Kinda felt this one. I try to hit 1 mil words a year, but that often means disappearing for months on end.
Wow, didn't tought that i could get such an advice for life from a writer
Your schedule is my dream lol
Mmm, Mama Chus. That was our go-to lunch place whenever someone was craving more authenticate Mexican food.
I would like Brandon to try offering me advice for my reading/life balance.
"You shouldn't have a family, because they will distract you from writing, and you will be a bad family member".
And how do you expect to create fictional people without knowing real people?!
How do you expect to make great heroes, without trying to improve yourself?!
How do you expect to write when you don't even know what sarcasm is
I never cared for this argument. This insinuates you'd have to have fought a Dragon in order to correctly portray a Dragon fight in your novel. You don't need to be a real life adventurer to write about adventurers. Reading a lot, watching a lot, and learning what the thought process was behind those works is much more useful.
@@MRJTD99 I agree. I had to write a scene about sky diving and it was a really detailed scene that sounded realistic even though I’ve never done anything even remotely close to sky diving- I haven’t even seen/read much about sky-diving,I just did some research-
That thumbnail:
WORK
LIFE
LANCE
Your words are accepted
@@myrojyn haha which radiant order would this be
@@peterlarson233 No idea but Lopen is in charge of it.
It’s the motto of the tournament Knight in medieval times lol
7:00 Brando's writing schedule
Hope it isn't as bad as when Wendy comes in and interrupts Jack who is supposed to be working on his novel in The Shinning. Lol! Classic film depiction of interrupting the writing session...
This doesn't just apply to writing it's a good healthy thing for any work from home job
great advice!
Wow he had dinner with Shannon Hale and Brandon Mull.
Brandon, I notice there's no reading time set aside in your schedule. Is that part of Goof Off Time?
Any advice for someone who's got a brother with special needs who often needs attention, and your siblings rarely help.
Short sprints. You set a timer for 5, 10 minutes (it depends how much you have/think you will have) and write like your life depends on it. You can write a lot during those sprints, much more than you think.
I don't have a separate room to turn-off from home activities for even 10 minutes, I'm disabled and I'm also taking care of my loved one. I wake up when everybody is asleep, write for 15 minutes and call it a day. But I'm writing a book about taking care of loved ones, so there's a meaning in this struggle (I hope).
My goal is to write more, but using this technique I wrote 7000 words in October, so almost 8000 words monthly Brandon Sanderson was talking about in his lectures, and I stopped writing around 21st.
Good luck to you!
I can corroborate Daria's account. I don't have a special needs sibling, but I have severe myopia that prevents me from working more than thirty minutes at a time. Usually, I set timers for about fifteen to twenty minutes, stay as focused as I can can while writing like crazy, and then go rest my eyes. While it's a far cry from what Brandon's suggesting in the video, you can get used to the workflow over time.
Work life Lance!
What I don't understand here is...When does he eat? Does he do anything around the house or does his wife do everything? Does he just get up and work and not have breakfast or anything?
Mr Sanderson, how about working out a little and fixing your food regimen? you know, be an example of a "healthy living" author
Sounds like great advise. But my workstyle is so different. I can't write for hours in one sitting, I always write small chunks. And not thinking about my story at all? That would be the worst, since the best ideas come, while you do other things.
😊
I am from Belgium and got married at 30 😂 , no joke (we were together for years before though)
You don't have to balance work and life if you have no life. Easy-peasy.
I watch these videos like I'm gonna write, but I know I'm not. Lol
So this advice is heavily focused on Brandon's Protestant work ethic and the discipline of good habits. Do you have advice for people who are not wired that way? I mean the opposite extreme is to have no structure, to screw around until there's a looming deadline, and then write frantically non-stop for days until it's done. Is there perhaps a middle ground between these two extremes?
thumbnail:
𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺
𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴
𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴
Dang! Not to get too personally here, but, uhhh, I'm assuming Brandon and Emily sleep in separate bedrooms...?
so you sleep like... what... 3 hours a day? sounds legit.
"you didn't look at me the whole time"?
Sorry that sounds narcissistic to me. Glad I'm not married, personally.
First for the first time
I appreciate the useful emphasis on work/life balance, but jesus christ, what is with Brandon's schedule? He sleeps on a different timezone from his family, doesn't eat breakfast with them and stays up until 04:00?! The irony of having a terrible work/life balance while talking about its importance. However, that's probably what he's found works for him, but doing that sounds utterly monstrous.