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Deep Dive with Ali AbdaalDeep Dive with Ali Abdaal

Originality, Writing and Career Fulfilment with Brandon Sanderson

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Brandon SandersonguestAli Abdaalhost
May 20, 202252mWatch on YouTube

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At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Brandon Sanderson on Originality, Productivity, Fulfilment and Building a Writing Career

  1. Sanderson explains that he wrote 13 novels before selling one, staying motivated by accepting that writing could remain a deeply loved hobby even if it never became a career.
  2. He argues that creativity is recombination and encourages writers to think like chefs rather than cooks by breaking down why they love something and rebuilding it as their own.
  3. He describes making himself do the work through tactics such as word-count tracking, a balanced daily schedule, and finding ways to make less-liked tasks like revision exciting.
  4. He shares practical productivity rules, including batching all non-writing commitments into one day a week, learning to say no, and setting firm limits on events.
  5. He advocates giving employees real ownership through profit-share bonuses, and offers a realistic view of the New York Times bestseller list as a marketing term measuring momentum rather than quality.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Love the work itself, not just the outcome

Sanderson decided he would be fine writing 100 unpublished novels because he loved writing, comparing it to friends who play basketball or golf without aiming to go pro.

Creativity is recombination, not invention from nothing

He says humans put a horn on a horse rather than conjure wholly new creatures, so writers should not fear being derivative too much, especially in early work.

Be a chef, not a cook

Sanderson teaches students to break down why they love something at a fundamental level and rebuild it as their own, as with Inception reworking heist beats.

Find what motivates you and trick yourself into doing the work

Carrots like opening Magic packs stopped working once he had success, but tracking daily word count on a spreadsheet kept working, and he stresses making each day satisfying rather than deferring happiness.

Protect creative time by batching and saying no

He puts interviews, meetings, and other non-writing work on Thursdays with limited hours, and uses firm rules such as one event a month and no dinners with fans.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Train yourself to look at something you love and break it down to why you love it on a fundamental level and then rebuild it into something that is your own.

— Brandon Sanderson

Journey before destination doesn't mean don't think about the destination.

— Brandon Sanderson

Find out what motivates you on a day-to-day basis, and figure out how your brain works and the things you can do kind of to trick yourself into doing what you want to have done, because if you do this the right way, the days become very satisfying.

— Brandon Sanderson

Bestseller is a marketing term, and it is used like a ma- marketing term. It is not a stamp of quality, but it is, when it's working right, a stamp of momentum that a book has.

— Brandon Sanderson

Don't write a chapter that can't p- conceivably be someone's favorite.

— Brandon Sanderson

Read the available transcript
Writing 13 unpublished novelsOriginality as recombinationChef versus cook creativityHacking motivation and word countsWork-life balance and sleep scheduleEmployee profit sharing and ownershipBestseller lists and publishing realities

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SPEAKERS

  • Brandon Sanderson

    guest

    Prolific fantasy author known for works like Elantris and The Stormlight Archive and for building the Cosmere shared universe.

  • Ali Abdaal

    host

    Creator and interviewer behind Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, focused on productivity, creativity, and career development.

High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.

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