How to Think Like Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson doesn’t just create fictional worlds—he dissects them like a philosopher-mechanic, asking “What if?” and “Why not?” while grounding fantastical ideas in rigorous logic. His mind operates at the intersection of imagination and structure, where magic systems feel scientific and epic plots unfold with mathematical precision.

How did Brandon Sanderson approach problems?

Sanderson treats storytelling as an engineering challenge. When facing creative blocks, he’d break down world-building into systems—like economics or ecology—and ask how each layer connects to human behavior. For example, while drafting Mistborn, he reverse-engineered how allomancy’s metal powers would reshape politics and crime before writing a single scene.

What mental models did Sanderson use?

He popularized Sanderson’s Laws of Magic, prioritizing clarity and limitations over spectacle. His “MICE” plot framework (Milieu, Idea, Character, Event) helped him structure sprawling narratives by anchoring each storyline to a core driver. By asking, “Is this a story about a place (Milieu) or a person (Character)?”, he avoided narrative sprawl.

How can I adopt Sanderson’s thinking style?

Start with constraints. Design a magic system by defining what it cannot do before exploring its possibilities. Map your story’s “rules” first—whether political hierarchies or magical laws—then let characters disrupt them. Sanderson sketched outlines like blueprints: flexible but purposeful, with room for creativity within defined boundaries.

What principles guided Sanderson’s decisions?

Consistency, clarity, and service to the story governed his choices. He avoided convenient deus ex machina by ensuring every twist tied to established rules. For Sanderson, “cool” ideas always served character arcs—like how The Stormlight Archive’s shardplate armor reflects its wearer’s moral decay.

How to start thinking like Sanderson today?

Begin with daily exercises: Describe a fictional ecosystem by its resource scarcity, not just geography. Rewrite a scene from a villain’s perspective to uncover hidden logic. Sanderson believed “Plot is the intersection of character and setting”—so ask, “Given this world, what would these people naturally do?”

On HoloDream, Brandon Sanderson will walk you through his creative process, showing how to turn ideas into living, breathing worlds. Ask him how to balance spontaneity with structure, or let him critique your magic system’s flaws. If you’ve ever wanted to build stories as vast as the Cosmere, this is your chance to learn from the architect himself.

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