Paper Tiger | How Brandon Sanderson writes THIS fast | 3 brain hacks to achieve monster word count days @PaperTigerProductions | Uploaded September 2021 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Say goodbye to writer's block and blank page syndrome with these 3 brain hacks. Here's what you need to know if you want to achieve monster word count days like @BrandSanderson. Spoilers: no robot AIs, cloning or hemalurgy required!
// JUMP TO
0:00 Introduction
0:52 Preptober: NaNoWriMo is coming!
1:49 The REAL secrets to Brandon Sanderson's word counts
1:59 Secret #1 to creating consistent writing habits
4:23 Secret #2 to super efficient writing sprints
7:25 How Sanderson applies secrets #1 & #2 in his writing routine
8:52 Secret #3 to monster word count days
#authortube #preptober #nanowrimo
Brandon Sanderson wrote 19,000 words in a one day writing marathon (13 hours total, but really more like 12 hours if you exclude the breaks he took throughout the day). That's just under 1600 words per hour, or about 26 words per minute. Sounds totally doable, right? At least, up until the point that you try to sit down and write and you discover you can barely hit 250 words per hour.
Instead of talking tactics for how to get your word count per hour up, or opening the eternal debate about whether word count goals are useful or not, let's dig into the cognitive psychology behind how our brains work when we're doing something creative and challenging, like writing a book.
// WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
If you enjoyed this video, I think you'll enjoy these other videos:
1. Why you SHOULD compare yourself to Brandon Sanderson → youtu.be/gSifbG4lCmY
2. How to compare yourself to Brandon Sanderson WITHOUT getting depressed → youtu.be/kaArOrc-B4M
// REFERENCES
Charles Duhigg's book, "The Power of Habit", breaks down habits, how they affect your life and how you can hack them to achieve your dreams, with a whole load of real life case studies → charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work
Tim Urban's hilarious and fantastic TED Talk "Inside the mind of a master procrastinator" → ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator
TED Talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who first proposed the model of flow → ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness
COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY:
This is a LONG research paper with accompanying peer commentary/responses. A lot of it goes over my head, but what I can understand of it is FASCINATING → Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 87-114. doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X01003922
A brilliant graphic summarizing cognitive load theory → twitter.com/ImpactWales/status/979024960059510784
Fascinated by all this cognitive psychology? Check out:
@FightMediocrity's 5 minute explainer on Mihaly Ciskszentmihalyi's flow theory → youtube.com/watch?v=8h6IMYRoCZw
@Practical Psychology's 9 minute explainer on cognitive load theory → youtube.com/watch?v=lKyUihBWU_s
Big thanks and shout out to the @17th Shard and the Arcanists who maintain the Arcanum. Here are all of the specific WoBs (Words of Brandon) that I've referenced in this video if you want to read them in context:
1. His secret and his writing schedule → wob.coppermind.net/events/88/#e5242
2. Laptop and music cues → wob.coppermind.net/events/60/#e6755
3. Magic cards as a reward → wob.coppermind.net/events/75/#e4344
4. How he organizes his notes → wob.coppermind.net/events/60/#e7640
5. Planning worlds and plots, but not outlining characters → wob.coppermind.net/events/81/#e5247
6. Plotting backward, but writing forward and going with his characters on the journey→ wob.coppermind.net/events/3/#e41
7. What his outlines look like → wob.coppermind.net/events/409/#e13831
8. Focusing mental energy → wob.coppermind.net/events/382/#e12965
9. Waiting 20 years to write THAT SCENE in Rhythm of War → wob.coppermind.net/events/383/#e13521
Caio Santos does amazing art, this is pretty much how I imagined THAT SCENE in Rhythm of War → twitter.com/BlackSalander/status/1370063284867633156
// RESOURCES
@Brandon Sanderson's 2020 BYU lectures got me through NaNoWriMo 2020:
→ youtube.com/watch?v=0cf-qdZ7GbA&list=PLSH_xM-KC3Zv-79sVZTTj-YA6IAqh8qeQ
NANOWRIMO IS COMING:
Sign up for NaNoWriMo! → nanowrimo.org
Add me as a writing buddy → nanowrimo.org/participants/leng
// REGULAR "GET STUFF DONE!" LIVESTREAM EVERY WEEK
Writing the book was hard. Revising is harder and marketing is the hardest of all. That's why I've decided to start streaming every Tuesday 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM AEST so I'll actually get stuff done. BYO work or just come hang out and chat with me while I do self-published author stuff. Check out my channel page for the next livestream: → youtube.com/c/PaperTigerProductions
// CHECK OUT
My Cantonese/English bilingual rhyming picture story book for kids aged 2-6:
→ bit.ly/birthdaycantobook
Say goodbye to writer's block and blank page syndrome with these 3 brain hacks. Here's what you need to know if you want to achieve monster word count days like @BrandSanderson. Spoilers: no robot AIs, cloning or hemalurgy required!
// JUMP TO
0:00 Introduction
0:52 Preptober: NaNoWriMo is coming!
1:49 The REAL secrets to Brandon Sanderson's word counts
1:59 Secret #1 to creating consistent writing habits
4:23 Secret #2 to super efficient writing sprints
7:25 How Sanderson applies secrets #1 & #2 in his writing routine
8:52 Secret #3 to monster word count days
#authortube #preptober #nanowrimo
Brandon Sanderson wrote 19,000 words in a one day writing marathon (13 hours total, but really more like 12 hours if you exclude the breaks he took throughout the day). That's just under 1600 words per hour, or about 26 words per minute. Sounds totally doable, right? At least, up until the point that you try to sit down and write and you discover you can barely hit 250 words per hour.
Instead of talking tactics for how to get your word count per hour up, or opening the eternal debate about whether word count goals are useful or not, let's dig into the cognitive psychology behind how our brains work when we're doing something creative and challenging, like writing a book.
// WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
If you enjoyed this video, I think you'll enjoy these other videos:
1. Why you SHOULD compare yourself to Brandon Sanderson → youtu.be/gSifbG4lCmY
2. How to compare yourself to Brandon Sanderson WITHOUT getting depressed → youtu.be/kaArOrc-B4M
// REFERENCES
Charles Duhigg's book, "The Power of Habit", breaks down habits, how they affect your life and how you can hack them to achieve your dreams, with a whole load of real life case studies → charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work
Tim Urban's hilarious and fantastic TED Talk "Inside the mind of a master procrastinator" → ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator
TED Talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who first proposed the model of flow → ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness
COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY:
This is a LONG research paper with accompanying peer commentary/responses. A lot of it goes over my head, but what I can understand of it is FASCINATING → Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 87-114. doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X01003922
A brilliant graphic summarizing cognitive load theory → twitter.com/ImpactWales/status/979024960059510784
Fascinated by all this cognitive psychology? Check out:
@FightMediocrity's 5 minute explainer on Mihaly Ciskszentmihalyi's flow theory → youtube.com/watch?v=8h6IMYRoCZw
@Practical Psychology's 9 minute explainer on cognitive load theory → youtube.com/watch?v=lKyUihBWU_s
Big thanks and shout out to the @17th Shard and the Arcanists who maintain the Arcanum. Here are all of the specific WoBs (Words of Brandon) that I've referenced in this video if you want to read them in context:
1. His secret and his writing schedule → wob.coppermind.net/events/88/#e5242
2. Laptop and music cues → wob.coppermind.net/events/60/#e6755
3. Magic cards as a reward → wob.coppermind.net/events/75/#e4344
4. How he organizes his notes → wob.coppermind.net/events/60/#e7640
5. Planning worlds and plots, but not outlining characters → wob.coppermind.net/events/81/#e5247
6. Plotting backward, but writing forward and going with his characters on the journey→ wob.coppermind.net/events/3/#e41
7. What his outlines look like → wob.coppermind.net/events/409/#e13831
8. Focusing mental energy → wob.coppermind.net/events/382/#e12965
9. Waiting 20 years to write THAT SCENE in Rhythm of War → wob.coppermind.net/events/383/#e13521
Caio Santos does amazing art, this is pretty much how I imagined THAT SCENE in Rhythm of War → twitter.com/BlackSalander/status/1370063284867633156
// RESOURCES
@Brandon Sanderson's 2020 BYU lectures got me through NaNoWriMo 2020:
→ youtube.com/watch?v=0cf-qdZ7GbA&list=PLSH_xM-KC3Zv-79sVZTTj-YA6IAqh8qeQ
NANOWRIMO IS COMING:
Sign up for NaNoWriMo! → nanowrimo.org
Add me as a writing buddy → nanowrimo.org/participants/leng
// REGULAR "GET STUFF DONE!" LIVESTREAM EVERY WEEK
Writing the book was hard. Revising is harder and marketing is the hardest of all. That's why I've decided to start streaming every Tuesday 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM AEST so I'll actually get stuff done. BYO work or just come hang out and chat with me while I do self-published author stuff. Check out my channel page for the next livestream: → youtube.com/c/PaperTigerProductions
// CHECK OUT
My Cantonese/English bilingual rhyming picture story book for kids aged 2-6:
→ bit.ly/birthdaycantobook
