Why you should study Mistborn

Studying great stories is an essential part of becoming a better writer. It not only allows us to reverse-engineer solutions, but it keeps us inspired and curious about our craft.

This month’s pick is Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn. This book is a classic staple of the fantasy genre, and it’s a classic for a reason. Sanderson is an expert worldbuilder and magic system architect, but he never expects the audience to care about his worldbuilding and magic in isolation. Rather, he uses the plot, a rag-tag group of thieves’ plan to overthrow the god-ruler of a city, to take the reader on a joyride through the world he has created and experience all that the magic system has to offer. Mistborn is a fantastic study in juggling multiple plots and pacing.

As always, when studying novels, I recommend reading twice over: once to experience it as a reader, and then again to look more in depth at the mechanics. Once you know the setups and payoffs, it’s easier to go back through the novel and track them.

Who should read this book?

• Any writer who is incorporating a non-crime mystery into their story, especially as a subplot

• Fantasy writers struggling to pace their worldbuilding without overwhelming readers

• Crime or fantasy writers juggling multiple subplots

  
  

What should you be looking for?

• Mistborn does a phenomenal job of integrating the question: “Who is the Lord Ruler” with the central plot of the skaa attempt to overthrow him. On your second readthrough, pay attention to how the central plot leads Vin and Kelsier to clues about his identity, what those clues are, which clues are red herrings, and how we are ultimately led to the truth. (If you please, don’t post any spoilers in the comments! It’s too good to shortchange anyone the experience :)) I would also pay attention to how the mystery is paced alongside the central plot!

  
  

• As a high fantasy novel, we have a lot to get caught up on when we enter the world of Luthadel. Sanderson does an expert job of throwing us right into the world and not rushing to explain every single facet. Instead, he lets the events of the story show us how parts of the world works, and when it’s time to explain something, he does it when it’s relevant to us as readers. With a magic system as specific as his, he also reinforces the information in the story’s action as we go to help us integrate the information (I’m thinking specifically of how he helps us to understand how the different metals work: giving us a few at a time, letting us see them in action, and then reinforcing our understanding as Vin and Kelsier use them throughout the story). My favorite thing to do when studying worldbuilding is pull out a highlighter, highlight the sections of worldbuilding, and then make a note of how the information was delivered and why it’s relevant to the story right now.

  
  

• Mistborn has a lot going on. There’s the rebellion plot, a romance, a mystery, and a character’s arc. But at no point does the story feel like it wanders off-topic. Instead, the different plots are integrated seamlessly so that we are experiencing the story as a whole, rather than separate parts. Sanderson makes it look easy, but it’s an art form! On your second read, make note of each subplot, then pay attention to how it affects and is affected by the central plot of the story. I would also make note of the pacing of the central plot and how each subplot tracks alongside it.\

  
  

How do you apply this to your work?

• If you’re writing a story that includes a mystery, take a page from crime novels! While you may not be investigating a murder, the same principles are going to apply. You have a question in the story that needs an answer, but you don’t want to give the reader that answer right away. Instead, you want to twist and turn the events to intrigue them, and then surprise them at the end. To do this, think about how your central plot can give rise to the clues to the answer. Consider where there are opportunities for red herrings or for your protagonist to misinterpret the clues. This last point is one of the big tricks for surprising your reader! Give your protagonist a plausible theory or information they take for granted so that the clues seem to point in one direction, but when the protagonist gets the final clue or insight, it enables them to reinterpret everything correctly. The information is the same, so you’ve played fair with your reader, but the interpretation is what changes!

  
  

• If you’re struggling to pace your worldbuilding, I have two main recommendations:

  • First, err on the side of restraint! There’s a surprising amount your reader can pick up on simply from seeing the events unfold. Resist the temptation to overexplain.

  • Second, when an explanation is necessary, make sure that it is relevant to the scene you’re writing. The biggest mistake I see fantasy writers make is giving the reader information before they have a mental place to put it. If you give them the information when it’s actually relevant to the events that they are witnessing, they’ll know it’s information they should pay attention to and are more likely to remember it going forward.

    
    

• If you’re writing a book with subplots, pull out your pen and paper! Your goal is to ensure that each of your subplots fits into your central plot. So first, identify the central plot of your story. What is the main goal in your story? Then, you want to start building your character arc and subplots around that goal, so that they are mutually impacting each other. Think:

  • How does the main storyline help your protagonist to transform?

  • How does the main storyline bring about the romantic subplot? How do the romance and main storyline complicate each other?

  • How does the mystery affect the main storyline?

    
    

  Then, make notes about the pacing of each of your plots. Make sure that they rise and fall in time with your central plot, so that all of the action rises, complicates, and resolves (generally) together.