Brandon Sanderson teaches two classes at BYU. His lecture series, ENGL 490R Section 003, is the one I attended this last Winter 2024 semester. If you’re looking for information about his smaller, 15-person class (ENGL 318R), you’ll have to stay tuned as I haven’t taken that class yet! There’s a lot that goes into the application process, so there’s no guarantee I’ll be accepted, but that’s a topic for another day.
This was my first time attending these lectures in person, though I’ve watched them all on Professor Sanderson’s YouTube channel as he occasionally records and uploads the lectures. And yet, there’s something awesome about being there in person. Part of that is because this is the first time I saw the man in person, and another part because you can ask questions of your own that he will answer. For me, learning to balance and control the fanboy and author in me was a manageable challenge.
That didn’t change the fact that I showed up three hours early each week to guarantee seats in the front row for my writing group and I. In fact, another member of our group often showed up EARLIER than me, and we’d use that quiet time to get lots of homework and writing done.
The class meets every Thursday late in the evening and runs for an hour and fifteen minutes, and the lecture hall fills up each time. The first day of class is easily the most crowded, particularly with people who aren’t signed up to take the class. This isn’t a problem, and Sanderson is very open to letting people audit the one-credit class. And at the end of the period, students and guests will line up with their books and merchandise to get them signed. I brought about one book a week to have him gradually sign my library.
Each week was a different topic that works its way along the writing process. Earlier lectures are all about plot and outlining, then they move into actually writing the thing, and the series ends with some lectures on publishing. Mostly, the lectures follow the same structure you see on his YouTube videos. And yet, there is new information each time. People ask different questions, he shares different stories, and since he wasn’t recording this year, Sanderson could be a little more personable and less general with his comments.
Class begins with Professor Sanderson saying something like, “Welcome to class! Yay. Wooh. Class,” and then reminding us to submit our online attendance quiz, if we’re taking the class for credit. That’s just a paragraph box asking what you liked about the class and if you have questions. All they’re looking for is for you to write something at all and to submit it.
Then the lecture begins. It’s amazing the ideas that came to my mind when taking notes. Often, the professor would say something about plot structure or how to develop a character, and an idea for something I could do in my book would pop into my brain. These are small things, so nothing earth-shattering or outline-breaking, but little connections the characters can make here and there. So even if you’ve watched the videos or taken the series before, it’s still beneficial, if anything, for being an idea generator. Plus, the class was fantastic at motivating me to write.
Typically, around the halfway mark, the lecture diverges into a half-Q&A, half-storytime. Of course, each of the stories (which all begin with, “Have I told you this already?”) directly relate to Sanderson’s experience with said topic. That may be a time he had to edit a character’s motivation, or how he sold books directly to people in bookstores. He makes them fun and engaging, and a lot of his jokes were genuinely funny.
You can ask questions in each lecture, but two of the lectures are specifically dedicated to answering questions that students submit in the attendance quiz. His TA, Lynn Buchanan (author of The Dollmakers), selects the best ones.
And Brandon Sanderson isn’t the only author, though he is the primary teacher. Occasionally, he’ll invite other authors like Dan Wells to teach some things of their own. He did this twice this semester, and each one was a pleasure to attend.
And that’s about it for the lectures! Being in the front row, if the professor got to class early (which he usually did), he’d chat with us, ask what we’re majoring in, and share more stories. One time, he saw my leather-bound copy of Elantris, came up to me and said, “That looks like a book that needs to be signed!” and he signed it. I didn’t even need to wait in the line that students form after class to get it signed.
Overall, it was a delightful experience. The half-fanboy, half-author in me, was 100% satisfied with it all. I’ll probably take the class again next year with my writing group to see what other information stands out to me, and what skills I can continue to develop. So if you are thinking of taking the class, I would highly recommend it! Just be sure to say Hi if I’m there!
Reagan Larsen 
Leave a comment