During this second Charleston visit, I sat down with Alan, Maria, and Harriet to outline my thoughts on where the last books should go. I asked for big sheets of butcher paper, and upon this I started writing down characters, plots, goals, and sequences as headings. Then, we brainstormed answers to holes. I often presented my (somewhat daring) plans for sequences Robert Jordan had not outlined. I think a lot of the things I suggested were surprising to Team Jordan—and made them worried.
My argument was this, however: Robert Jordan would not have kept the last book stale. He wouldn’t have done everything as expected. He wouldn’t have flatlined the character arcs, he wouldn’t have stopped the worldbuilding. If we played this book safe, we’d end up with a bland climax to the series. Harriet agreed, and told me to proceed with some of these plans—but with the warning that as editor, she would read and see if I pulled off the sequences. If I did, they’d go in the books. If I didn’t, we’d remove them.
This ended up working really well. It allowed me to exercise artistic freedom, driving the books in directions I felt they needed to go without limitations. Granted, I had a personal rule—I didn’t contradict Robert Jordan’s previous books, and if he had finished a scene in the notes, we were going to use it.
This might make it sound like I was trying to steer the books away from his vision. Nothing is further from the truth. In rereading his series, in getting close to his notes, I felt like I had a vision for the types of emotional beats Robert Jordan was striving for in the last book. These emotional beats required surprises, revelations, and transformations—I felt like I truly had the pulse of this series. My goal was to fulfill his vision. However, in order to do this, I needed to exercise my artistic muscles, as he would have exercised his own. I had to allow the creative writer in me to create, to tell stories.
It meant approaching these books as a writer, not a ghostwriter. Harriet understood this; she hired me rather than a ghostwriter because we had notes and fragments of scenes—not an almost-completed novel. However, she was also very right to tell me that she would act as a stabilizing force. Letting my creativity out of its proverbial Pandora’s box meant walking a dangerous line, with things that were too “Brandon” potentially consuming the series. I didn’t want to let this happen, and Harriet was the failsafe.
This is why some sequences, like the “ River of Souls “ sequence that became part of the Unfettered anthology, needed to be deleted from the books. It’s not the only one. Others include a sequence where Perrin went into the Ways.
During the process of writing these books, all members of Team Jordan offered commentary on every aspect—but a certain specialization fell out naturally. Harriet did line edits and focused on character voice. (She famously told me, regarding one of my very early Aviendha scenes, “Brandon, you’ve written an almost perfect Elayne.” It took me a few more tries to get that one right.) Maria would watch for continuity with other books. Alan would pin me down on timeline, troop movements, and tactics.
To be continued.
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