You have written essays about two of “Sanderson’s Laws” thus far. Are there other laws?
Yeah, there are, but I haven’t managed to get them pithy enough, which is why there are no essays about them. [Laughs.] Once they solidified in my mind and I can explain them in a way that’s entertaining, I’ll put them up. The essays are trying to explain my process in an interesting and entertaining way.
There is another one I’m trying to work on about how everything should be interconnected in a fantasy world. Let’s go historical: Say everyone can change lead into gold. It doesn’t just change making a few people wealthy. It changes the entire dynamic of the economy; it’s going to change power balance for kingdoms and governments; the people who can do this will become resources and powerhouses. It changes everything.
In fantasy, one of the big things we need to do is explain the ramifications of making small changes. Figuring out how to reduce that to a pithy law is something I haven’t figured out yet, but that will be Sanderson’s Third Law, at length. We’ll figure out how to do that eventually.
The essays referred to are: Sanderson’s First Law ; Sanderson’s Second Law .
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