When editing both Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, were there any scenes that needed to be cut because they were “too ridiculous”?
No, for either of them. They are fabulous storytellers and did not show her ridiculous scenes. One scene of Brandon’s she cut for pacing reasons. She did have some disagreements with Robert Jordan, different opinions. Some scenes that he absolutely loved, she did not like, and vice versa. She emphasized the importance of having your editor as a trusted first reader.
Brandon mentions Dannil, the fourth Two Rivers boy, and Harriet explains that he was cut because he had nothing to do in The Eye of the World and he was boring. Robert Jordan said that he had big plans for him in the fourth book, and Harriet’s response was that if you bore your readers now, there won’t be a fourth book. Later, Robert Jordan admitted “how easily he [Dannil] unzipped out of the book.”
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