The Daunting Expanse
When Christopher Collin released The Wishing Spell to critical acclaim, he thought he has a series of multiple bestsellers on his hands. But after two more books, much of his fanbase had dried up. Why? The novelty of seeing characters from fairytales in a new setting, the wide variety of characters, the dynamics of two twins who are character foils to eachother, the steady, easy to follow plot, and incredibly complex villain were all what made his first novel a success. But each of those concepts he committed to backfired. The good retelling of fairy tale options dried up. The number of characters constantly being introduced detracted from any one feeling truly substantial, merely passing wind. The two twins relied to much on each other to be standalone characters, and both were hampered by not being able to have either one have character growth, lest any one be left behind. The steady plot had next to no twists aside from comedic inconveniences. The first villain set way to high a bar and the next few were muted in contrast. It is simply too easy to create elements that have little shelf life, making The Land of Stories feel padded in length long before the sixth book, let alone the prequels, and they make it feel as though it is impossible to create a story that can run for over 2,500 pages without just becoming crumbs left on a plate. There is a reason why stormlight archive is half done.
Pace yourself. This is how you get it done, this is how you create a text as wide as a sea that you can truly submerge yourself in and not drown. However, it goes deeper than just keeping your cards close to your chest. You need completion compulsion, a light at the end of the tunnel to drive you onward. You need to (As Wit outlined in a monologue) stretch belief, conditioning the readers mind to be flexible and pliant to your machinations. You need to be willing to turn off some readers from ever picking up the book, fully committed to that length as a featured staple. And most importantly, the length has to be more than just more stuff of the same quality, just more bang for your buck. It has to utilize every advantage unique to a long novel, to take each knew page and not add to, but multiply the books meaning. The rest of the article will address this question: “What are the reasons to write a long book, and why don’t more writers make them?”
The first thing to understand about a long book is what the reader must invest: time. No amount of gold can by a second of time, so the author has to treasure each and every word they part with. This article assumes that the reader is willing to invest the time, so that we can focus on the pure benefits of what time brings. First, it breads artificial tension. The longer the reader goes without a twist, the more they suspect that its just on the next page. Every word is a clock ticking, with the display hidden. This tension simultaneously cultivates artificial expectations. Unconsciously, assumes that if a book is long, the destination must justify the journey, which allows the reader to develop the expectations that the author wants them to feel. This is what sets Sanderson apart from Christopher Collin. Christopher Collin started by unloading his best material, using all of the tools within his sharp, incisive style. However, I am convinced that from the very beginning, Sanderson is intentionally sandbagging, weakening his sentences for the contrasting impact. By controlling expectation, he manages to keep surprising the reader not just with twists, but with endless surges of quality as he dips further and further into his skill. Collin layed it all out on the line, and had no improvement in complexity or language with which to keep the reader interested for over 2,500 pages the series spans.
The next advantage of a long book will change the tone of the second question I posed: “Why don’t more authors write long books?” To many, it may seem obvious. Longer book equals longer time spent writing and less books finished. Even if you charge higher prices in order to make up the quantity difference, you are turning off many from trying the book out. But Sanderson does not charge a lot of money per book, and he doesn’t have to. Because he is confident that no one is buying just one of his books; they are buying them by the series. Think of it this way: If someone buys the first book and actually take the time to read a one thousand page book, then they clearly enjoyed the characters and plot enough to keep reading. The secret is that since the first book is so long, you read it across multiple weeks, with it becoming a steady part of daily life. Then, when you finish it, you have developed an addiction to Sanderson’s writing style, having grafted it into your life, and you hunger for more. An alcohol and book addiction only get worse over time, and the sunk cost fallacy will almost guarantee that the reader will finish that first book once they get past page 200.
So if the reason why authors don’t write long books is because it takes longer to write (As the monetary value balances out), but because of how difficult is to actually formulate one fluid plot that is that long. You through in too many twists and you break it. You put too much weight (Too many characters) on it then it will snap. And that isn’t even to mention that fact that, in a book that large, the chance that clunky sentences and poor word choice slips through the editing cracks is much higher. No plot, however robust, can overcome these challenges on their own. The writer is what bridges the gap, and Sanderson is that author. Remember Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time? As the series went on, the twists and revelations became hollow. After the tenth book, he had many ideas, but he had no idea how to fit all of them together, and one of the most prolific authors of all time died before he could unnravel that mystery. However, there are thirteen books in Wheel of Time. And that is because Sanderson brought the same fluid perspective shifts, escalating skill, and mastery of using many miniscule twists instead of large ones that damage the integrity of the plot. Back to Stormlight. The Chase Verdict: Stormlight archive has the most epic scale of any modern novel. If even a single one of the idea I layed out seems interesting or compelling, than you will find that the entire journey is cut from the same cloth. If it fits you, you’re literary wardrobe will be full and you will have delved deeper into the very limits of literature’s capacity.