What can writers learn from Mistborn? *Spoilers*

[HezekiahKidron]

Completely agree regarding the idea of revisions and draft. I've written a handful of books, but have never seriously gone back to revise and edit. I proofread more than anything. Really, I think I missed the boat because it would have taken too much work to fix things and make them how they should be. I'd already put a bunch of time into making it how it was, and I wasn't willing to go back and do all of that work again, change things that needed changing.

Really, for me, that has been a huge realization. Time spent writing something is a sunk cost. Let it go. If I want to make the story as good as possible, I'm going to have to discard some things, change others, and  do who knows what else. That's going to take time and effort. But that's fine. It's all part of the process. My work will be better for the considerate removal of things that don't work, and the extra time to make other things better.

[syrenyx]

one thing that really impressed me most, though it was a bit frustrating at times is the relationship the reader had with the characters, or at least the relationship i had with the characters. at the beginning of WoA i was very bitter towards Vin for being the main character and pretty agitated with how she treated Orseur, among other things, but then as the story progressed, so did her character, and my view of her. i obviously came to absolutely love her. Then comes the end of that book and Elend is given Allomancy, and stronger powers than even Vin. i resented him for that for a while but then once again came to loving him like i did in the first two books. okay, well maybe it was only me who felt this way about some things, but i guess all I'm saying is that the growth of his characters is something thats subtle, but so well done. Probably something to learn from as a writer.

[Chaos]

one thing that really impressed me most, though it was a bit frustrating at times is the relationship the reader had with the characters, or at least the relationship i had with the characters. at the beginning of WoA i was very bitter towards Vin for being the main character and pretty agitated with how she treated Orseur, among other things, but then as the story progressed, so did her character, and my view of her. i obviously came to absolutely love her. Then comes the end of that book and Elend is given Allomancy, and stronger powers than even Vin. i resented him for that for a while but then once again came to loving him like i did in the first two books. okay, well maybe it was only me who felt this way about some things, but i guess all I'm saying is that the growth of his characters is something thats subtle, but so well done. Probably something to learn from as a writer.

You weren't the only one who originally disliked Elend for having Allomancy. When the Hero of Ages sample chapters were being posted on Brandon's site, there were people who did not like the new Elend, both for having a beard (in Chapter One) and having Allomancy (once Chapter Three rolled around). I'm not sure how those people feel about him now--I think they grew to like him, but I don't know. Either way, I haven't seen a single post on the forum saying that Elend's character changes were bad for the book

[melbatoast]

Regarding Elend: At the end of the second book, it felt a little bit gimmicky to me when he became a Mistborn. But after finishing HOA, it made a lot more sense because the whole god-as-metal thing is an important part of the plot. And after reading through a few more chapters which described what was going on between the books, Elend's character development was a lot more understandable. I think it worked in the end, although it was surprising at first.

[little wilson]

I loved that Elend became Mistborn. I think it's because I loved his character so much, and it made him more equal to Vin. Reminded me of David Eddings in a way--the end of the Belgariad.

Since I'm writing fantasy, the biggest thing I've learned from Brandon--before reading this thread--is the thought put into the magical element. I think it's apparent that Allomancy was thoroughly studied just by all the information in the book, and all the details that get readers thinking about it. Same with Feruchemy and Hemalurgy. It shows me that knowing your world's magical force like the "back of your hand" really adds to the consistency of the book, and the appeal on a fantasy level.

And since I've read this thread, I also see the importance of the little details, and avoiding info dumps in the beginning. That's something that I'm definitely going to apply to my current book. The beginning (of my book) is good, but it could be so much better--and I think taking out some of the info dumps and getting to the action faster will help that.