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An Hour With Harriet

2012-04-30: I had the great pleasure of speaking with Harriet McDougal Rigney about her life. She's an amazing talent and person and it will take you less than an hour to agree.

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The Bell Tolls

2012-04-24: Some thoughts I had during JordanCon4 and the upcoming conclusion of "The Wheel of Time."

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WoT Interview Search

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Your search for Writing fain yielded 25 results

  • 1

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (1 March 2011)

    Finally, the first Mat viewpoint comes almost 1/3 into The Dragon Reborn. It just doesn't feel like the Wheel of Time to me until Mat is himself.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Amanda on Facebook points out that it was good RJ waited to give a Mat VP; if it had been earlier, he'd have felt less awesome.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    This is a good insight; dagger-tied Mat was frail, paranoid; that might have tainted perception of him strongly if we'd had a VP.

    DARTH ANDREA

    I have always felt that in The Eye of the World Mat was just baggage, in The Great Hunt he was a McGuffin, but in The Dragon Reborn his story truly starts.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Agreed.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Siuan to Mat: You remind me of my uncle...died pulling children out of a burning house... Will you be there when the flames are high?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    This feels like a perfect place for him to step to center stage, as this is the book where we lose Rand for the first time.

    KURT MADSEN

    Wait, we lose Rand!?!

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    He's not in the third book very much. He comes back in the fourth.

    JUSTIN BRADY

    Do you have any insight into how at the start of The Dragon Reborn, Rand appears more 'mad' than he was at the end of The Great Hunt?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    He is doing a poor job of dealing with having killed a person for the first time.

    FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

    Brandon might be speaking from the notes, but I rather thought it had more to do with the fact that he was proclaimed against his will by the heroes of the horn, and by his battle being broadcast for all of Falme. He was trying to resist saidin and failing, trying to figure out what to do with it and failing, and Callandor was calling him in his dreams. Who knows what else was in his dreams. He was channeling tainted saidin, and suffering from the unhealing wound given to him by Ishamael (presumably with the True Power). Turak played a part in the downward spiral, but I don't think it was really the catalyst. (Though knowing Rand, it was probably a convenient thing to dwell upon so as to avoid having to dwell too much upon the rest.) And of course, Turak was not the first person he killed, though Rand apparently didn't realize he killed Aginor (this has actually been debated) and the men in Four Kings.

    J MICHAEL SCHMIDT

    I hear you loud and clear! I love when [Mat] first learns about his Luck. Was RJ method writing it feels real watching Mat?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    RJ was a 'method writer' in many ways. He very much got into a character. Harriet tells stories about it.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    @josephpeavey asked me to share a story about RJ "Method writing." Well, Harriet had a great one...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    She says she'd catch him slinking into the house, walking with a different mood. She knew he'd been writing Padan Fain that day.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: Jun 26th, 1996

    Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)

    Edward Henry

    Do you have a favorite character? If so whom, and how do you avoid doing bad things to those you "love"?

    Robert Jordan

    One, my favorite character is always the one I am writing at that moment, even when I'm writing one of the Forsaken or Padan Fain. I always try to get into that character's skin, so that I can write about that character with success. As far as doing things to characters I like, well, if the story calls for bad things to happen, so shall it be. We do not all make it to the end of the road, however good or fair.

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  • 3

    Interview: Aug 30th, 1999

    Question

    Who is your favourite character?

    Robert Jordan

    Whoever I am writing at the moment. That's no lie. Whoever's head I'm inside, whoever the point of view character is and it doesn't matter who that is. If I am writing from Semirhage's point of view I have to like Semirhage to a certain extent. I have to like Semirhage because most people do like themselves to a certain extent. And if I don't, then Semirhage comes across as phony. My wife claims that she can tell when I've been writing certain people. There are days that I've gone into the house and I haven't taken three steps before she says, "Ahaa, you've been writing Padan Fain today, haven't you?"

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  • 4

    Interview: Oct, 2000

    Orbit Interview (Verbatim)

    Orbit Books

    Which character in the Wheel of Time do you most identify with?

    Robert Jordan

    I always identify most with the character from whose point of view I am trying to write at that moment. I try to get inside their heads, inside their skins. Sometimes this has disadvantages. I have gone into the house at the end of the day and, before I can say a word, my wife has said to me, "You were writing Padan Fain today, weren't you?" Inevitably, when she says this, I have indeed been writing some character you would not like to be alone with. But if you mean which character do I think is most like me, well, Lan Mandragoran expresses the ideals I was raised to aspire to, while Perrin is perhaps most like me as a boy and young man. On the other hand, my wife claims I am a perfect Loial!

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  • 5

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2000

    Jeff Zervos from Long Island, NY

    Mr. Jordan, The Wheel Of Time series is an incredible piece of work. It is truthfully beyond anything I have ever read, including the works of Tolkien. Is there any advise you could give to an aspiring writer who is having a terrible time getting started with his story? I'm also an amateur actor and I look forward to auditioning for the part of Padan Fain one day.

    Robert Jordan

    The only advice I can give is to keep writing! But if you want to audition for the part of Padan Fain, maybe you ought to seek psychiatric help!

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  • 6

    Interview: Jan, 2001

    SFBC

    If you had to pick three characters in your books, who would be your favorites?

    Robert Jordan

    I can't pick three characters who are my favorites because my favorite is always whoever I am writing at the moment; that is, whoever is the point of view character for any given scene, I like that person and I like that person more than anyone else. I think that's a very basic human emotion. We like ourselves. And the reason that sacrificing yourself for someone else is such a big thing is because we do like ourselves very strongly. Now, if I don't like that character that I'm writing more than I like any of the others, then the character doesn't come out as being real.

    There's something tainted in the writing. Something false.

    SFBC

    That's an excellent point.

    Robert Jordan

    Because I'm trying to get inside that character's skin, inside their head while I'm doing it. My wife will surprise the devil out of me. I'll come into the house with the day's writing, and before I've even said a word, she'll say to me, "Oh, you've been writing Padan Fain today, haven't you?"

    And what's really frightening about it is one, I haven't said a word, and two, that even if it wasn't Padan Fain, it was somebody else that you really don't want to be alone with.

    SFBC

    That's really giving some life to the characters.

    Robert Jordan

    That's what I try to do. I think the characters are the most important part. The story flows from character. That's something I've always believed. If your characters are not as real as you can make them, then everything else begins to fall apart.

    SFBC

    By doing it that way, it gives your work a three-dimensional quality that makes it seems like if anything happens to a certain character, the reader feels, "oh, no, this isn't fair!"

    Robert Jordan

    Thank you.

    SFBC

    I have to say that one of my personal favorites is Nynaeve.

    ROBERT JORDAN

    Well, a lot of people like Nynaeve. I've noticed something interesting over the years about Nynaeve. I have had a number of women tell me how much they dislike Nynaeve. But what's interesting is that when I talk with other people who know a woman who's told me how much she dislikes Nynaeve, it turns out that she, herself, is a lot like Nynaeve. What this means, I have no idea.

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  • 7

    Interview: Apr 4th, 2001

    Question

    One standard question or another leading to the usual anecdote of him assuming the identity of his characters, getting inside their heads:

    Robert Jordan

    Before they saw me, they had assumed that Robert Jordan was the penname of a woman, because, they said, no man could write women that well.

    Although I seem to remember an interesting bit here about you not wanting to meet him after he'd just written somebody like Hannibal Lector. Sometimes he'd come down for dinner and Harriet, without him having said a word, would say, "You've been writing Padan Fain again, haven't you?" And although it would not always be Padan Fain, it would be one of the non-pleasant characters.

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  • 8

    Interview: Apr 5th, 2001

    Robert Jordan

    The standard 'Harriet saying you've been writing Padan Fain again, haven't you?' anecdote came along. [Now I remember that the character he mentioned actually writing was Semirhage.]

    He again mentioned the list of writers: Holdstock, Powers, Ford, Friedman, Jones.

    He likes George R.R. Martin's books, gave him a quote for his first book.

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  • 9

    Interview: Nov 6th, 1998

    Therese Littleton

    It seems that some of your readers don't think of your novels as fantasy so much as a really fine-grained history of a world that might have existed or might yet exist. Do you perceive your world as real?

    Robert Jordan

    I think that I have to. Any writer has to try and think of his world as real, because if he thinks of it as a construct, that's going to come across to the readers. It's very much like the question I'm often asked: who is my favorite character. It's whoever I'm writing at the moment. Even someone like Padan Fain or Semirhage. Most people like themselves, and if I don't like the character I'm writing, then it's going to come across to the reader that this character doesn't like himself or herself. My wife says she can tell when I've been writing Padan Fain or somebody like that when I come into the kitchen in the evening. I make myself see this as a real place when I'm working on it. That way it comes through, I hope, that I see more than I write.

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  • 10

    Interview: Dec 9th, 2002

    Dragonmount

    Your husband once commented that he could walk into the room and you would know who he was writing about. If this is true, do you ever make him wait outside until he can stop being someone, for example, Padan Fain?

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    Well, I don't know EXACTLY who he's been writing, but if he's been writing somebody awful, like Padan, yes, I do know it. I never make him wait outside. I just hug him and give him a kiss, and he generally shakes himself like a retriever and begins to come out of it.

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  • 11

    Interview: Jul 22nd, 2004

    Jason Denzel

    FRIDAY 23 July 2004

    Things went even more smoothly on Friday.

    Les Dabel picked them up again and I met them at the curb. RJ was in a great mood and had a smile on his face pretty often. This time we went right to the autograph area where a table had been setup for him to sign books. The Dabel Brothers and their team were all there. There were other celebrities nearby: I think Stan Lee was over at the next table signing photos of himself.

    RJ signed books for about an hour. Again, he was able to personalize most of them, and there were few enough people where he was able to sign as many as they brought. One guy had 12 or 13 things for him to sign: all ten WoT novels, plus the Guide, some promo items I had sent out, and even some copies of Jordan's other books.

    Robert Jordan

    After the signing was over, Harriet and RJ had some lunch plans. I met up with them a few hours later when it was time for the second panel discussion. This one was entitled "Painting the Big Picture—Speculative Fiction on a grand scale".

    During this discussion, RJ was much more talkative. He spoke quite frequently, at length at times. He cracked several jokes. He talked about many things he's talked about before: how he writes seven days a week, sometimes misses lunch, how Harriet can tell when he's been writing Padan Fain, how when we goes fishing and they aren't biting he feels like he should still be writing instead, and how he is the OLD TESTAMENT GOD in the lives of his characters.

    Jason Denzel

    Afterwards, I met up with him and Harriet and escorted them over to the final book signing of the weekend. It was by far the most popular one, and so I suggested that people just have two books signed per trip through the line. (If you were somebody in line with more than two books, sorry!! That rule always bugged me whenever I went to book signings, but now I see why they do it.) In the end, everyone had time to get all of their books signed. The few people who had brought suitcases of books (yes, suitcases!) were patient enough to just wait until the end, and then RJ signed all of their stuff.

    After the signing, the Dabels took them back to their hotel and I went to go watch the special The Return of the King footage from the Extended Edition DVD. :)

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  • 12

    Interview: Oct 11th, 2005

    Question

    The next question was about women and men characters. The questioner said that the women characters seemed to be written by a different person, and wanted to know if that person was Harriet. It got a big laugh.

    Robert Jordan

    He answered NO and then proceeded to say that he tries very hard to get into the character he's writing about. He mentioned that sometimes when he's helping Harriet prepare dinner she'll go, "Have you been writing about Padan Fain today?" He said she's usually spot on, though it might not be Padan Fain but Semirhage, or Graendal or someone of that ilk.

    He then told a story about how when he was a little boy (I didn't catch the age but I would guess 5 or younger) a neighbor woman went to pick him up. He mentioned that he had noticed the way the dress shifted with her movements and how unlike it was with his mother and how the perfume this woman was wearing was different than his mothers, and when this woman went to pick him up she slipped a bit and his "face got buried in her busom" and he felt a bit light headed. (big laugh) The woman laughed and called him precocious. He then said that ever since that day he's paid special attention to women. He said that he's paid so much attention to women that he now has an insight into how they react. This is why he has tried to create a gender equal environment in WoT.

    NaClH2O

    I'm going to break it here because this is getting very long.

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  • 13

    Interview: Oct 21st, 2005

    Steve

    From what I have read he followed what seems to be the standard evening of the greeting, followed by a pronounceable guide from him—names and the like. Then he opened the floor to questions. He responded to all questions with candor and seriousness but also enjoyed the tangential, question-spawned stories.

    Robert Jordan

    One of my favorite parts of the evening was when a question pointed him at who he felt he most resembled and someone in the audience suggested Loial because "he was a big teddy-bear" (yes, you may surmise this was posed by a woman...). He laughed at that and said that an old girlfriend used to call him a "teddy-bear but knew that he wasn't because she had seen the shadow of the man walking next to her and it more resembled a grizzly-bear..." He enjoyed the memory...

    Never said who he felt closest to but did say, again, that it depended on who he was writing that day... He said he hated it when he came into her room and his wife would say, "You've been writing Padan Fain today!" Needless to say, he implied he wasn't popular on those days!

    I was also pleased to hear him say that Lan had been modeled after his father. If only we could all be that type of father!

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  • 14

    Interview: 2001

    Thus Spake the Creator (Paraphrased)

    Terez

    This is a collection of quotes that were organized by Raina (presumably an old rasfwrj person) some time in 2001. Most of the original sources for the quotes she collected were found online, so those quotes aren't included here. These are only the leftover quotes, and as a result we have no idea where they came from or when they were asked, unless there are clues in the text. Sometimes it's not entirely clear if consecutive paragraphs are from different reports or the same report. We are, however, always searching for these lost interviews, and when we find them, we'll delete the quotes from this collection. I'll include Raina's introductory comments below, along with a list of the categories, each of which links to a Google Doc containing a link to the original category and an annotated copy of the page's original contents, linking to known sources and highlighting lost sources, which are the ones included here. Raina also drew from these interviews for her collection (and those quotes are not included here):

    SOURCES

    Letter to Tom McCormick: December 1993
    Sense of Wonder interview: October 1994
    Compuserve chat: October 19, 1994
    AOL chat 1: October 21, 1994
    AOL chat 2: October 21, 1994
    Sci-fi Channel Interview: April 23, 1995
    East of the Sun Con�Karl Johan Nor�n: June 16, 1995
    East of the Sun Interview�Helena Lofgren: June 17, 1995
    Balticon XXX�Bill Garrett: April 5, 1996
    Balticon XXX�Pam Korda: April 6, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Brian Ritchie: June 21, 1996
    Compuserve chat: June 26, 1996
    AOL chat 1: June 27, 1996
    AOL chat 2: June 27, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Hawk: August 4, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Robert Watson: August 23, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Lara Beaton: August 23, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Greebs: August 25, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Erica Sadun: October 9, 1996
    ACOS Signing Report�Mike Lawson: October 12, 1996
    AOL chat: October 19, 1996
    DragonCon Sci-Fi Channel chat: June 28, 1997
    Barnes and Noble chat: November 11, 1997
    Waldenbooks Interview: October 1998
    Barnes and Noble chat: October 19, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Aaron Bergman: October 20, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Pam Basham: October 22, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Drew Gillmore: Octoer 24, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Justin Howell: October 24, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Chris Mullins: October 24, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Rick Moen: October 25, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Kevin Bartlett: October 29, 1998
    Sci-fi.com chat: November 1, 1998
    Amazon.com interview: November 6, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Matthew Hunter: November 14, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Michael Martin: November 15, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�John Hamby: November 18, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Melinda Yin: November 18, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�John Nowacki: November 20, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�John Hamby: November 21, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�Rachel K. Warren: November 21, 1998
    TPOD Signing Report�John Novak: November 21, 1998
    Brisbane Signing Report�Joel Gilmore: September 21, 1999
    Locus Magazine Interview: March 2000
    Orbit interview: October 2000
    Barnes and Noble chat: November 11, 2000
    WH Signing Report�Ryan R.: November 12, 2000
    Sci-fi.com chat: November 14, 2000
    CNN chat: December 12, 2000
    Author's Table Interview: 2001
    Leiden Signing Report�Aan'allein: April 2001
    Amsterdam Signing Report�Aan'allein: April 5, 2001
    Rotterdam Signing Report�Aan�allein: April 6, 2001
    Dromen and Demonen chat: April 6, 2001
    Elf Fantasy Fair�Aan'allein: April 7, 2001
    Elf Fantasy Fair�Aan'allein: April 8, 2001
    Interview with RJ�Kurafire: April 10, 2001
    Marcon Report�Sorilea: May 2001

    Raina

    Below are collected various Jordan questions and answers, and reports from interviews. Not all quotes are guaranteed to be here, although I try to be thorough, and in some cases I've deleted answers that repeat material more or less verbatim. They are organized into categories by topic, and some are in more than one category, so you shouldn't find it hard to find a quotation you're looking for. Try 'Miscellaneous' if none of the categories seem to fit. As for such categories as 'Sex and Sexuality' and 'Bela'�you asked the questions, I just sort them.

    And please stop asking who killed Asmodean or if Moiraine will be back. 'Read And Find Out' is already far too long!

    In several cases, the people who provided the quotes have included comments of their own on the questions or answers. As such, any interpretations of Jordan's words do not necessarily represent my personal opinion. A few comments were written by me, and they are in blue text and signed Like this�Raina. so you should have no trouble working out which is which.

    Robert Jordan Himself
    How long will the series be, how long will it take, and does he know the end?
    What if he dies before finishing it?
    How did the series originate?
    How does he go about writing the books?
    What are his sources and inspirations?
    What else has Jordan written?
    What else is in the Wheel of Time universe?
    What is he planning to write?
    Fan reaction to the books
    Spin-offs: movies and so forth
    The Wheel of Time game
    Fantasy as a genre
    Jordan and Tolkien
    Advice to aspiring writers
    Guide Art and Cover Art
    WoT versus reality
    Themes of the series
    What books does Jordan read?
    Timing of events in the series

    Workings of the Wheel
    Women and Men
    The One Power, the True Power, and channeling
    The Dragon
    The Heroes and the Horn
    Tel'aran'rhiod and other dreams
    The Age of Legends
    Is he his characters?
    Rand al'Thor
    Mat Cauthon
    Perrin Aybara
    Egwene al'Vere
    Nynaeve al'Meara/Mandragoran
    Moiraine Damodred
    Al'Lan Mandragoran
    Min Farshaw
    Elayne Trakand
    Aviendha
    Thom Merrilin
    Faile ni Bashere t'Aybara
    Berelain Paeron sur Paendrag
    Tam and Kari al'Thor
    Padan Fain
    The Daughter of the Nine Moons
    Birgitte and Gaidal Cain
    Verin Mathwin
    Cadsuane Melaidhrin
    Galad Damodred
    Sharina Melloy
    The Shadow
    The Black Ajah
    The Forsaken
    Shadar Logoth
    Slayer
    The White Tower
    The Black Tower
    Warders and the Bond
    The Aiel
    The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn
    The Oath Rod
    Language and the Old Tongue
    The Ogier
    Geography
    Theology
    Prophecy
    Blademasters
    Other Lands (Shara, Seanchan, the Land of the Madmen)
    Sex and Sexuality
    Bela
    Trivia
    Miscellaneous
    Read and Find Out!
    Questions for the future
    Raina's Hold

  • 15

    Interview: Jan 29th, 2008

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm very interested in the way that Mr. Jordan expanded the viewpoints in this book. Here is where we first begin to see the scope of this story, in my opinion, as we start to get viewpoints from Moiraine, Fain, and numerous others. This is one of the things I've always liked about Mr. Jordan's writing—in fact, it may have been one of his greatest talents. His ability to craft a very intense, well-written, and engaging third-person-limited viewpoint. If there's one thing I could pick to learn from his writing, it would be how to do such a good third limited.

    I'm about halfway through the read right now, and like how quickly-paced this book is moving. Sometimes, readers get down on Jordan for his pacing, but I've found that these first books move at a real clip. I think the shifting viewpoints in this book is how I prefer it; I remember that later, he starts to divide the books in chunks, having a large section from one viewpoint, then moving to another viewpoint for a long time. We'll have to see how I feel about that when I get to it, but for now, I like having short chapters moving from viewpoint to viewpoint so I never lose track of anyone for too long.

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  • 16

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2009

    Question

    One fan said his favorite character was Padan Fain and ask if we would see more of him.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon responded that he could not say, but joked that he may or may not have been writing about him on the train.

    Paul Grow

    I laughed and said as I was typing that "Brandon said Padan Fain will be in the next book."

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon looked at me with little humor, saying "I did NOT say that."

    Paul Grow

    So let that be a warning to you and to me. I take full responsibility for this media report, I hope I get everything right but anyone can make a mistake or misunderstand something, so reader beware.

    Tags

    fain,

  • 17

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2009

    Question

    Please tell me all you can about the potential novella that fills in holes? What holes? Who? Where will it be published if written? Is this material that you really wanted to include in Towers of Midnight or The Gathering Storm but just couldn't fit in? How does this match up with your feeling about not writing other stuff in the WOT world?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are about 50,000 words of secondary plots that Sanderson wants to include in Towers of Midnight. He's just not sure all of it will get into the book. If something gets cut, he'd like to get to his fans on his website.

    This lead to quite a bit of discussion about Towers of Midnight. It will be a very different book from The Gathering Storm. The Gathering Storm was very intentionally focused. Brandon felt strongly that a 'hit' wasn't good enough, that The Gathering Storm needed to be a home run. (At the table, we all thought it was a home run.) Towers of Midnight will need to catch up many plot threads and will be much less focused. This will have its problems and it will be a big struggle to find the right balance—they aren't there yet in the writing process. Brandon mentioned a few plots as examples which strongly suggests they will be in Towers of Midnight—Loial, Lan, Fain, Taim, Logain, Elayne, if Mat does what fans think he will, etc.

    kcf

    My impression is that the novella, will actually be a series of prologue-like scenes that just don’t make it into the final book.

    Brandon Sanderson

    This also lead to lots of discussion on the Encyclopedia. It will include lots of spoilery stuff that doesn't make it into the books. But, there are several examples in the notes where RJ specifically says that certain plots will not be revealed. Someone asked about Merilille—the Aes Sedai in Caemlyn who ran away with a Sea Folk apprentice. It was implied that this may be a thread that goes unresolved.

    Footnote

    The novella was to be about Pevara and the events at the Black Tower. Brandon later decided that the novella probably wasn't going to work. He got two chapters into Towers of Midnight and the rest into A Memory of Light.

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  • 18

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2010

    Question

    Are there any characters in particular you find hard to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are several that I've had more trouble with than others, and in that case, I generally work on them quite a long time. Aviendha, when I first started writing her, was probably the most difficult to get the voice right. There are characters that I write that are more difficult to write than others for different reasons. For instance, Gawyn is kind of...frustrated with himself, and when you step into a character's viewpoint, you start to feel and think like them; that's the goal. And so, him being frustrated with himself and his purpose in life makes it hard to write his scenes, because you feel frustrated and things like that, and Harriet has a great story about that.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    One of the things that happens with a writer, which certainly happened with Jim (Jordan's real name, FYI), was he was often asked "what was his favorite character?" and he said, "whoever I'm writing today." Because he understood that villains don't think they're villains. They are doing what the world or the devil or something outside has forced them to do. So they think of themselves as gallant victims, generally, while they're slitting somebody's throat. But I could tell when he'd been writing somebody awful. He'd come in the kitchen door at supper time and he'd slink around the walls! I said, "You've been writing Padan Fain today, haven't you?" "How did you know?!"

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  • 19

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2010

    Question

    Somebody asked who his least favorite character is to write.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said it was probably Gawyn. He said when you write a character, you try to think like them, and Gawyn is so frustrated with his situation that Brandon would get frustrated writing him. He asked Harriet to tell a funny story about Jim.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    Jim would get into his characters so much that sometimes when he came to dinner I could tell who he had been writing. For example he would come in kinda hunched and slinking around near the walls and I would say "Have you been writing Padan Fain?" (Harriet and Brandon laugh)

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  • 20

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2010

    Question

    Somebody asked who his favorite villain is to write.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He says that he enjoys a lot of them, but that writing Padan Fain is very enjoyable, because by this point in the story he is just bonkers (his word) so it's fun to write such an insane perspective. He said specifically, the excerpt Harriet read aloud was pretty much his favorite to write. (see above)

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  • 21

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    Everyone's favorite Wheel of Time question has been answered—after Towers of Midnight, we now know who killed Asmodean. It doesn't seem right to leave you without a WoT question, so in honor of Asmodean: What do you think would happen if Rand managed to hurl Padan Fain through the Bore into the Dark One's prison?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Dark One would spit him back out because he tastes bad.

    In honor of Asmodean, I'll say that there is a mysterious death in The Way of Kings that could use some resources devoted to it. I did not put it in there simply because of Asmodean, but as I thought about it after writing it, I said, "Oh wow, I wonder if people will pick up on that." So there you go.

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  • 22

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2009

    gammahunter

    My friend asked about his favorite character, Padan Fain, wondering where he has been for the best three books.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He wanted to include him in The Gathering Storm. He then said he 'may or may not have been' writing about him on the train ride on the way to the signing!

    gammahunter

    So, pretty much confirmation that Fain will be in book 13! Where do you all think he is? My friend thinks he is posing as an agent from the Dark One and manipulating Taim in the Black Tower.

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  • 23

    Interview: Feb 7th, 2013

    Question

    Did Robert Jordan have a favorite character?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes—the one that he was writing that day. She said that some days after writing he would come into the kitchen slouching and sidling up against the wall, and she would say, "Have you been writing Padan Fain today?" She went on to say that he always wrote from "a position of love" for every character.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon tells about one of the editing notes that he received from Harriet which read "Padan Fain needs more crazy."

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  • 24

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2013

    Question

    You said in The Gathering Storm, the Rand was very dark. Was his darkness in the book hard to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Rand's darkness was certainly hard to write. But there's a piece of the writer that says when this is tough, that's good. One, you're pushing yourself. Two, if it's emotionally hard for you, and you're doing this the right way, it's going to be emotionally hard on the reader, and that's a sign that they will be emotionally invested. So yes, it was hard. How did I get into the mindset? The same way I do everything. There's actually a lot of method acting to writing, where you sit down and become that character for a time. Harriet has a story about Robert Jordan and how he did it. She could always tell.

    Harriet McDougal

    I could generally tell when he came in for the evening news and supper whether he had been writing a good person or a bad person. In particular there was an evening when he came in and slammed the door, and was skulking around the wall like this [hunches up against the bookshelf behind her], and I said, "You've been writing Padan Fain, haven't you?" And he said, "How did you know?" Usually he came in and said "Hello, honey!"

    Brandon Sanderson

    So you get in the mindset and go, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and if it doesn't, you throw it away and start again the next day.

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  • 25

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Xenokaos ()

    Do you have any regrets about the Wheel of Time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do wish I'd managed to either get it all into one book, or managed the split between The Gathering Storm/Towers of Midnight better. Also, I might have tried to work Fain in more if I'd had more time. Also, there are some little continuity errors here and there that I wish I would have caught.

    It's hard to say. For example, would I have written Mat differently in The Gathering Storm if I'd had the time? Perhaps. But it was writing Mat the way I did that helped me understand him, so perhaps not. There are mistakes in the books I did, as there are in all the books I've done, but I'm not sure if the right thing to do is change them. Otherwise, we get into a Lucas-style revision-fest.

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