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Brandon Sanderson knows a thing or two about worldbuilding. After all, the science fiction and fantasy author is the creator of the Cosmere literary universe. However, Sanderson believes that too many new authors get caught up with worldbuilding and says they should take a step back. After all, even J.R.R. Tolkien couldn’t worldbuild an entire world.

“A lot of authors will talk about how you want to have a giant iceberg for world-building. Meaning you have all this stuff you see, and then underneath the water, the iceberg is bigger than it is on top,” Brandon Sanderson says during a spotlight panel at New York Comic Con 2022. “The idea being that you have done all this work as a foundation for it. I find that you can’t possibly do all the world-building you need. Tolkien tried, and it took him 20 years, and there’s still holes.”

“There are very few holes in Tolkien, but there’s still stuff he didn’t get to that he would have wanted to spend world-building. Because of that, I don’t think you can realistically ever worldbuild an entire world. So, I tell people to focus on what is relevant to your characters and plot.”

For more from Brandon Sanderson, check out the complete panel video below:

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