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== Development ==
{{sidequote
| During my unpublished days I wrote thirteen books, only one of which was a sequel. So I had twelve new worlds, or at least twelve new books—some of them were reexaminations of worlds... But I wanted to be writing big epics. This is what I always wanted to do; something like the Wheel of Time. So I began plotting a large, massive series where all these books were connected, so I could kind of "stealth" have a large series without the editors knowing I was sending them books from the same series. It was mostly just a thing for me, to help me do the writing I wanted to be doing. And then when publication came I continued to do that, and told the story behind the story.
| Brandon on the beginnings of the cosmere{{wob ref|10182}}
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When Brandon was beginning writing and trying to get published, he loved gigantic epic fantasy series. He knew, however, that starting with a big series might not be the best idea. If he wrote four books in a series, and the first one didn't get published, he couldn't submit his sequels.{{wob, ref|9813}}so Hehe decided instead to focus on standalonesstandalone and trilogiesstories. NotHowever, onlyhe wouldstill theyloved bethe easieridea of a huge epic series, so he decided to marketcreate a "hidden" epic to publisherslink his novels together. Brandon had seen other authors who made a single universe for all their books, like Isaac Asimov, but Brandondidn't alsolike wantedhow Asimov peoplehad to trustretcon hisand writingshoehorn beforethings diggingtogether intoto somethingconnect their books, and so wanted to build the cosmere from the beginning, so it would always be biggerconsistent.{{wob ref|9813}}
Some ideas that came into the worldbuilding of the cosmere came from Plato's theory of forms, which contributed to the ideadevelopment of [[Realmatic Theory]] , and the idea of the Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual Realms. In this, the distinction of what is perceived as "ideal" and what is the true ideal is important: true ideals have much to do with the Spiritual Realm, while people's perception of ideals deals with the Cognitive Realm. Another influences is Spinoza, with the idea that God is in everything.{{wob ref|4051}} Brandon also incorporated the idea of a "unifying theory of everything" from physics to the magic in the cosmere. All magics have underlying rules, and are derived from a single unified theory of magic.{{wob ref|9007}} ▼He still loved the idea of a huge epic series, so he decided to create a "hidden" epic to link his novels together. His ideas for this connected universe--the cosmere--came about when he wrote [[Elantris (book)|Elantris]], [[Mistborn (series)|Mistborn]], [[White Sand]], and [[Mythwalker]] (which became [[Warbreaker]]).{{wob ref|9813}} Brandon had seen other authors who made a single universe for all their books, like Isaac Asimov, but Brandon didn't like how Asimov had to retcon and shoehorn things together to connect their books. Brandon wanted to do the cosmere from the ground-up, so it would always be consistent.{{wob ref|9813}}
▲Some ideas that came into the worldbuilding of the cosmere came from Plato's theory of forms, which contributed to the idea of [[Realmatic Theory]], and the idea of the Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual Realms. In this, the distinction of what is perceived as "ideal" and what is the true ideal is important: true ideals have much to do with the Spiritual Realm, while people's perception of ideals deals with the Cognitive Realm. Another influences is Spinoza, with the idea that God is in everything.{{wob ref|4051}} Brandon also incorporated the idea of a "unifying theory of everything" from physics to the magic in the cosmere. All magics have underlying rules, and are derived from a single unified theory of magic.{{wob ref|9007}}
There is a distinct beginning, middle, and end to the cosmere sequence, and a clear sequence Brandon wants to tell.{{wob ref|7744}} There's about 36 main cosmere books, and Brandon has three "core" cosmere series: [[Dragonsteel]], [[Mistborn (series)|Mistborn]], and [[the Stormlight Archive]],{{wob ref|2643}}{{wob ref|6472}} which are well-planned out.{{wob ref|4036}} Dragonsteel is the start of the cosmere sequence that will tell [[Hoid]]'s backstory{{wob ref|10012}} and, presumably, the Shattering of [[Adonalsium]]. Mistborn will have four big trilogies, its last one being science fiction, deals heavily with the cosmere{{wob ref|1110}} and has travel between the different planets of the cosmere.{{wob ref|9762}} Stormlight Archive is set in the middle of the cosmere sequence.{{wob ref|9869}} Generally, the cosmere will not come into the forefront until Dragonsteel or the final Mistborn trilogy,{{wob ref|6868}} and the final Mistborn trilogy is one of the last cosmere series, if not the last. Brandon has said it will all fit together, and thinks we'll be impressed.{{wob ref|6496}}
{{sidequote
| I hope that people will stick with me for all these books, because I'll do a lot of them. But they will fit together in some really cool ways once they are all done. I think you'll be very very impressed, but that's a while off.
| Brandon on the cosmere{{wob ref|6496}}
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The cosmere sequence has a clear story that Brandon wants to tell and is fairly firmly outlined as 35 novels, plus a variety of novellas and other works, with [[Dragonsteel]], [[Mistborn (series)|Mistborn]], and [[the Stormlight Archive]] forming the core of that story.{{wob ref|7744}}{{wob ref|13550}} Dragonsteel will tell [[Hoid]]'s backstory and the story of the [[Shattering of Adonalsium]];{{wob ref|13550}} Mistborn will have four series, following [[Scadrial]] from the [[Final Empire]] to the development of faster-than-light travel and the interaction between the various planets;{{wob ref|9005}}{{wob ref|5343}} The Stormlight Archive will be split into two arcs of five books each and is the story of the clash between the people of [[Roshar]] and [[Odium]].{{wob ref|3380}} Generally, knowledge of the cosmere as a whole will not be necessary until Dragonsteel and the final Mistborn trilogy, which are the beginning and the conclusion respectively of the cosmere sequence{{wob ref|6868}}
At the start of Brandon's career, he wrote cosmere novels in chronological order, but there are books that are skipped, like Dragonsteel and White Sand,{{wob ref|9869}} some of his earlier, unpublished novels. (Those unpublished novels would need to be rewritten from scratch, much like Brandon rewrote The Way of Kings.{{wob ref|10222}}) He wanted these cosmere novels to not require knowledge of previous books in the hidden epic of the cosmere. Generally, clues to the cosmere are currently easter eggs, and will not be in the forefront. However, more hints to the greater universe are inevitable, and eventually the worlds will cross over and interact,{{wob ref|9019}} perhaps in the last Mistborn trilogy.
Hoid, a character who appears in each cosmere novel, is one such easter egg. It is not random where he is; Brandon has said that if Hoid appears in a place, that place is about to be very dangerous.{{wob ref|4778}} Hoid is doing things behind the scenes, and at some point, we might have Hoid short stories explaining what is doing and why.{{wob ref|4502}}{{wob ref|4039}} There are also other people who cross between worlds that eventually Brandon thinks will be much clearer later, once we see those characters more.{{wob ref|10546}} But for now, they are easter eggs.
Brandon does not feel that the cosmere is restrictive to his writing.{{wob ref|6496}} Though cosmere novels are intensive, as they require more planning and specific rules{{wob ref|7655}} (Brandon has continuity editors, like [[Peter Ahlstrom|Peter]] and Karen Ahlstrom, on his internal wiki to keep it straight{{wob ref|9758}}), he feels that if he needs to take a break, he can just write a non-cosmere novel. Those "breather" novels are used to keep Brandon creatively engaged, and are almost always non-cosmere.{{wob ref|9015}} If there is a concept he really wants to write but doesn't fit in the limitations of the cosmere, he moves it into a non-cosmere book.{{wob ref|12393}} ▼
[[The Rithmatist]] used to be a cosmere novel, and its magics take many elements from cosmere magics,{{wob ref|9827}} but Brandon decided that Earth is not in the cosmere, nor any alternate Earths.{{wob ref|7879}}
▲Brandon does not feel that the cosmere is restrictive to his writing.{{wob ref|6496}} Though cosmere novels are intensive, as they require more thorough planning and specificcontinuity rules{{wobmaintenance, ref|7655}} (Brandon also has continuityan editors,internal wiki and people like [[Peter Ahlstrom|Peter]] and Karen Ahlstrom , onwho hishelp internalhim wikikeep tothe keepcosmere iton straighttrack.{{wob ref| 97589015}} ),{{wob heref|9610}} feelsWhen thatBrandon iffeels like he needs to take a break , hefrom canthe justmore writestringent arequirements of the non-cosmere , novel.he'll Thoseturn "breather"to novelswork areon useda toless keepintensive Brandonnovel creativelyor engagednovella, andwhich are almost always non-cosmere.{{wob ref|9015}} If there is a concept he really wants to write but doesn't fit in the limitations of the cosmere, he moves it into a non-cosmere book ; for example, [[The Rithmatist]], started as a cosmere novel, and its magics take many elements from cosmere magics, but Brandon decided that he did not want a version of Earth in the cosmere, and so moved it to its own universe.{{wob ref| 1239310860}}
Eventually, there will be an official timeline for cosmere events.{{wob ref|4093}} There will probably be a cosmere encyclopedia at some point, but not for a long time.{{wob ref|4091}} It is more likely there will be Stormlight and Mistborn worldbooks first.{{wob ref|4912}} There will eventually be a [[Shadesmar]] map and star map for the cosmere that is released.{{wob ref|1392}}
Brandon does generally plan out which cosmere hints to give to fans, but sometimes he gives hints on the fly. Usually, fans are able to pry much more than he initially intended to tell.{{wob ref|4910}}
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