Editing The Lost Metal

Following completion of ''[[The Alloy of Law]]'' Brandon plotted out three more books, following the same characters, to finish the story. Brandon began writing ''The Lost Metal'' in April 2021, after he finished ''[[Cytonic (book)|Cytonic]]'',{{tweet ref|1377732696865042432|Brandon's starting announcement|date=2021-04-01}} and completed the first draft on August 4, 2021.{{tweet ref|1423320505839325191|Brandon's completion announcement|date=2021-08-05}} The second draft was completed on September 20, 2021,{{wob ref|15360}} and went to beta readers and Brandon's editor shortly thereafter;{{wob ref|14971}} the beta reads concluded some time in November.{{wob ref|15360}} The post-beta read edit was done by March 7, 2022;{{reddit ref|brandonsanderson|t8v6hu|hzsps6y|context=8|text=Draft 4 completion announcement|date=2022-03-07}} it took more time to complete than Brandon had expected and resulted in the book growing longer than he had initially anticipated.{{wob ref|15411}} After that, Brandon did one final edit, which was done by May 24, 2022, before turning the book in to Tor{{url ref|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4lrVPMaMnw|text=May 24, 2022 Weekly Update|site=YouTube|date=2022-05-24}} for a November 15,{{ref|name=TorAnnouncement}} 2022 release, around when the first two Era 2 books were released in leatherbound.{{wob ref|14971}}

The book includes some information relevant to the broader [[cosmere]], including the identity of [[Trell (Trellism)|Trell]], the nature of [[trellium]],{{wob ref|14695}} and some clues about [[Kelsier]]'s plans.{{wob ref|11747}}{{wob ref|13135}} Most of those elements are more foreshadowing for [[Mistborn Era 3|''Mistborn'' Era 3]]{{wob ref|5996}} and the book mostly focuses on the characters of [[Wax]], [[Wayne]], [[Steris]], and [[Marasi]],{{wob ref|14695}}{{wob ref|14693}} though Brandon also considers the book to be slightly more cosmere-aware than any other book he has written.{{wob ref|15409}} The book begins with a [[Wayne]] flashback, rather than one of [[Wax]].{{wob ref|13838}} Early in the development process, Brandon envisioned Wax having essentially retired and the book opening with Wayne as Marasi's deputy.{{wob ref|10283}} The book includes a broadsheet, like the other books in ''Mistborn'' Era 2.{{wob ref|14602}}

The first draft of the book was about 149,000 words total;{{wob ref|14971}} in the third draft, it grew by about 25,000 words.{{bws ref|some-faqs-you-might-enjoy|Some FAQs You Might Enjoy|date=2022-03-16}} In the first draft, Part One was about 30,000 words and had two separate narratives, each with two of the main characters, and alternated viewpoints between all four main characters; Part Two was about 45,000 words and brought all four of the main characters together, continuing to alternate viewpoints; and in Part Three, the characters split again, with Marasi on her own arc of about 30,000 words, Wax and Wayne together for an arc of about 40,000 words, and Steris on her own for a short arc of about 10,000 words. Brandon wrote each of the arcs of Part Three separately from each other, which he found was a good approach as it essentially let him write the ending three times and he likes writing endings.{{wob ref|14852}} In total, Brandon predicted that Steris would have around seven or eight viewpoints.{{wob ref|14969}} The epilogue is a bit longer than normal, as it is the last book of Era 2 and Brandon wanted to linger with the characters and setting a little more.{{wob ref|14971}}