Game of Thrones Author Won't Change How He Writes for Impatient Fans

[Nurb]

He can say "Fuck you" all he wants, but it won't change the reality that the odds are against you when you're a very overweight 65 year old self-confessed slow writer that gets slower with every book release, giving an estimated series completion time of 10-14 years

 

[nevarran]

I stopped caring about the Song after book four and that one was tremendous disappointment. From what I've heard about book 5, it's no better.
My guess - the guy lost it. That's why he's dragging.
If the last one gets out, I'll finish it.
If he dies, that would obviously be sad.
If the show surpass the books, that would be pity... or maybe not, they may do a better job than him.

 

[Quellist]

I think a lot of over entitled fans need to get off their high horse and realise Martin doesn't owe them anything and if he decides to toss his next book in an incinerator and post it on YouTube its his right and they can do fuck all about it.

Leave the man alone and maybe he might spend more time writing and less bitching at annoying fans

 

[GAunderrated]

I stopped caring about the Song after book four and that one was tremendous disappointment. From what I've heard about book 5, it's no better.
My guess - the guy lost it. That's why he's dragging.
If the last one gets out, I'll finish it.
If he dies, that would obviously be sad.
If the show surpass the books, that would be pity... or maybe not, they may do a better job than him.

I wonder who told you that about book 5. I had real trouble going through book 4. I stopped halfway through for a few months and finally finished it but was able to blaze through book 5 with little problem. I'd recommend you give book 5 a shot.

 

[jklinders]

I'm always amused and a little disappointed in people when I read articles and comments about how fans are trying to tell an artist how to work. Martin has every right to tell his so called fans to piss off. He's being a little bitchy about it but from what I've gathered the BS is getting very smelly.

If you are a fan of his work let him write in his way at his pace. He owes you nothing. He does not need to closet himself from the world to churn out books for you. He does not need to stop promoting his work, to churn out books for you. He does not need to diet and exercise to stay alive longer to churn out books for you. If I have not been abundantly 100% crystal clear here, the only person who has any say in how he conducts his personal and professional life is himself.

So how about not being assholes about it and let the man live his life? Seriously, whether it's books, music, movies or other mediums I think an artist's worst enemies are their greatest fans.

capcha

An energizer as\dvert, too bad the coffee is not doing that for me this morning.

 

[nevarran]

I wonder who told you that about book 5. I had real trouble going through book 4. I stopped halfway through for a few months and finally finished it but was able to blaze through book 5 with little problem. I'd recommend you give book 5 a shot.

Just talking with some friends, glimpsing at the reviews on Amazon.
Like I said, I lost interest in the series. There were no cool character to root for, the plot-line became tedious, I got tired of reading about shit and rape.
Good to hear you liked book 5. When/if the final chapter is available, I'd read it, just to have some closure.
Till then, there are many other books to keep me occupied.

 

[RonHiler]

GRRM doesn't owe me anything. This is an entirely true statement. But by the same token, I don't owe him anything either. He's written a series in which I've invested my interest, and I'd like to read and/or see the end of it, to see how it turns out, and that is the extent of my loyalty toward him. I owe him nothing more. And to be entirely honest, the guy seems like kind of a dick, so I don't really understand WHY I'd want to invest in him any more than that. But perhaps recent statements are just a result of him being constantly hounded for years on end, and perhaps I would react the same way under those conditions, so I will reserve judgement on that point and give him the benefit of the doubt.

GRRM has said multiple times that if he dies, the story goes with him to the grave, he would not allow anyone else to ghost write it (ala Wheel of Time). In this, he is kidding himself. The story WILL be finished, either with him or without him. This is known. If done without him, this can be done either officially through an actual writer using notes he has left, or it can be done by 5,000 rabid fans (most without any shred of talent) writing competing endings and throwing the entire thing into a cluster fuck of epic proportions. Apparently, according to GRRM, he prefers the latter, which to me is absolutely mind boggling[1].

So the only question is going to be: Does he want it finished the way he intended, or does he want it finished under someone else's reigns. If he wants to finish the story himself, then, for his own sake (not for mine or any other fan), he needs to light a fire under his ass and get it done. Because yes, he is a fat guy going into his late 60s. And at this point, the odds are not so much in his favor for him making it another 15 years. Sorry George, you can "Fuck You" to me all you want, but I gotta calls em like I sees em.

[1] This series, at least, has the advantage of the HBO adaptation, and presuming D&D are allowed to finish to the end, that will probably end up being considered the cannon ending should GRRM not be able to finish it himself, and no doubt there will be a reverse-adaptation (novelization) of the series by somebody (hopefully with some writing talent) so that those of who prefer to read the story can do so in time.

 

[Scrythe]

While I am familiar with the works of George R.R. Martin (mostly because I have a pulse and live in the U.S.), I can't say I've ever consumed anything written by him or based off anything written by him. I've never touched A Song of Fire and Ice, and I've never had the chance to take a closer look at Wild Cards.

But this...


I don't know what I can do about it, you know. I can't write many more than one word at a time. And I know myself, I'm 65 years old now; I've been writing professionally since 1971. I know my working methods. I don't work when I travel, I don't work in hotels, I don't work on airplanes, I don't work on trains. I work at home, when I have a nice, big uninterrupted block of time in which I can really lose myself in my work. And it's worked for me for my entire adult life. I'm not going to change it now because some people are too impatient to wait for the next book."

...is a mentality that I can respect. He's not a story factory to exist only to churn out entertainment for the lowest common denominator, he is a human being. He has a life, a family and he really loves his work. I can only hope that if I reach that age, I too could find the time to just sit down and do what I love, uninterrupted.

 

[Breathing Meat]

I don't know what I can do about it, you know. I can't write many more than one word at a time. And I know myself, I'm 65 years old now; I've been writing professionally since 1971. I know my working methods. I don't work when I travel, I don't work in hotels, I don't work on airplanes, I don't work on trains. I work at home, when I have a nice, big uninterrupted block of time in which I can really lose myself in my work. And it's worked for me for my entire adult life. I'm not going to change it now because some people are too impatient to wait for the next book."

Sitting there in Germany isn't going to get him any nice big uninterrupted blocks of time at home to write anything.

Yeah, I know writers are artists and artists need their muses, but honestly I'm getting sick of this guy. His problem is he has no deadline and no physical need to produce work. He's damn right his books are too successful. If he was wondering where next week's mortgage payment was coming from, he might actually finish something.

 

[Quickman]

While I understand his reasons...

Game of Thrones - 1996
A Clash of Kings - 1998
A Storm of Swords - 2000
A Feast for Crows - 2005
A Dance with Dragons - 2011
The Winds of Winter - 20XX?
A Dream of Spring - 20XX?

It took him eleven years to officially continue the story with Bran, Jon, Danaerys, Tyrion, and so on. Dance was supposed to come out in 2006/2007 but he scrapped the plans to rewrite THE ENTIRE DAMN BOOK.

.... this series has been going on for almost twenty years. The wait between books is getting longer and longer. I agree George R.R. Martin is "not my *****". I love his other anthologies as well, but writers DO DIE and leave masterpieces uncompleted. This isn't even mentioning that when other authors finish series they end up being "slightly different".

Also, I want to read the books. I don't want to find out all the information from the show. To me that's a spoiler.

The complaints that he will die before finishing a series that has been going on for twenty years, takes him five, six, or seven years to finish a reasonable 1,100 to 1,800 (per wikipedia, for Winds of Winter possible length) page story are not invalid complaints.

No, doesn't have to be a slave to the wills of those which purchased his series... but I will be damned if it isn't insincere and uncaring to shrug off fans who are concerned about finding out the ending to a series he began writing in 1996.