
George RR Martin: ‘When I began GoT I thought it might be a short story’ - ohjeez
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/10/books-interview-george-rr-martin
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kartan
> When I began, I didn’t know what the hell I had. I thought it might be a
> short story; it was just this chapter, where they find these direwolf pups.
> Then I started exploring these families and the world started coming alive

Talking about the difficulties of estimation. At least he managed to publish a
few books. Imagine that he waited to publish anything until the complete work
is finished. Sounds familiar?

~~~
scoggs
> At least he managed to publish a few books.

Beyond that he released a number of them in rapid succession. For a while
there the ideas must have just been coming as quickly as he could jot them
down. Then, for those who are in the know, he quickly ran into an issue where
continuing the plot threads he had setup all came to a confluence point where
decisions needed to be made before he was prepared to do so.

From what I understand extensive revisionary work was done. Entire sections
and chapters of the story were rewritten to accommodate for the new trajectory
for the adjusted plot lines of various involved characters. And, this is my
least positive memory of all of this, he actually brought in some outside help
to ensure he was capable of undoing what has been dubbed as the
"Meereenese_Knot":

[https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Meereenese_Knot](https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Meereenese_Knot)

For a less "as far as my terrible memory can remember" version of what I
explained above here is a quote:

> "The first three novels each came out within two years of each other, in
> 1996, 1998, and 2000 respectively. However, it took another eleven years for
> Martin to write the fourth and fifth books, A Feast for Crows (2005) and A
> Dance with Dragons (2011). Partially, this was because A Feast for Crows and
> A Dance with Dragons were originally one novel, which grew so long that
> author George R.R. Martin later decided to split it up into two books (the
> events in both happen concurrently but follow separate characters)."

Three novels from 1996 to 2000. Another 11 years for the next two. Here we
are, patiently waiting, for the 6th book of the series, "A Dream of Spring".

Of course the majority of people loudly banging their shields complaining
about Martin's lack of shipping have probably never undertaken the task of
writing a feature-length novel before. I'm sure an even more comical
percentage of those have actually released a multi-art series with anywhere
near the outrageous amount of characters, named placed, and other in-world
lore or detail that make G.R.R.M.'s work feel so "real" and "lived-in".

I know I've never sat there while reading only to think, "Oh, there's this
many more pages before it's done? This is such a boring slog." Entertainment
is a word that I feel falls short of describing the type of enjoyment I get
out of the Game of Thrones series.

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wild_preference
GoT is a good example of people being irrationally self-entitled.

Every time the subject comes up on Reddit, there are people who are genuinely
mad at the guy like he wronged them for taking so long to end-cap the series.

It reminds me of the subset of my forum users who get out their pitchforks
just because I, the creator, haven't been around for a while, like I owe them
yet more of my free time. Or as if they've paid me money and I'm squandering
it.

~~~
jl6
Not that it excuses bad behaviour of fans, but I think there are a lot of
people genuinely concerned that GRRM is going to die before he finishes it.
They’ve seen it happen before with the Wheel of Time series.

~~~
gnulinux
I have a feeling GRRM is concerned about dying a little more than his fans are
concerned of him dying... If there is a legitimate reason to believe he'll die
(age, obesity, unhealthiness etc) then maybe he doesn't even want to finish
the series and enjoy his last years of life doing something else?

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empath75
I know it’s not really the done thing but I wonder if he’d be happier if he
just hired a team of writers to finish out the series for him based on his
outline.

~~~
jacobush
He has two fans help him out.

~~~
actuator
I think that was just for 'The World of Ice and Fire'

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victor106
From the article "I was going to sleep thinking of Aegon and Jaehaerys and
waking up thinking of them and I couldn’t wait to get the typewriter."

Find it surprising that he uses a typewriter. never heard of writers using
typewriters in this day and age.

~~~
jefft255
I remember reading that he still uses a DOS computer to write his novel.

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mrfusion
I always wondered why there is so little magic in the stories universe?

Why do white walkers have acceess to magic but no one else?

~~~
amelius
Because it's just too simple an instrument to use, and viewers instinctively
know it.

~~~
PurpleRamen
Isn't that like saying science is just too simple of an instrument? Or Money?
Or personal ability? Or power to command people to do what you demand? It's
not as if magic has no rules, nor limit. It's depends on what the write makes
with it, like with every other ressource and plot-tool.

~~~
pinusc
While magic and its limits are indeed defined by the author, the problem with
fantasy worlds with widely available magic is that it usually ends up
permeating the universe and being at the center of the story. Think of Harry
Potter or LOTR or even going back in history to the tales of King Arthur. Game
of Thrones is not a fantasy tale as much as a human one.

George Martin chose to make the story about people and the struggle for power
and ideals and everything else that is human. And even with magic being barely
a presence, it still is a force able to radically influence the game - but not
much more than money, or armies, or human ability, which are still powerful
enough to be relevant.

I think if magic was more widely available, it would either have needed to be
trivial, not powerful magic, or these other resources would have suffered.

