
Writing, Reading, Writing - Reedx
https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2020/06/23/writing-reading-writing/
======
stupidcar
It seems pretty clear from this that, had the pandemic not intervened, he
would _never_ have finished. He completed three chapters in the space of a
week, and yet still doesn't anticipate being finished until next year. Ironic
that the jokes fans made about locking him in a cell until he finished the
book have sort of come true.

------
alanfranz
9 years since last book. I understand that a writer is not a slave. But
there's a breach of trust between the author and his readers. Would you start
reading a series that you know has no ending? I suppose I would not. I trust
the author to end it.

I simply don't trust GRM with finishing his saga. He prefers doing other
things. Full stop. No insults, nothing illegal. But I won't buy anything else
from him.

~~~
thewhitetulip
I have the same feeling. I also remember how rude Neil Gaiman was about fans
who were mad at GRRM to not finish the books.

Neil was like 'he doesn't owe you anything'. But this was and is patently
wrong.

We are not seeing TWOW since 9years and the prequels are written, edited and
published. The GoT series is finished. the prequel series of night walkers is
being announced and the writing has begun.

and we are still waiting for TWOW!

This is a breach in trust, if not anything else. Sure, he can choose to write
or not write anything he wants, but readers are invested in the stories. and
it wasn't until the pandemic struck that he actually started to write the
books.

I just hope that he finishes ADOS too. That way, he'll be free to write
whichever prequel he wishes too and we'll be able to read the next 2 books
within a few years!

~~~
slowmovintarget
The author wrote the book, you bought it and read it, and hopefully enjoyed
it. They don't owe you another book.

Who taught you that you were entitled to more? Are you a patron, supporting
his way of living, the way things were once upon a time? You would be entitled
to the work, in that case. But things don't work that way now.

Neil was right.

~~~
alanfranz
> They don't owe you another book.

It's not "another book". GoT is structured as a single, very large novel,
divided in volumes, just like LOTR. There's no real ending to volumes, and
somebody starting from the 5th book would understand little to nothing about
the story.

I wouldn't require Frank Herbert to write the next Dune novel - most of them
are quite self contained. The same would be true for most novels from Rowling
so far; even though there's a "larger story" behind, books are self-contained
(with the exception of the 6th HP book). If she quits writing Cormoran Strike
novels, I wouldn't think she had breached my trust.

I bought (and spent time!) 5/7 of a novel (GoT) with the clear expectation
that it would, someday, finish. And this expectation seems still to exist -
the author never declared he's dropped the saga. It sometimes happens that a
series gets interrupted because of low sales or other problems with the author
(I can remember some comics - e.g. the Nana manga), but the GoT affair seems
_deliberate_.

Would you keep reading (and buying) books if you knew you couldn't finish
them? Would you play (and buy) videogames that you couldn't finish? There's a
kind of "trust system" that makes me buy unfinished things. If a large series,
especially an extra-successful one, where money is not the problem, doesn't
finish, there's a breach of trust.

Everything IMHO. And I'd never send any kind of threat to GRRM. But I won't
buy anything else from him, or at least anything unfinished.

~~~
thewhitetulip
> there's a breach of trust.

Exactly. And I am in the same boat as you. I don't send him hate email or
death threats, but I ain't going to buy another book of his or watch another
TV show until he finishes writing this series.

------
buster
Probably the pandemic is meant to stay until he finally finishes the book.

~~~
thewhitetulip
I had given up on the series since he started publishing prequels like Fire
and Blood, but now, I am hopeful that he'll finish the book.

He had been busy with the TV series and other things. With the pandemic
raging, I don't think he'll be super busy with Hollywood.

Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I am grateful that he did not
complete his series. Hear me out first!

When I first read The Game of Thrones, it was an ebook. I immediately bought
the paperback set, only to realise a few months later that the series is not
complete. (yes, I never google because ages ago, I was reading a Dan Brown
book, and I accidentally ruined it for me by reading out what happens in the
end).

After finishing the last book, I was stunned. No, I have read LoTR, but ASOIAF
was unlike anything I have ever read, including the Mahabharata (which, is
much more complex and originally written as Sanskrit verses).

But, that gave me motivation to finally start writing novels. I am not a
famous author just yet. I have been writing consistently for the last six
years, and I have published only one short story on Kindle a few weeks ago.

I find that GRRM has encouraged a lot of writers to write. The first thing I
did when I started to write was to read his advice for new authors and it was
great. His #1 advice is 'stop writing in my universe or Star wars universe of
JRR's universe. Creating characters and world building is a significant part
of story telling and you will not be an author until you do so. otherwise you
are just writing fan fiction'

That month, I wrote my first short story. Then my first short film script
which won the silver script award in India Film Project 2007.

Since then, I have written four full length novels. I am currently working on
my fifth novel.

And all this has been because GoT's next book isn't coming out and I was so
frustrated about that, that I started writing my own novels. (I know it does
not sound logic, but that's how I felt. Damn it, I'm writing my own novels!)

~~~
therealdrag0
Most people would just read other novels. There’s a LOT out there. But
congrats on writing your own.

~~~
thewhitetulip
Yes, but the thing is, I had always wanted to write a novel. Reading GoT and
finding it incomplete just gave me a push.

