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George R. R. Martin interviewed by Anderson Cooper on GoT and ASOIAF -- "I was completely confident"

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member



George R.R. Martin: I published a fifth book in 2011, when the series was just going on the air. So, I was, like, five books ahead. I was completely confident that I would have the entire series finished, and "Winds of Winter" and "A Dream of Spring" would be out before they-- they got to them.

Anderson Cooper: 'Cause you plan to have two more books?

George R.R. Martin: Two more books. Yes.

Anderson Cooper: You-- you had once been quoted saying, that you would find it alarming if-- if they caught up, if the series got ahead of you.

George R.R. Martin: Well, I didn't-- yes, I was-- I was-- (LAUGH) it w-- it was a blow when-- the series caught up. I didn't think it would happen.

Anderson Cooper: When it clear they were catching up, you told them over-- a kind of an overarching future of where you saw the-- the last two books going in terms of plot?

George R.R. Martin: Yes. And, you know, the major beats. I mean, obviously, we're talking here about a-- several days of story conferences taking place in my home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But there's no way to get in all the detail, all the minor characters, all the secondary characters.

George R.R. Martin: The series has-- has-- been extremely faithful, compared to 97 percent of all television and movie adaptations of literary properties. But it's not completely faithful. And-- and it can't be. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.

Anderson Cooper: And in essence, what's-- by the time the series is finished and your other two books are finished, y-- essentially it's gonna be two se-- different--

George R.R. Martin: Yeah.

Anderson Cooper: Two different versions.

George R.R. Martin: But, you know, I think that's true of every adaptation. We got all these Spidermen. Is it Stan Lee's Spiderman from the comic books? They're-- they're similar, but they're also different. Things happen to one that never happen to the other. Things are resolved differently. The girlfriends are shuffled and reshuffled. The-- the primary beats are there, the character is there, but it's a question of-- what are the choices you make to tell the story, which are partially dictated by your-- your medium.

Anderson Cooper: I mean, do you worry that some fans will have Dan and David's ending in-- in their mind's eye? Would that-- would that-- you know, would that be a disappointment to you?

George R.R. Martin: I don't think Dan and Dave's ending is gonna be that different from my ending because of the conversations we-- we did have. But they may be on certain secondary characters, there may be big differences. And, yeah, some of the people will have that. There will be a debate, I'm sure. I think a lot of people, who-- say, "Oh, Dan and Dave's ending is better than the one George gave us. It's a good thing they changed it." And there will be a lot of people who say, "No. Dan and Dave got it wrong. George's ending is better." And they will all fight on the internet. And there will be debate. And-- that's fine. I mean, it-- you know, the worst thing for any work of art, be it a movie or a book is to be ignored. (LAUGH)
 

Kadayi

Banned
The last few years: -
SHOzAZW.gif


you-had-one-job-gif-10.gif


Remember though book readers, he's not your bitch, you're his.

2626129-7368874487-lDvL6.gif
 

Valonquar

Member
Great video interview. You can feel the disapproval coming off Andersen Cooper. The only thing missing is if the interview stopped halfway through and they just started talking about football for 20 minutes.
 

Kadayi

Banned
Great video interview. You can feel the disapproval coming off Andersen Cooper. The only thing missing is if the interview stopped halfway through and they just started talking about football for 20 minutes.

lol.

I'd have liked if Cooper had just gotten up and handed him a copy of Do The Work by Simon Pressfield and then did a mike drop. I honestly cannot believe this guy has squandered his own legacy over the last decade or so. Write the goddamn tie-in books after you've finished the main story George.
 
It's okay, we still got Brandon Sanderson and Rothfuss. Oh wait it's been 8 years since the last kingkiller chronicles book. :messenger_confused::messenger_confused::messenger_confused:

Well at least there's still the Stormlight Archives.

Better than the shit Martin puts out anyways spending 40 fucking pages to describe a dinner table. :messenger_angry::messenger_angry:
 

DiscoJer

Member
Him using a newer computer won't help him write any faster. I wrote a Harry Potter sized novel on a Pentium 100 with Windows 95 in like 2 months. I've never come close to writing so much, so quickly since.

Using two fingers probably would. But it's basically a mental issue.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Him using a newer computer won't help him write any faster. I wrote a Harry Potter sized novel on a Pentium 100 with Windows 95 in like 2 months. I've never come close to writing so much, so quickly since.

Using two fingers probably would. But it's basically a mental issue.

Going on six month book tours when he only writes on his DOS computer at home is probably relevant to his writing output. ;b
 

greyshark

Member
This show seems to be a very large distraction for his continuation of the series. Him trying to support the show and its own expectations probably has conflicted with his desires for the book. Here’s hoping with the show completed we can see the next book come out soon after.
 

Kenpachii

Member
Why bother writing those books anyway. He's better of starting something new and sell it off to HBO as people will already get a ending anyway. That's what he is probably doing for HBO as game of thrones is going to be shafted after this year anyway and dropping out of relevance over night with it.

He better cash in on his success now he's in the spot light and make new story's to sell them to HBO.

In a decade from now when he's irrelevant he can write those books or hire some writers to write it for him with story changes etc to cash in some more.

Done.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
There will be a debate, I'm sure. I think a lot of people, who-- say, "Oh, Dan and Dave's ending is better than the one George gave us. It's a good thing they changed it." And there will be a lot of people who say, "No. Dan and Dave got it wrong. George's ending is better." And they will all fight on the internet. And there will be debate.

No George, nobody will be having this debate because you're never going to finish the books. You will either die before that happens or people will have been waiting so long that the show will be a distant memory and everyone will have moved on.

Taking your time to perfect your story is one thing but taking time to write other books and complete other work before you have finished your book series is disrespectful to all those people that invested time in your series.
 

Jon Neu

Banned
Why bother writing those books anyway. He's better of starting something new and sell it off to HBO as people will already get a ending anyway. That's what he is probably doing for HBO as game of thrones is going to be shafted after this year anyway and dropping out of relevance over night with it.

He better cash in on his success now he's in the spot light and make new story's to sell them to HBO.

In a decade from now when he's irrelevant he can write those books or hire some writers to write it for him with story changes etc to cash in some more.

Done.

If you think Game Of Thrones isn't going to be relevant in 10 years, you have not been paying attention.

Game Of Thrones is the Lord Of The Rings of our era. There are already 5 different Game Of Thrones spinoffs being worked on by HBO, GRRM has just launched the first book of the Targaryen Dynasty that so far has sold very well, and he has plans for many other GoT universe books.
 

Jon Neu

Banned
No George, nobody will be having this debate because you're never going to finish the books. You will either die before that happens or people will have been waiting so long that the show will be a distant memory and everyone will have moved on.

Taking your time to perfect your story is one thing but taking time to write other books and complete other work before you have finished your book series is disrespectful to all those people that invested time in your series.

People need to understand that before you start writing, you need inspiration. If you do not feel inspired, you are going to make a disservice to the material. Is not as easy as just sit and write, especially with the style of "A Song of Ice & Fire", which is so information heavy.

The biggest mistake GRRM has done is adding too many characters and not doing the timeskip he wanted to make.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
People need to understand that before you start writing, you need inspiration. If you do not feel inspired, you are going to make a disservice to the material. Is not as easy as just sit and write, especially with the style of "A Song of Ice & Fire", which is so information heavy.

The biggest mistake GRRM has done is adding too many characters and not doing the timeskip he wanted to make.

Waiting for inspiration is one thing but writing other books and throwing yourself into other projects before you're anywhere near to finishing what you started just seems like he's intentionally taking as long as he possibly can to procrastinate.
 

DKehoe

Member
The biggest mistake GRRM has done is adding too many characters and not doing the timeskip he wanted to make.

He tried doing the time skip, wrote a significant portion of a version that had that, decided it didn't work and started over. That's one of the reasons ADWD took so long to write. Also, part of what makes AFFC and ADWD great is that they examine the aftermath of the events of ASOS, you wouldn't get that with the time skip. I'm also a big fan of the Quentyn storyline, which we wouldn't have gotten with the time skip.
 
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Jon Neu

Banned
Waiting for inspiration is one thing but writing other books and throwing yourself into other projects before you're anywhere near to finishing what you started just seems like he's intentionally taking as long as he possibly can to procrastinate.

He writes about what he is inspired for and makes him happy at the moment.

He tried doing the time skip, wrote a significant portion of a version that had that, decided it didn't work and started over. That's one of the reasons ADWD took so long to write. Also, part of what makes AFFC and ADWD great is that they examine the aftermath of the events of ASOS, you wouldn't get that with the time skip. I'm also a big fan of the Quentyn storyline, which we wouldn't have gotten with the time skip.

I could have lived without the Dorne plot outside of Oberyn. I could have lived without Jon Con and Aegon.
 

Yoda

Member
I'm not sure he knows how to end all the plot lines while maintaining the same level of quality published books have. It's extremely obvious in the show when they are past book material WRT to the quality of the writing; given all the new characters and plots book 4 and 5 added, sometimes I think 2 more books won't be enough.
 

JimmyJones

Banned
Dude has clearly given up. The minute he got the cash from the TV show he mentally resigned. The series will be finished by a ghostwriter after he dies.
 

KonradLaw

Member
The entire show aired from start to finish before he managed to finish a single damn book (because he had to give the latest one couple months earlier to editors).
At this point it's pretty obvious he will never finish it.

That's why I'm glad we got HBO show. At least this way we'll get an ending of some kind.
 
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Ovek

7Member7
I think with the success of the TV series and as a result a much wider audience reading his books he feels massively under pressure to write the final books. He has already admitted that he already knows all the story beats to the finish and that’s the hard part, I bet he hasn’t sat down to write the next book in months if not years.
 

Dontero

Banned
I think with the success of the TV series and as a result a much wider audience reading his books he feels massively under pressure to write the final books. He has already admitted that he already knows all the story beats to the finish and that’s the hard part, I bet he hasn’t sat down to write the next book in months if not years.

Or he got all that money and got lazy af. Nothing breeds excellence as hard situations at life, especially on creative front.
 

GreenAlien

Member
George R.R. Martin: The series has-- has-- been extremely faithful, compared to 97 percent of all television and movie adaptations of literary properties.
..and here we have the magic trick. That's why 97% of all other adaptations suck.
 
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Kenpachii

Member
If you think Game Of Thrones isn't going to be relevant in 10 years, you have not been paying attention.

Game Of Thrones is the Lord Of The Rings of our era. There are already 5 different Game Of Thrones spinoffs being worked on by HBO, GRRM has just launched the first book of the Targaryen Dynasty that so far has sold very well, and he has plans for many other GoT universe books.

Can't see the series have much legs after the finale hits, specially when the cast is going to be replaced. General public will probably move on much like what happened with the lord of the rings.

Anyway i just read about this theory that little finger is actually still alive and the one that got killed was a faceless man as he paid a chick with that faceless coin before the execution to move forwards.



Honestly after seeing this, anything less then this would be disappointing.
 
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Xenon

Member
The entire show aired from start to finish before he managed to finish a single damn book (because he had to give the latest one couple months earlier to editors).
At this point it's pretty obvious he will never finish it.

That's why I'm glad we got HBO show. At least this way we'll get an ending of some kind.


Yes, kinda reminds me how lucky we got with Serenity. I can live with just the HBO series, if I have to.
 
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The Hermit

Member
No George, nobody will be having this debate because you're never going to finish the books. You will either die before that happens or people will have been waiting so long that the show will be a distant memory and everyone will have moved on.

Taking your time to perfect your story is one thing but taking time to write other books and complete other work before you have finished your book series is disrespectful to all those people that invested time in your series.

I thought that the moment I read the quote
 

greyshark

Member
As someone that's not from the US I've always found it really odd that someone would support both teams from their nearest city. That's not typical, right?

I’m from Chicago - I’ve never met anyone that’s been a fan of both of our baseball teams. I could believe it coming from a casual fan that isn’t very invested in either team.
 
Same. I think more than anything it's a shitshow for them because so many are invested in the books alone. I mean jeez, Jon Snow hasn't even been raised in the books, let alone Battle of the bastards etc. It's insane how GRRM squandered so many years here.
I WANT to read the books but I don't want to get invested in a story that will not even be finished
 

pr0cs

Member
I WANT to read the books but I don't want to get invested in a story that will not even be finished
They're still worth reading, especially when the show ends. There are so many great characters that simply don't exist in the show that make the books awesome.

It is painful though, at this point grrm makes me feel like I am in an abusive relationship
 

KonradLaw

Member
They're still worth reading, especially when the show ends. There are so many great characters that simply don't exist in the show that make the books awesome.

It is painful though, at this point grrm makes me feel like I am in an abusive relationship
Martin not only soured me to his own series. The dissapoitment and anger was so big that it permanently affected how I consume all fantasy series. These days I pretty much pick any series only when it's done. Mark Lawrence being the only exception, since he writes like a madman, doesn;t do series longer than trilogies and includes summaries of previous volumnes in each book. But everybody else..nope
 
Can't see the series have much legs after the finale hits, specially when the cast is going to be replaced. General public will probably move on much like what happened with the lord of the rings.

Anyway i just read about this theory that little finger is actually still alive and the one that got killed was a faceless man as he paid a chick with that faceless coin before the execution to move forwards.



Honestly after seeing this, anything less then this would be disappointing.


Okay, I'm on board. I love this.
 
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