A Song of Ice and Fire: 6 delayed... (again!)

If he thought in May that he could finish in October (6 months) it is quite concerning that he is still months away.. Sad but he seems to be enjoying life. Hopefully his revisions are good ones.
 
I remember a similar story a few years ago prior to the release A Dance of Dragons, delays, push backs, GRRM getting rankled at fan pressure to release etc, this was before HBO exploded his universe to the masses.

I always felt a certain trepidation once the show aired as to the impact on subsequent book releases. Although the success of the show is fantastic for us Fantasy lovers, in the sense it will and is giving confidence to the studios to invest in similar.

The guy is a perfectionist and for that we must ultimately be grateful.
 
It's kind of a weird message though. When they postponed it from Halloween to New Year'Eve he thought he could finish it, and now he's months away... guess he was not making a lot of progress (lots of bad days).

Time was I thought this book would be easier for him to write because at the end of adwd he finally had tightened down loose ends, and the series seemed poised on moving forwards.
 
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I think he introduced far too many characters and had too many viewpoints in the last two novels. That's what's messed it up for him and given him too much now to try and pin down
 
As I posted in the other thread, it's clear that Martin has lost any joy in writing this series. And given the scope and complexity of the books, and the fact he admits he does not plan ahead when he writes, he has set himself an enormous task to complete the series. I don't think anyone can complete a task of that difficulty and size unless their heart is in it, and his clearly isn't. For his own health, and for the sake of fans, I think his wife, or his editor, or even his publisher should just step in and say the books are on hiatus. If he rediscovers a spark of joy to get back at in a year or two, then fine. If not, let someone else finish the books.
 
Brian Turner said:
By the looks of the samples already posted, we're due for even more new POV characters in The Winds of Winter.
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The mind boggles.

I imagine an ornate room, full of antique furniture, with walls covered in post it notes, characters and plot points hastily stuck up, a spider web of multicoloured string and strands of wool criss crossing. GRRM sat in the middle with a half drunk bottle of single malt, thinking . . . "Do I ring Brandon Sanderson now . . ."
 
Jaxx said:
I imagine an ornate room, full of antique furniture, with walls covered in post it notes, characters and plot points hastily stuck up, a spider web of multicoloured string and strands of wool criss crossing. GRRM sat in the middle with a half drunk bottle of single malt, thinking . . . "Do I ring Brandon Sanderson now . . ."
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I'm starting to wonder if Martin isn't subconsciously sabotaging his own work. If a project is allowed to grow to such scope and complexity that it becomes impractical to finish, then you can be excused for not finishing.
 
Do folks believe him when he writes that when they decided to have the tv series he never believed it would overtake his writing?

Obviously he has a done a lot of rewriting. I wonder if last book would be quicker because he will be tieing everything up. Hopefully he knows how to tie it all up. :-O
 
Judderman said:
Do folks believe him when he writes that when they decided to have the tv series he never believed it would overtake his writing?
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Yes. He thought he could write the next three as fast as he wrote the first three. But there was probably self-delusion going on as well. By A Feast of Crows, it was clear he was already struggling mightily to get the plot back on track. Or rather, procrastinating by following a bunch of digressions instead of wrestling the main storyline into shape.

Judderman said:
Obviously he has a done a lot of rewriting. I wonder if last book would be quicker because he will be tieing everything up. Hopefully he knows how to tie it all up. :-O
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He knows how it will all end up. But I think he's tied up in knots over how he's going to get from where he is now to that final destination, and he has been for years. Those are the perils of not outlining when you're a slow and undisciplined writer easily distracted by digressions.
 
IMO he has book 6 and maybe even 7 finished and in his hard drive. He's going to see what the ratings are on the different episodes before he revises them and we will see the final version just after the season ends. There is nothing wrong with doing this, it's a great way to do the same thing as focus group studies only using lots more people and without spending a million dollars.

Martin is as talented, skilled and assiduous a marketer as he is a writer, and that means he's among the best marketers in the world.
 
MWagner said:
I'm starting to wonder if Martin isn't subconsciously sabotaging his own work. If a project is allowed to grow to such scope and complexity that it becomes impractical to finish, then you can be excused for not finishing.
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If he weaves it all together cleverly in the finale it would really be a masterpiece.
As for the excuse I suppose you have to limit your project to something that can be finished.
 
As I said on the other thread, I expected nothing else. I estimated it at 2016/2017 anyway IIRC. Can't say it makes me feel anything.
 
Jaxx said:
The mind boggles.

I imagine an ornate room, full of antique furniture, with walls covered in post it notes, characters and plot points hastily stuck up, a spider web of multicoloured string and strands of wool criss crossing. GRRM sat in the middle with a half drunk bottle of single malt, thinking . . . "Do I ring Brandon Sanderson now . . ."
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Thanks Jaxx, I just spit coffee all over my computer!!!
 
JoanDrake said:
IMO he has book 6 and maybe even 7 finished and in his hard drive. He's going to see what the ratings are on the different episodes before he revises them and we will see the final version just after the season ends.
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Did you dream this? :D
 
MWagner said:
He thought he could write the next three as fast as he wrote the first three.
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I'm not the only one who thinks that GRRM will need at least 3 novels to finish the series off, then?

Unless he sticks half the cast in a boat and sinks it with all hands lost. :)
 
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