George R.R. Martin explains why Winds of Winter is taking such a long time

Fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire have been waiting a long time for his next book, The Winds of Winter. The last A Song of Ice and Fire book hit store shelves in 2011, a full decade ago. Although he updates his fans now and then, the fans are really annoyed as he is taking too long to finish. Martin recently opened up on why it takes such a long time for him to write his novels.

Why hasn’t George R. R. Martin finished Winds of Winter?

In a recent interview with filmmaker Kevin Smith, Martin revealed, “There are joyful days, when it really comes alive, and the characters come alive and the scene and the words are pouring out of you. It feels good. But there are not a lot of those days. There are also days where it’s hard.”

“And I sit down and I read what I wrote yesterday and I say, ‘This is shit. Why am I pretending I can do this? This is terrible.’ And I wind up rewriting the whole thing. And I do that for several days and I go to my wife and I say, ‘Where’s my talent? What did you do with my talent? Did you put it somewhere else? I can’t find it anymore.’ Then I have a good day.”

When is Winds of Winter coming out?

Martin didn’t say anything about how much he has written so far; last we know he was writing some chapters involving Tyrion Lannister. “There are writers who love the simple act of writing, and there are other writers…who love having written,” he said. “It’s great when it’s done, and when it’s not done, you struggle with ever you can really do it.”

Is Martin working on Game of Thrones spinoffs?

Yes, Martin is closely associated with all the Game of Thrones spinoffs currently under work at HBO, and has given his blessings to Kit Harington’s Jon Snow upcoming sequel too. He is also rewriting House of The Dragon Season 2 scripts.

Read Next: George R.R. Martin’s rumored involvement in House of The Dragon Season 2 script rewrites led to production delay