George R. R. Martin faces 'Dead Ends' in his stories

By Rahul Jadhav

A YouTube channel which is quite active in spreading information about Game of Thrones recently re-uploaded an old video of George R. R. Martin talking about his experience of writing stories, especially his novels which the epic saga ‘Game of Thrones’ was based upon, ‘A Song of Ice and Fire.’ Even though the video is certainly old, it does offer many explanations about why Martin is having difficulties with his latest book, ‘Winds of Winter.’ In the author’s defence, his universe has become quite large to connect and to control in a beautiful manner, and that is exactly what takes up a lot of time.

Martin was asked about whether he has any regrets about writing the things he does in his books, and he said that he had none. He likes to give up his copy to the publishers and then read it again after the draft comes out. He then rips out a few chapters or edits them to better suit what he wants his story to be.

“No. There are a few things that you’re not aware of because as a gardener with the kind of writing style that I use, I go down a lot of dead ends,” says the writer. “So there are moments of ‘why the hell did I do that?’, but they never appear in the books. I see that before the book comes out, and I rip out that chapter or revise that chapter so something different happens instead, and it feels better – works better for me. Hopefully, none of those things make it into print.”

He was also asked about whether he believes that some of his stories could have been written better, and he agrees that they could have been done so. While he does not regret them, he sure admits the fact that they could’ve been done much better than they were twenty years ago.

“I look back on things I wrote 20 years ago, before Game of Thrones… and I see from the benefit of hindsight things I could have done differently or better. But still,” says the author. “I am bad with eye colour… and I have a horse that changes sex. He’s not supposed to change sex, or she’s not supposed to change sex, but she does. I think it was Bran’s horse. Changes from a mare or a gelding or something in between books. That was pointed out to me by my fans. My fans are very eagle-eyed. They miss nothing, you bloody b*****ds!”

His latest book, ‘Winds of Winter’ is currently eight years behind schedule and there is still no news of it. Perhaps we may never see the book, but all fans are hoping that they do. While Game of Thrones may begin its end this April 14, the rest of Martin’s story shall continue on its own path and hopefully, he’ll be out with a book sooner rather than later.