General
George R. R. Martin “wonders if he has any talent” in conversation with Stephen King
George R.R. Martin and Stephen King are two of the best authors of our time. But their writing paces are drastically different, with King having published over 65 novels/novellas and being able to write a book in two months. On the other hand, Martin takes much longer to finish a project, most notably The Winds of Winter. In a discussion with King back in 2016, Martin discussed self doubt and writing blocks with Stephen.
George R. R. Martin often wonders if he had any talent at all
In a discussion at the Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 2016, George R.R. Martin and Stephen King discussed various topics. One of the questions Martin asked was related to King’s writing pace.
Martin asked the “It” author: “How the f— do you write so many books so fast?”
He even compared his writing speed with that of Stephen King: “I think, ‘Oh, I’ve had a really good six months — I’ve written three chapters!’ and you’ve finished three books in that time.”
King answered: “Here’s the thing, There are books, and there are books. The way that I work, I try to get out there, and I try to get six pages a day.”
Stephen King then described his working process: “When I’m working, I work every day, three-four hours, and I try to get those six pages, and I try to get them fairly clean. So if the manuscript is three hundred and sixty pages long, that’s basically two months’ work — but that’s assuming it goes well.”
George R. R. Martin followed up with his doubts: “You don’t ever have a day when you sit down there, and it’s like constipation — you write a sentence and you hate the sentence, and you check your email and you wonder if you had any talent after all and maybe you should have been a plumber? Don’t you have days like that?”
King responded, emphasizing that he does not face similar problems, but he has challenges of his own: “No, I mean this real life. You know, I can be working away and something comes up and you have to basically get up, you have to go to see the doctor or you have to take somebody’s care package or you have to go to the post office because whatever but mostly I try to get the six pages in although entropy tries to intervene.”
Read Next: Stephen King is worried if George R. R. Martin will ever finish Winds of Winter
-
Lore2 days ago
Everything you need to know about The Sack of Duskendale
-
News5 days ago
House of the Dragon Season 2 nominated for ‘Best Drama Series’ at the 2025 TV Choice Awards
-
Interview5 days ago
Sophie Turner felt that after Game of Thrones, nothing she did would be as good
-
Humour6 days ago
Peaky Blinders showrunner Steven Knight initially believed Game of Thrones was “a kids show”
-
Interview5 days ago
DCEU’s Sasha Calle says Milly Alcock will “look badass” as Supergirl
-
Lore4 days ago
Who is Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon?
-
Lore4 days ago
Who is Vaemond Velaryon in House of the Dragon?
-
News3 days ago
Game of Thrones is the second best show of all time according to a new survey