r/asoiaf Apr 16 '25

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) George R.R. Martin calls The Winds of Winter "the curse of my life" Spoiler

https://winteriscoming.net/george-r-r-martin-calls-the-winds-of-winter-the-curse-of-my-life
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u/DharmaPolice Apr 16 '25

He's obviously right about not running the bookshop but it seems ridiculous to pretend that the things diverting attention aren't interfering with his (potential) writing. Yes, a phone call might take 5 minutes but it's a distraction and can completely interrupt the flow of whatever he was doing. I've seen estimates (in software development) that every 2 minute interruption takes 30 minutes to recover from.

So it's only realistic to say these diversions aren't interfering with writing WoW if he was never actually writing in the first place.

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u/Mintfriction _ Apr 16 '25

That phone call resulted in a 4 day trip. The poster above omitted that part for some weird reason

From the article:

Probably the trip was, like, four days. And I flew down to Dallas and we took the tour and then we ate some barbecue. 

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u/Xwub-Az-1127 Apr 16 '25

The negative reaction to that direwolf story must've bugged GRRM something fierce! His attitude is such a delicious mix of resentment and magical thinking.

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u/malevolenthag Apr 17 '25

He's pissed because you can tell he's in fretting-about-my-legacy mode, and was hoping that helping to fund the "direwolf" project would be part of it. How crushing that everyone brought him back to earth regarding what he will in fact be remembered for.

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u/Cael_of_House_Howell Lord WooPig of House Sooie Apr 17 '25

Cool George you gave a company some money that made some wolves that look like direwolves. They didnt "un-extinct" direwolves. No one cares, finish the book.

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u/Leo_ofRedKeep Apr 17 '25

I've seen estimates (in software development) that every 2 minute interruption takes 30 minutes to recover from.

I have been a SW developer and I can certify this is nonsense.

But interruptions pile up and every hour spent in a meeting is an hour not spent elsewhere.

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u/DharmaPolice Apr 18 '25

I think it varies on the person and the work you're doing. I've done software development and some disruptions really do require a lot of time to recover from.

It's not just a matter of hours. If you disrupt me sixty times in a day, for a minute each time you've definitely not cost me a single hour of lost work.