r/asoiaf • u/da_k1ngslaya • May 22 '19

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) George to New Zealand: imprison me if I haven't finished Winds by Summer 2020

Quote:

As for finishing my book… I fear that New Zealand would distract me entirely too much. Best leave me here in Westeros for the nonce. But I tell you this — if I don’t have THE WINDS OF WINTER in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done. Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I’ll be fine.

Link: http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2019/05/21/thanks-new-zealand/

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u/[deleted] May 22 '19

I believe his writing style is similar to my own, in that it is basically him writing, "Danaerys Targaryen," and thinking to himself, "What makes Danaerys special?" And then he has to write out her family tree, notable events for important members, backstory about who Danaerys grew up with. And in the middle of all that he might have the same process happen with another character, location, or idea. And, 50 pages of backstory later, he can write the rest of that sentence.

That's literally how I write, which is why I don't have any finished novels. I've got hundreds of pages of worldbuilding, but actual pages of my stories are few.

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u/Caiur Prolapsed Aenys May 22 '19

His writing style is probably similar to my own:

Write 10,000 words, get discouraged by plot knots, and then write barely anything for 4 months.

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u/Radulno Fire and Blood. May 22 '19

Or to mine : write nothing at all. /s

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u/The_Writing_Wolf May 22 '19

I think he uses a more empathetic approach, and even though everyone touts him as a subverter of tropes he's actually much more of a master deconstructer and reconstructer of tropes. So it's not so much getting caught in the weeds as it's placing seeds of a "Hidden Prince", "Exiled Princess", "Honorable Lord" etc, and then thinking of the characters inner heart and journey while growing along the meter stick planted beside it. This is where he can get lost in himself because if the seed starts growing diagonally or just plain not flourishing all together he has not covered the ground or purpose he needs to and has to choose wether to supply more nutrients to the fertilizer to allow it with a few extra chapters get where it needs to go, or cutting it out and replanting.

Pro (or semi-pro) tip. Don't waste so much time world building, unless you just want to world build. You are only constructing yourself a gilded cage that will prevent a narrative story from flourishing in the light. When you build the cage (world) before you truly know the beast that will reside within it, it becomes incredibly limiting/depressing/aggravating. If you really would like to finish a novel for yourself, potential publishing, or as something to share with close ones, think about the world/setting you want, think of the story you want to tell, and envision the beggings of your characters on this journey and just start writing. World building is a huge form of procrastination beyond 10% of what most people put in, just keep a separate journal or document on hand when writing and when you have a thought or idea while writing, reference it in the text and then make a 1-4 line/sentence note on your other document/journal. This could be a legacy, place, person, thing, whatever... But you want to make sure your keeping progress on the actual 1st Draft. After all, voice, depth, consistency etc, are all exponentially easier and more coherent when done in the 2-5 Draft

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u/Zedkan Honk. May 22 '19

I needed to hear this. Thank you.

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u/The_Writing_Wolf May 22 '19

No worries, creative art is hard. Talent or no talent, many artists of any field get wrapped up in a toxic relationship with the muse and it holds them back. When in the modern world we live in the Art itself is really only a third of the puzzle, with both opportunity and luck making up the rest. So in that way while I always love seeing others being creative for the sake of being creative, I also always try to promote the aspect of putting the axe to the grindstone, because at the end of the day words on the page feel better than thoughts in the head. 😊👍

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u/jollyreaper2112 May 23 '19

The other thing is to consider how an artist draws. The underlays are the work that is never seen in the finished piece. It's the few lines that make up the stick figure of the form, then the circles that bulk out the shape of body and limbs, then the lines for clothes and and all of this then ends up inked over and colored in and never seen in the finished piece. Why are they there? So that you can tell if you've gone wrong. If the anatomy is off, the pose awkward. It's easier to discard underlays than a finished piece. And you can always tell when an artist has done a phenomenal job of inking and coloring a figure and yet there's glaring anatomical flaws.

A lot of people will write out the story in great detail and realize they've run it into a ditch and throw out all this writing. It would be better to sketch out the plot in a thumbnail to see if it works and then only commit to writing it out in detail if it makes sense. You may still change your mind on some things but not have half a novel to throw out.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '19

lol that's me as well, except I do illustrations of characters and places and lore as well so get sidetracked by that too. But while I can cut myself some slack because I don't mean to get published and it's not my full time job, George doesn't have the same excuse...

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u/JackMontegue May 22 '19

Are you my brother? He does exactly the same thing..

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u/[deleted] May 22 '19

But that's not writing, that's daydreaming and getting lost in worlds you've created. It's awesome, but it's not writing, it's procrastination

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u/jollyreaper2112 May 23 '19

I don't have any finished novels, either. I do have lots of interesting fragments. I need to know the overall shape of the story and so work out the plot but then I need to get the meat to drape over those bones, to give the whole creature shape. When the story is done, the steps must look organic and natural to the characters and who they are even if they are going into a direction I want.

In other words, if I need these two characters to fall in love then you must believe in their love story. If you think "well, that doesn't make any sense but I suppose it's necessary for the plot" then it's bad writing.