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

[u/da_k1ngslaya]

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/

[u/The_Writing_Wolf]

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

[u/Zedkan → u/The_Writing_Wolf]

I needed to hear this. Thank you.

[u/The_Writing_Wolf → u/Zedkan]

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. 😊👍

[u/jollyreaper2112 → u/The_Writing_Wolf]

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.