GRR Martin has writer's block

[Draconis]

For me this series has steadily gone from merely frustrating to a bit of a joke, but if he has writer's block now, what did he have before?

Yep, this whole affair is steadily getting funnier.

 

[James Brown]

Is he watching the show for ideas?

I kid, but I couldn't do 1/1000th of what he's done, so maybe I should shut up.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I don't know how much I really give a shit anymore. The first three books were extremely good, but the last two fell off a cliff in terms of quality and now there's a TV show so we don't have to sit around wondering what's going to happen next anyways. Plus he had all that bullshit about that other lost prince showing up or whatever which was just a groaner.

I see him more like George Lucas than anything else right now. He had a great idea, and thanks a lot for it, but other people have taken it over now, so you don't need to be poking your head in dragging the quality of the work down.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The show is in danger of going BSG on us. This is what happens when there isn't an actual plan to the overall story arc.

 

[Sarpedon]

When I see how well the network writing team has done with the adaptation, I'm not sure they wouldn't do better than GRR Martin himself in resolving the crisis. It isn't as if they haven't had years to prepare for this.

Writing oneself into a corner seems to be common for fantasy authors.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

When I see how well the network writing team has done with the adaptation, I'm not sure they wouldn't do better than GRR Martin himself in resolving the crisis. It isn't as if they haven't had years to prepare for this.

Writing oneself into a corner seems to be common for fantasy authors.

It is really cool to come up with swerves. Not as cool to get yourself out of them. And until we make it a crime, the writers won't learn.

Attorney: And at that point you killed off your main character.
Writer: Yes.
Attorney: And then in the very next episode, you bring them back.
Writer: I did.
Attorney: And by the time the show ended, did you ever bother to explain how that could happen?
Writer: Well, I did. You know, they just kind of disappeared, therefore... well you know... umm...
Attorney: No further questions.

 

[Draconis]

Attorney: And at that point you killed off your main character.
Writer: Yes.
Attorney: And then in the very next episode, you bring them back.
Writer: I did.
Attorney: And by the time the show ended, did you ever bother to explain how that could happen?
Writer: Well, I did. You know, they just kind of disappeared, therefore... well you know... umm...
Attorney: No further questions.

This is the problem with Magic. If it can do anything, including raising the dead, there's no point having your non-magical characters do anything at all.

 

[Draconis]

I can't help thinking that he has a couple of pages summarising the ending to the entire series.

He might as well publish that and save everyone a lot of bother.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I can't help thinking that he has a couple of pages summarising the ending to the entire series.

He might as well publish that and save everyone a lot of bother.

Well, he's given that to HBO. They don't want it getting out before they're done with it.

 

[James Brown]

Writing oneself into a corner seems to be common for fantasy authors.

At this point in the discussion, I feel obliged to mention Tad Williams' trilogy Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. High fantasy, lots of characters, action, romance, whodunnits . . . and a full stop at the end of the Book Three. According to Williams, Martin told him that his trilogy was a source of inspiration for Game of Thrones.

It can be done. William's story is not as mature as Martin's but at least you're not left hanging.

 

[Zeluvia]

I have been furious with Mr. Martin for years now. I think the problem goes way back to the dedication in the second book, A Storm of Swords "for Phyllis, who made me put the dragons in"

It went off the rails right there. It was painfully obvious by book 3 he was in deep shit. Book 4 only confirmed it. The story of Westeros, the five kings, the impending doom of winter, that was epic enough, but no, whoever Phyllis is had to bring the dragons. We should all blame Phyllis.

 

[Jayjay]

Dedication in the next book:

"For the masked men who kidnapped Phyllis and made me take the dragons out."

 

[Sarpedon]

I am also fond of China Meiville, who writes self contained fantasy books, many of them in the same extraordinary world, but each one self sufficient.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I am also fond of China Meiville, who writes self contained fantasy books, many of them in the same extraordinary world, but each one self sufficient.

Ya, you can have a long and involved ongoing story broken up into self-contained episodes. Raymond E Feist does that as well. The storyline and characters move on, but if he stopped writing for five years, the readers wouldn't be left hanging.