Winds of Winter: George RR Martin on ‘intimidating pressure’ over new Game of Thrones book
GEORGE RR MARTIN has spoken out on the huge pressure he feels over the remaining A Song Of Ice And Fire books.
Game of Thrones: Dramatic preview of the final season
The author is working on The Winds of Winter, the sixth entry in the series - which started with Game of Thrones, spawning a huge phenomenon that became a massive TV series. Once TWOW is completed, he’ll have one more to write: A Dream of Spring. But it’s been seven years since the most recent instalment, A Dance With Dragons, and pressure is mounting.
Speaking in conversation with John Hodgman, Martin said: “I’m working on it. I try not to look at the big picture, ever.
“Then it becomes incredibly intimidating. I try to say, ‘I’m going to get up today and write a couple of pages’.
“One page at a time, one sentence at a time, one word at a time. If you think, ‘oh, I have thousands of pages to write, everyone’s going to be mad at me…’”
He added: “At one point I was having a huge pressure on myself to keep ahead of the [TV] show, and I failed.
“When I recognised that I had lost that battle… I don’t know.
“So now the show is going, and the show is going to wind up where it is, and meanwhile I’m going to finish The Winds of Winter and after that A Dream Of Spring, just like I intended to do.”
Pushed on the challenges of completing the tome, George RR Martin said: “In essences, there are, like, eight, nine, ten novels woven together.
“Each of my main characters is on a different continent surrounded by a different supporting cast of people, and the timelines will have to be woven together to be consistent for the passage of time and also for dramatic purposes.
“It’s a complex task, and therefore it takes longer. But in the words of the immortal Super Chicken, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it!
“So there I am. And one page at a time.”
The writer is currently promoting his new companion book Fire and Blood, which was released earlier this week.
The tome gives fans a fictional history of the ASOIAF universe, and has been met with mixed reviews.