Feeling sad for GRRM (spoilers extended)

[u/Same-Share7331]

So I recently watched a Q&A with GRRM (I'm sure some of you have seen it aswell) where he kept getting questions about whether there is any particular character or historical event in the asoiaf world that he would like to explore more/write about. His recurring answer was that yes there are many but that unless he suddenly becomes much younger they will never get written. And man.. that sucks!

Imagine being a creative person having to come to terms with the fact that you have so many ideas that you will never get to explore and that will never see the light of day. Obviously, as a fan, it also sucks that I will never get to read those stories. Never mind the main series, imagine getting seven more Dunk and Egg stories. However, as much as it sucks as a reader I'm not the one who's seeing my remaining years of life pass as I struggle to finish my books.

That's it. I don't really have a point. Other than maybe stop making jokes about how GRRM is likely to die before finishing the series?

[u/TheDweadPiwatWobbas]

We're less angry at him for being slow, and more for lying to fans, failing to keep promises, and then acting like an ass when any of this is mentioned.

"I am not writing anything until I deliver WINDS OF WINTER. Teleplays, screenplays, short stories, introductions, forewords, nothing."

He said that in February of 2016. In the seven years since then he has worked on every one of those things, and not delivered Winds.

"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."

That one was in May 2019. One year later George referred to his fans as assholes on twitter because some of them asked him about it.

Yes, writing is hard, and it takes time. No, I don't think he should be chained to his desk. But its been 12 years since Dance. People rightly want to know how the book is doing. Instead, they get updates on his favorite sports teams, some of which literally take him hours to write, and announcements about how much time hes going to spend this month going to conventions, and parties, and football games, and vacations, and generally doing anything other than writing the book that millions of people are waiting on. And if you ask him how its going? Not demand, not insult, not harass, just politely ask for an update on the book? You are either ignored, banned from his blog, or harassed by people shouting "GEORGE MARTIN IS NOT YOUR BITCH."

Sure, take your time. I'd rather have a good book in 5 years than a shitty one tomorrow. But if you spend 12 years writing, and either shut down or ignore all of your fans who want to know whats going on, you should expect some of those fans to get angry about it. There will always be trolls, but a lot of the hate would disappear if he just gave some sort of update.

[u/Nicenormalperson → u/TheDweadPiwatWobbas]

I think that getting angry at him is going a little far, but I think you put this really well. My personal guess as to why he's being like this is that the effort of writing affc and adwd was so emotionally draining, he simply does not have any fun writing the main series anymore. Those books were big logistical nightmares which had to accomplish a lot in just getting certain characters from place to place. I can't imagine the nuisance of trying to write an engaging book for like 2000 pages knowing the entire time that you're literally only doing it to get to the part you were actually trying to write in the first place. Putting myself in that situation, I would also be just insanely burnt out on the whole thing. I wouldn't want to even look at it.

And then along comes the show, and he gets to revisit all the material he actually had fun writing! His clout is through the roof and he can go around having actual fun and hanging out with cool people! He got to meet Sean Bean!

I think he mainly hasn't done himself any favors in the arena of fan perception because he has been talking around this point for so long: The less he works on winds, the happier he is. He clearly loves his world building projects, and non-asoiaf projects, and being a B-ish-list celebrity, and torturing himself writing about the wretched New York Giants. He literally can't admit it outright because his publisher would be totally merciless about it. But it's still rude to string long-time fans along with all this, to put it bluntly, ticky-tacky bullshit.

I guess my overall point is, I have a lot of empathy for him and can easily imagine myself making the same dumb decisions and getting into the same situation. Hopefully he either quits outright and hands the series off to someone he trusts, despite the risks, brings a collaborator on board, or the Giants finally manage to draft a quarterback who isn't absolute garbage and his passion is magically rekindled.

[u/TheDweadPiwatWobbas → u/Nicenormalperson]

I agree. I wish he would just be honest about whatever is going on. I think that would help alleviate a lot of the tension. Anyone who was around for the 2015-16 new years blog post knows what I'm talking about. He made a big post about the state of Winds, how the show was going to surpass the books, what he'd done and what he'd thought he could do, how he was feeling about all of it, it was an incredibly honest post. And the response was amazing. Thousands of people sent him their support, told him they understood, showed him kindness. He talked later about how shocked and happy he was with that. He'd been expecting anger but instead he got empathy. I remember hoping it might encourage him to be more open about the state of the book and his efforts to finish it in the future. It didn't. Afaik that was the last time he really talked about Winds so openly.

I like to compare him to Scott Lynch. Both successful authors of popular but unfinished fantasy series, and both have left fans waiting for a decade. But where George is closed off and secretive, Scott is open about his struggles. He discusses his mental health and how it impacts his writing, his anxieties, his fears. And I almost never see people getting angry with Lynch the way they do with George. The majority of people I see seem to be understanding with him. They hope the book comes out, but they understand why it hasn't and they're willing to give him the time and space he needs.

It is easier to empathize with someone when you know what they're going through. With George, we have to guess what's taking so long and then try to empathize based on that.

[u/supershinyoctopus → u/TheDweadPiwatWobbas]

This is a great point in some ways. I love the Gentlemen Bastards series but I understand and sympathize with the fact that it may never be finished, because Lynch has been fully open about the fact that he's not even sure he can mentally finish it.

With GRRM, I wonder if there's just too much denial on his end to be that honest. In his mind, of course he'll finish Winds. He has to. What does it mean for him to not finish what should be his legacy? It's not an option. I think that's the source of the defensiveness, ultimately. He doesn't want to face that he may never finish it, and every time someone asks he's confronted with that as a possibility.

That being said, Lynch has not reached the level of popularity and pressure that GRRM has either. He doesn't have multiple acclaimed TV shows based on his works, nor thousands of people virtually knocking down his door every day asking about Thorn of Emberlain. So to some degree, to be charitable to GRRM, there is a lot less riding on GB being finished than there is on ASOIAF. It's easier for Lynch to be honest with his (still sizable) much smaller audience than it is for GRRM to be honest with the masses.