The complaints over George R.R. Martin’s inability to finish the sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series continue to mount even as he gets his act together and lashes out at those who question him. In addition to weighing in on the “boobies vs. weenies” debate, Martin recently had some interesting things to say about his progress on the new book.
Speaking with New Mexico in Focus, Martin talked about the fact that he really does want to finish the series, no matter what everyone else thinks or theorizes:
“I certainly feel a desire to finish the book. And it must be said that while I do get a lot of emails and mail of the type you’re describing, there are also many, many that are supportive, and probably far more of people saying ‘take your time, I love your books, whenever you’re ready I’ll be here.’ Of course which is an attitude that I find far more pleasant than the endless ‘When will it be done? When will it be done?’
I’ve actually given up answering the question when it will be done. In the early days, especially after the third book, because the fourth book took a really long time, and I kept being wrong. People said when will it be done, and I’d give an answer and it would not be done by then, I would run into some problem, or I would decide to rewrite, or I would change course. And once you give a date and then you miss that date, there’s an element of the audience that thinks you’re doing it deliberately.
There are even some strange conspiracy theorists out there who are convinced that I finished the whole thing years ago but I’m just hiding the books in my cellar and releasing them in order to maximize something or other. There’s a lot of craziness that goes on, but it’s pressure, and the obligation is to the work itself.
I’m telling a story, however many books you divide it into, three books, four books, seven books, which is what I’m presently going for, it’s one story, as much as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is one story. It has a beginning, it has a lot of middle, and eventually it will have an end.”
He also discussed if the groundswell of pressure to finish the books has affected him:
“Yes, to some extent it does, but when the writing is going well it doesn’t matter. When I’m there and working, I just kind of fall through my computer screen and I forget the world, I forget deadlines, I forget the TV show, and the emails, and all of that stuff. It’s just me and the characters and the world that I’m describing, and I’m writing a page at a time, and a scene at a time, and a word at a time.”
But George…is the writing "going well" right now? Come on! Give us something.
[via UPROXX]
