As a writer, I think I can safely say a lot of us put our favorite authors on a pedestal. We somehow manage to convince ourselves that just because they’re successful and prolific means they never suffer with self-doubt or writer’s block. That’s usually not the case. And now we know A Song of Ice and Fire writer George R.R. Martin is not except from the usual trials and tribulations.
So io9 did an extensive interview with Martin at Comic-Con. And I mean, extensive. They even linked from their post to the full transcript because it was too much. Anyway, some great answers were given and we found his thoughts on writing itself to be of interest. The interviewer mentioned hearing Martin doesn’t actually like writing. He replied:
Yeah. Which is not original again with me either. A lot of writers have said that. But writing is hard. I mean I sit there and work at it. Boy, there are days where I get up and say “Where the hell did my talent go? Look at this crap that I’m producing here. This is terrible. Look, I wrote this yesterday. I hate this, I hate this.” And I can see a scene in my head, and when I try to get it down in words on paper, the words are clunky, the scene is not coming across right. So frustrating. And there are days where it keeps flowing. Open the floodgates, and there it is. Pages and pages coming. Where the hell does this all come from? I don’t know.
Writer feels, you guys.
Considering Martin has been working on A Song of Ice and Fire since the early 90s, has he lost interest in the stories or characters at all?
You know, not really — because I haven’t finished the story I want to tell. The story I set out to tell in 1991 is still not done. I think if I finally finish these seven books, or however many it takes, I will be tired of them. I will not necessarily be open to returning to tell more stories about the ones who survived [after the end]. There you run into a Sherlock Holmes, Reichenbach Falls sort of thing, where [the writer says], “I’m sick of Sherlock Holmes, I never want to write any more stories about him.” But I haven’t even [finished a single story.] As many books as it is, as many words as it is, it’s still one story. One story that’s not finished yet. I want to finish telling that story. And then I’ll worry about that.
And for anyone freaking out about Martin not finishing his beloved series he said, “I’m bound and determined to finish Ice and Fire.”
So there.
(via io9)
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