AFOC release to first ADWD sample

[girlfrommonday]

Martin said throughout 2011 that he planned to restart work on TWOW in January 2012

I remember this... but! Martin moved 100 pages to TWOW /according to his words/ and I read somewhere /here? I honestly don't remember/ that at the end of 2011 he has about 200 pages and in january he wanted to start with re-writes and then move forward with the book - so it is possible, that he began to write in 2011 already? I know, I know, weird wishful thinking ;) but I am now sick in home and I'm so bored /and sorry for my english, it's not my native language/

I'm not worried about motivation, I'm worried about his involvement in HBO series: scripts for certain episodes, promotion... this takes time.

[Ran]

George stuck to his plan, and started new work on TWoW in January, according to a recent interview.

[Arkash]

Can you link us that interview please, dude? =D

[Freygatarian]

Agreed, please link the interview!

[dreamcatcher]

I don't agree with those who say that it will take years and years to get to the next book. He has the show as an incentive now. I don't think he'd want us to find out what finally happens from the TV show. If my predictions are correct (and AFFC and ADwD take 1 season each), TWoW comes into play in 2017. Yes, that's 5 years from now, but he'll need to have a large portion of ADoS written by then, if he doesn't want the show to conclude his story.

[OverHill]

Thirded on the request for a link

[girlfrommonday]

If my predictions are correct (and AFFC and ADwD take 1 season each

I'm sorry for offtopic but we can't be sure if ASOS will take 1 season [David Benioff at the Comic-Con said, that they don't know if it will take one season or three season - although I believe 3 is too much]. I think AFFC and ADWD will be mixed together in several seasons -3? [they will not want to make one season without Jon, Tyrion etc. and the timeline for tv viewers may be too confusing. In other words - they have sooo much material for plenty of season and plenty of time for GRRM [i'm not sure what they will do with growing children, but it's completely different topic]

[MSUMC25]

I think the TV series has lit a fire underneath him becuase it has to be great to see your work come to life like that. He has gained so many fans since the HBO series started including me. I hope it's not another 6 years. Either way the TV series is going to be on yearly for the next 5 (SOS will be split into two TV season) years so that can hold us over. I think he would want to finish the 7th book before the TV series catches up so it can all be intertwined, but i'm probably dreaming there.

[Prince of the North]

Maybe this would be an appropriate occasion to link "A Factual History of A Song of Ice and Fire"? It may help to put things in perspective as to why and how the timing of the releases of the books came about. I, too, am in the camp that believes TWoW won't take as long to produce as some of the previous books did simply because the story arc is beginning it's "downward" journey to its conclusion. But I'm an optimistic realist or a realistic optimist (take your pick) so what can I say? If TWoW does end up taking a really long time then, oh well, I'll be living my life in any case ;)

Also, as the subject did come up again in this thread I think it's appropriate to link to this as well. :)

[dreamcatcher]

I'm sorry for offtopic but we can't be sure if ASOS will take 1 season [David Benioff at the Comic-Con said, that they don't know if it will take one season or three season - although I believe 3 is too much]. I think AFFC and ADWD will be mixed together in several seasons -3? [they will not want to make one season without Jon, Tyrion etc. and the timeline for tv viewers may be too confusing. In other words - they have sooo much material for plenty of season and plenty of time for GRRM [i'm not sure what they will do with growing children, but it's completely different topic]

ASOS will very likely be shot in 2 seasons back-to-back (fresh info). AFFC and ADWD will probably be mixed, I agree, but 3 seasons?? There is not enough material in them to shoot for 3 seasons. Just imagine Jon being the LC for 3 seasons, Arya being blind for a season.. Doesn't work. They can't just stretch them out without quality suffering.

[kephv]

I think it's likely Dance and Feast will be one long season, probably how ASoS will be shot.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I know it's off-topic to talk about the show, but I see:

Season 1: Game of Thrones

Season 2: Clash of Kings

Season 3: Storm of Swords 1

Season 4: Storm of Swords 2

Season 5: Feast/Dance 1

Season 6: Feast/Dance 2

Season 7: Winds of Winter

Season 8: Dream of Spring

I see Seasons 3 and 4 being "mini" seasons of maybe eight episodes each, kind of like The Sopranos' split Season 6.

I also think that by Season 5, the seasons will have 12-14 episodes each instead of just 10.

I think Feast and Dance will get tossed into a blender with two seasons total. I think 8 seasons is about the most (and least) they can get away with — most HBO series, even the "veterans," peter out at six (Sopranos, Sex and the City) or before that. Curb Your Enthusiasm is kind of the exception. They're having to work before the child actors grow up too much. I also suspect that some of the actors will probably start getting restless and wanting to move on. It's extremely rare for a drama to keep its principal cast for too long. It'll be a very long-running series even in normal network terms, let alone cable. I hope they can make the whole thing. :(

[A Time for Wolves]

Thirded on the request for a link

And fourthed. Ran, link interview plz.

[Werthead]

I think Ran's referring to the interview in SFX (a print magazine, no link) where he states that he is now back to working on TWoW:

Looking ahead, Martin says he's knuckling under with The Winds of Winter. As for a deadline he shakes his head and only offers, "I've given up making any predictions after my experience with A Dance with Dragons as they just bite me in the ass. I'll just write as fast as I can, make it as good as I can, a page and a word at a time, and eventually it'll be done."

Rereading the start of the interview, it does say it was done when GRRM was in New York, which was in early December. So he may mean by working on TWoW that it's the current project on his plate rather than he was back to the word processor creating new material for it. Ran may be referring to another interview I haven't seen yet, however.

[girlfrommonday]

I also suspect that some of the actors will probably start getting restless and wanting to move on.

but half of them will be dead in the show before the end, so it can't be such a big problem :laugh:

[Werthead]

GRRM has in fact gotten back to work on TWoW :)

[TheCasualObserver]

I will scream on these forums till I'm blue in the face about this: GRRM needs a proper editor. The moment a franchise becomes too popular, the original constricting elements placed upon it are removed and allow the creator to do what he/she wants. This is not necassarily a good thing. Look at the length of time and hefty page numbers on 4 and 5 of the HP novels. JKR got popular and BOOM, she increases the amount of time between books. George is a classic example of this.

He created a memorable series that has gained support steadily over the last fifteen years but the release of the books has become slower and slower. GOT was released in 1996. COK in 1999 and ASOS in 2000. ASOS was where he really started to lose track and more importantly lost the strength of a proper editor. Don't misquote me here, the first two books are long as well but the content within them sustains them. The speed with which Martin wrote ASOS and the excitement of the War of 5 kings maintained interest in the series despite it's length. But then he took eleven years to complete two more books set within the same timeframe. It's unavoidable that the pace of the novels are slowing down whilst the length of the novels are increasing, keeping the wait between books unecassarily high when GRRM has become so focused on the lives of so many characters. Some people appreciate this and admire the depth of the series but ultimately it just makes it less and less likely that the story will be finished within two novels and worse still, that it will be finished at all with GRRM now in his sixties. EDITOR!

[Babeldygob]

I think(hope) that because the series are closer to their end, GRRM has an easier time writing it. He knows how it's going to end, so the closer he gets to the end, the easier it must be to head into that direction I think.

[Cerulean]

I think(hope) that because the series are closer to their end, GRRM has an easier time writing it. He knows how it's going to end, so the closer he gets to the end, the easier it must be to head into that direction I think.

This is what I am expecting.

I am glad to see some additional information on how HBO will (possibly) air the seasons. I was curious if each book would equal out to one season, and how that would be possible as there is so much detail in some of the novels. I was thinking that 1 book = 1 season would put GRRM on a time crunch, but it sounds like he's covered for the most part.

Regardless, it sounds like he will definitely have to push to make sure the books are done in a timely fashion - preferably BEFORE the season on HBO airs.

Of course, we have the actors growing, but if HBO has a timeline worked out for the story arc with GRRM then perhaps it only makes sense.

The thing that I have often wondered about is how exactly GRRM writes the books. Does he sit in front of a computer and punch keys, or does he have some sort of voice-to-text software? I imagine that as his years progress, it may be getting more difficult for him (a bit slower of a process) to physically enter the words from his still-sharp mind into some form of word-processing software.

And yes, he's also suffering from editing problems. I am a firm believer that the editor of a book needs to have a good relationship with the story they are editing - otherwise things tend to slip through, as we have seen (and debated) here on the forums. With the growing popularity of the series, the perfection of the editing process has become more paramount than ever. HBO bases its series off the novels, so if some detail slips through into the visual media, the slip of editing has become exacerbated.

[BoldAsYouPlease]

It already did. When Feast came out, after years and years of agonized waiting, we were exactly where we are now: surely the next book can’t take as long!

Well, it did. I assume Martin meant no disrespect.

I repeat my advice to stop obsessing about this. There are other books.

There are. For instance, I'm grateful to Martin for recommending Joe Abercrombie - turns out Abercrombie is a heck of a writer.