Me who already wrote 20k and said nah, don’t wanna. (Tho I finished the first draft of another never edited, maybe I will try to edit it with the 4 story arc (I am a pantser / gardener for short stories/ Novellas I don’t plan anything for the bigger ones, just worldbuilding and the most important characters (hopefully they don’t die))
@@KristijanKL is the coach the one playing on the field? NO! George doesn't have to do a good job, he serves as the example of how not to do it. The coach sits on the sideline while his players play the game, but that doesn't mean he's not a good coach. In fact if you want to see why his advice is good, all you have to do is look at him. Is that what you want to happen to you? No? then finish your stories
Most of it isn't to be honest too. it's still the same out there, just done a bit differently. You also have more self publishing options unlike before.
@@dionenisnikci that's also true. I was joking but unironically even ignoring all the short stories and science fiction stuff before simply writting a story as long and complex as ASOIAF is something most writers can only dream of. George honestly gets to much heat even when some of it is funny
Oh, having 20+ project ideas isn't the problem, I think, those ideas can still become stories one day. The point is that you select one and write and finish it. Personally, I would select the one that speaks to me personally, write what you know, as they say. Or, write what you're interested in and care about most right now.
Oh that’s awesome! Have you put any of them to paper yet? If you angle for short fiction, there’s a Website called Vocal you might want to check out. Like UA-cam for short fiction 🤷♂️
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7o yes, I am well aware the issue is getting started. Having multiple ideas is really a gift because I'll always have something to work on, but I've gotten so used to writing for a grade that I don't know how to write for myself. It's going to be difficult, but I'm working on it. I actually just worked on the second chapter to my kids chapter book. My problem is that I have to work against my muse. I've noticed that sometimes an idea I had many years ago will have been made by someone else. For example, Ghostbusters afterlife. Maybe 15 years ago I had the idea of a sequel where Egon passed away whilst working on something very important, but he never told the guys. (Sound familiar?) But in my version, after his funeral a tape is given to the guys by his lawyer telling them what he'd been working on and that if he died then that's what killed him. My version also included a little back and forth competition between Peter and Oscar, Dana's son, whom he'd become estranged with (again, estranged child storyline, just like afterlife, but i went for one we were already familiar with). I would've loved to see Chris Pine in the role of adult Oscar. When after life came out and I saw part of my idea was used, I realized my muse went off to someone else, but I'm ok with it because After Life turned out great. I really enjoyed it.
There are probably a hundred comments here saying how much they needed this as an aspiring writer, but I'm going to add just one more. I graduated college 3 years ago & have yet to finish a single story. I don't think I've even written more than a few paragraphs in at least a year. Listening to this advice has helped me see that this is normal & that the only way over is through & that I need to start writing again. Thank you so much Dom for talking with Mr. Martin about this & putting it out there for us & giving us some much needed kicks in the butts & hope.
Get a timer app on your smartphone. Set it for five minutes, turn off all the lights and youtube, sit at your computer and type away. Type drivel. Type nonsense. Just get used to typing. Do that and add twenty seconds per day. In a year you'll have gone past an hour. Somewhere along the line you'll stop writing nonsense and start writing something coherent. If you miss a few days, go right back to five minutes and build up again. Do it for longer if you want, but the five minutes is your fallback. It will work. It sounds mundane and stupid, but it WILL work.
Another thing aspiring writers need to do is read. For some reason it seems that many aspiring writers don't like to read. That's like cheap that doesn't like food. Something that they have in common is bad grammatical, punctuation, formatting and dialogue issues. Reading a lot and from different genres (ex. Thriller, comedy, fantasy, historical, memoir, crime, mystery, horror, etc.) will help you out because you get to experience it visually/physically. I liked that first point. Another way of thinking about it is: "What's an "aspiring writer""? "Someone who hasn't done it yet." I get why "aspiring/newbie writers" don't write. They fall into the dopamine trap. They come up with an idea and are so excited to tell everyone it. They feed off the (brief) attention and everyone saying "That's a great idea!", " Yeah, I'd read that!" but when(if) they try writing the idea that energized feel dissipates. So they continue talking more about their ideas vs actually writing them.
Actually I began to want to write after reading wayyyy too much and too many things lol. I wanted to contribute too now that everyone gave me so much. It's also good to know when to archive an idea I think. I have been writing a little on some stories, but it's been way too long and nothing came of it. I still like them a lot but I think I should start anew and build something stronger now that I've more control over what and how I want to write.
This is just a personal opinion as a fellow writer, but I think a lot of the bad grammar and what have you has a lot to do with the fact that we live in the Wattpad generation of writers. Where writers don't have to obtain formal editors or have beta readers before they put their work out there for consumption. Then those underwritten works end up getting 100k readers over time and the only feedback they seem to get is from people on the same writing/reading comprehension level as they are, and they only ever tell the author how "awesome" the work is without the slightest bit of constrictive criticism. Even when it needs serious revision. Then, with those kind of numbers, Wattpad (or a Wattpad-like site such as Inkitt or Royal Road or what have you), offers to help publish their work with (seemingly) few to no edits or alterations. That's how we end up, not only with undercooked novels on store shelves, but books that end up becoming direct-to-streaming small budget movies that once you learn that they were based on Wattpad-like novels you end up asking yourself "How did this ever get greenlit, let alone PUBLISHED?".
Whenever I see an interview of GRRM, he always seems like such a nice and smart guy. I get that it's frustrating waiting for the conclusion of a series you care about, but like. No matter if or when ASOIAF continues, he's written five of the best fantasy novels (imo) as it stands. Some people need to chill and give the guy a break.
Man I don’t like ASOIAF, not my cup of tea, but I LOVE George. In the slang of a dear friend, “he’s just a petit monsieur!” Which I thinks fits GRRM perfectly
@@tobeymalone3436 I think my dislike of the work allows me to not really care about its release 🤔 so I’m not at all invested in his progress, I just like hearing the kind old guy tell stories and give what I see as fireside advice
On rejection letters: One of my favorite rejections was from Marion Zimmer Bradley - I think for either a magazine or short story collection, many, many years ago. The rejection was mostly form "doesn't meet our needs," with a bit tacked at the end: "and not funny as intended." (Yes, it _was_ a humor piece.) Underneath her signature were two hand-written comments, presumably from staff members: "I thought it was funny!" and "Me too!" That two members of her staff were eager to put their opinions in as well made it my favorite rejection letter for the longest time.
@@jessilynallendilla5433 I had been wanting to avoid mentioning that particular bit, but yes. When I was typing my original post, I was thinking less of her, and more of those staffers. I couldn't help but wonder how many of them had their careers damaged by association with her.
That's some damn good advice. One I am going to take. Currently working on my first novel but I will take my time by writing other short stories. Now finish Winds of Winter dammit!
I took George's first lesson recently. Instead of that big novel, that I still plan to end, but has been stuck around 300 pages for a long time, I'm writing a short story, inspired mostly on a background element of my original idea. Mostly because I realized that even if the big story I plan doesn't make it, the short one would still work perfectly as a standalone story, and because I already have planned what comes later, so I don't run the risk of getting sidetracked with other ideas, and make it way longer than it needs to be.
A piece of advice that I would give is that even if you meticulously go over every detail, what you'll come up with will ultimately be a first draft that gets revised, so don't stress about perfection early on. Let if flow out of you, take some time away, and then go back to revise. It's easy to forget but there are these things called editors, so it's best to keep them in mind. PS a video or two on Martin's early Sci-Fi work could be cool!
One more pointer. In the words of Faulkner, read everything. Stuff you love, stuff you hate, bad books, good, middling, the all time greats, genre, literary, etc. I'd extend this to other mediums as well. As McCarthy says, books are made out of books. You will take something valuable out of them every single time. Either what you want to emulate/incorporate into your style or mistakes you never want to make.
I feel like more people need to hear GRRM's explanation of Heinlein's advice because it seems as some people really interpret it as 'never rewrite your stories whatsoever and never look over and edit it, you will always get it first try'
Hearing number two gives me hope. I am constantly starting something, getting a certain way through then thinking it isn't good as I've got used to the story and the idea wears off on me. So to hear that even someone like GRRM went through something similar when starting out gives me inspiration.
I know what you're talking about. I once went shoes shopping with Tori Amos. Another time the Kelly Family lived in our attic. And once Danny Trejo had a crush on me.
Thanks for this Dom! Whenever I see an interview of GRRM, he always seems like such a nice and intelligent man. I understand the frustration for the wait for the next novel but after everything he had given us he deserves to chill. He's one of the Best after all.
The late fantasy literature grandee, David Eddings, also recommended starting with smaller stories. He said he himself had started with short stories, before adding "no you may not read them; I burned them"
It seems fairly common advice to start small. Though I personally think if you want to write a novel, then write a novel. However, you can still write a single stand alone novel, rather than a 6 book series, and a book could be 80k words instead of 200k. So there are degrees of building your way up.
This is really wonderful advice! And, as someone who is currently writing many short stories and submitting them far and wide (in the hope of one day unveiling my major work as a recognised author), this helps put my mind at ease a bit that I'm on the right path. Thank you, GRRM and Dominic Noble, for this fantastic interview!
This actually picked me up. I’ve submitted a couple stories to a magazine and got rejected both times after 6 months of waiting. I’m still writing though. 😊
There is something beautifull about an old skilled writer (or any sort of artist or craftsman) being asked for advice and then answers: "Here is the advice I got when I was just starting out!" It is experience refined and passed down from generation to generation
Ray Bradbury had similar advice, write many, many short stories before you ever think of tackling a novel. He recommended writing a short story a week.
I really needed the, "stop rewriting after each rejection" advice! Also the kick in the butt that you gave to push through the rejections and just keep sending things out!
I admire George R.R. Martin intensely. Perhaps not least because I like him as a person so much. As recently as today, I was provoked into digging out my CV to check how many novels I have published. 231 titles, over 44 years! And still, I get incredibly angry when I get rejected -- even with the stories I have worked on for a really long time!!! Readers only want the material that I have produced without creative resistance. Of course, it's nice for my bank accounts, but painful for the soul.
This is such practical and useful advice; I'm glad to see others feel the same way as me after watching it. As an aspiring writer, I'm adding my comment here in the hope that one day I'll look back at it as a published writer, glad that I listened to good advice and believed in my own ability.
I made the mistake of trying to climb that 'Everest' and go right into my first novel, but after three spin outs and 100,000 words, I realized the problem wasn't my prose, but rather my delivery. The best advice I can give anyone is, if you write something and you're not sure about it, file that story away and work on something else, then come back to it in three months when you've nominally forgotten about it. You'll see ALL of the problems immediately. Fresh eyes do wonders to improving your craft.
Short fiction is good to hone your craft, but the industry has moved along and there are far fewer places paying for short stories anymore. There aren't even really any SFF magazines of the type that Martin built his career on anymore. The likes of AO3 are a good place to cut your teeth, and when you're ready, decide if you're going to self-publish (in which case hire a good editor and cover designer), go trad (in which case get an agent - I speak from experience on how trad publishing can bite you in the ass without one, and a lot of publishers won't take unagented submissions now anyway), or hybrid (all of the work and expense of both types of publishing, but statistically the most likely to result in earning a living)
It took me several years to finish my BA thesis. It took me having a faculty adviser who actually fit me to be able to get my degree. One who got me and I got her. Maybe helped that I actually managed to get diagnosed with ASD during those years.
@@Elora445 Good to see I'm not alone... For me, it's due to several mental health issues and familial problems and deaths. And I just got my first ADHD meds. (I'm too embarrassed to talk to my adviser about all of this, so I haven't contacted her in a year...)
@@EleiyaUmei You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. As soon as I told my adviser and begged her to be more straight forward with me, everything was fine. I could also (through the university itself) have gotten more time to write my essay, if I wanted to. Look up if your university has something like that. Or maybe your adviser could spend some of their time to remind you to write, or whatever it is your biggest problem is. (I have two brothers with ADHD.) Before my university studies, I had to complete my earlier studies. There I lost a complete semester because my mother passed away; grief can really mess with one's head. My condolences. I hope your familial problems will somehow fix themselves. Also, no matter what happens, I wish you the best of luck with everything.
Excellent advice! If one can master the art of character development within the constraint of a short story, a novel (should you decide to write one) benefits greatly from that skill.
Excellent advice for newcomers that can apply to filmmaking as well, starting with shorts if a good way to get a handle on your style. Sidenote, I've asked my director: "On a scale of Sanderson to Martin, how long do you think this project will take?"
Great advice. I just feel like i csnt write short stories. All of my ideas are long ass fantasy stories that work well structurally online, and potentially fine if edited to book format. Either way, loooong stories. I could definitely do a novel length story, but I'd be less into it haha. Thinking of short stories though...i have no idea. Especially because in uni i always choose an intro to a story instead of writing a short story as i have no idea about any story ideas that could be so short
Thank you for making this little Video Dom, as well as Mr Martin for giving these tips. I'm stuck in a bad rut right now. I want to write but I look at everything I write and think my ideas are terrible and cringe and not good. To hear that that's normal from someone who has been objectively successful. And that they feel the same about their ideas getting worse and worse as they write them down. Makes me feel seen in a way I can't describe and gives me hope that i'm not a complete lost cause when it comes to it. I should start finishing them I suppose hah.
I think I needed to hear this. I have the soul of an author that's been too anxious to actually write, even if nobody else will read it. They've just been trapped in my brain for ages. And knowing that I can jump around between projects instead of all-in on one puts me at ease. Maybe I pick up a bunch of empty notebooks and I dedicate them to different projects and ideas. And I also need to quit writing in a linear fashion.
Short stories, little blurbs, etc, are great to do. The band on stage will always do tuning and warm ups before they play a song. The artist will have failed sculptures or scrapbooks of sketches before their gallery showing. He's not saying you should abandon your magnum opus. But maybe you should write a paragraph about the protagonist in an unusual situation removed from the main story. Put them in another universe, even one that already exists in another author's work. How would your character react to being a detective, or meeting the last unicorn? It's amazing how much you learn about them, and yourself as a writer.
I’m so glad you got to meet him, I know he means a lot to you as a writer. You’re a bigger person than me, if I met GRRM at this point, I’d just pass him by and cry later. It used to be my number one dream to meet him, and an unfinished fantasy series is peak first world problems, but… I don’t want to give that man any space in my mind to disappoint again 😢 bittersweet indeed…
Extreme respect for him acknowledging that the advice was good at the time but he doesnt know for sure if it's still good. Overall I do think it is pretty good, especially number one: You must write.
An interesting aside to his comment about trying to sell short stories to Playboy…the first GRRM story I ever read was a short story called “Sandkings”, which was featured in Omni magazine, a sort of Sci Fi/Weird Tales anthology magazine published by one of Playboy’s chief competitors, Bob Guccione.
As much as I dislike the general air of nihilism in his work, the man does give good advice. Write, finish what you started, then make it everyone else's problem till someone personally tells you to stop. I can get behind that.
I haven't ever seen the interpretation that nihilism is a theme of GRRM's work, In fact I've heard it argued that asoiaf has existentialism as a theme so I'm curious to know what you mean by that.
@@fatpenguin0089 I mean, most of the heroic characters got killed off brutally and dishonorably in his first 3 books. Most of the villainous characters keep getting rewarded for what they did and the living heroic characters get tortured horribly in some form. That’s the general air of nihilism here.
@@Scytheslinger What’s the difference? And let’s look at the profile of heroic (or morally good) characters, shall we? - Ned: beheaded - Robb: Shot by three arrows then shanked in the heart then beheaded and used as meat puppet - Catelyn: Throat slit, strip naked and then revived as a vengeful zombie - Jon: Getting shanked multiple times - Oberyn: Head exploded - Sansa: Being groomed by a pedophile - Brienne: Getting threatened by a zombie Catelyn and had her squire held hostage - Stannis: Getting betrayed and lost the battle against the Boltons - Shireen: Getting burned alive soon - Rickon: Stuck in a cannibalistic island - Bran: Got his mind hijacked by a creepy hive mind old man - Arya: Became radicalized by a death cult - Tyrion: Being exiled and hunted down by the government - Sam: Getting invaded by Euron’s fleet - Jeyne: Getting raped by Ramsay - Theon: Getting enslaved and tortured by Ramsay See what I’m saying? No good deeds go unpunished in his story.
It's not just ASOIAF, though I would argue that the way the show ended is kind of in keeping with the general vibe of his writing, only much too condensed due to directorial choices. I was thinking more of his other published and finished works, like Tuf Voyaging (scifi, a man comes into possession of an ancient spaceship capable of genetically engineering almost anything, then discovers new depths of sentient depravity and desperation as his new toy comes into contact with the rest of the galaxy) and Windhaven (that one did have a more hopeful story, which might be partially due to a cowriter, though still plenty of mundane and fantastical misery about change and aging and how trying to make a difference doesn't really amount to as much as we might hope). It's just a little bleak, as Scytheslinger pointed out. To me it reads as nihilism, but I could be wrong. xD
Noble u beautiful bastard this has made my day. Thank you from my heart. George RR Martin ur works are magnificent, I bow to express my respect. Thank you for your work. Great advice
I really love that despite actually giving good advice that’s still relevant, George acknowledges that the world now is very different to the world when he was a young writer, and that his advice may be a bit outdated.
I haven't been able to write a lot lately due to loads of things, some personal stuff, but some also just life happening, but 10-15 years ago I did write a lot and while I never got published I lived by this mentality of sending it on to the next person as soon as it came back from the first guy. I consider myself lucky that the very first reaction letter I got was actually a personalized letter. Not so much a we didn't like these specific things rewrite and try again, no, they were very clear that they didn't think the story was for publishing, but they left enough information in there that I gathered at least someone had read more than just the first page, even if they didn't read the whole thing, and ending by saying don't take this as the end of the world, we think there is potential there if you are willing to work for it and you are welcome to send us more scrips in the future. Every rejection letter since has just been a standard fill in the blanks and return to sender forms, but that first one still lives with me and is sometimes what motivates me to get a few words in when I have some time to spare.
This is mostly great advice. One thing about the current SFF short story market though: I wouldn’t revise to a personal rejection unless you really agree with it or it’s explicitly an R&R (revise and resubmit) request. Otherwise you’re revising for someone who doesn’t want your story, and another editor may love what they didn’t-literally happened with multiple stories I’ve sold so far. The rest is still super on point though!
Really, really wonderful and thoughtful advice. Very helpful. My dream in life is to ask GRRM a for advice on writers block, and NOT in a passive aggressive way I swear lmao I genuinely want to know his thoughts on it
Martin's short stories are quite good. His novel Fevre Dream is quite good. ASOIAF is quite good. The unspoken rule, then, is also consistency. Be consistent with the quality, and discard what is not up to snuff.
I remember talking to George R.R. Martin at a convention in Austin, TX. I asked him if he were going to write any more of his Tuf Voyaging stories. He combined several of his short stories into the 'novel.' I loved this book. I can not say I have liked a lot of his newer stuff... maybe because of cats?
Thank you, This is very good advice, I've had this short story in my mind. I think I'll try writing it and sending it to Scholastic, it's a spooky story and I hope maybe goosebumps has a spinoff series of books lol or maybe I can rewrite it for a different series.
An in-person interview with Dom, on the topic of how he's still working on Winds of Winter. This guy really will do absolutely anything in place of actually working on Winds of Winter.
I think if you're a fantasy writer, web novels is a great way to start, unless you really hate the stigma of being a modern pulp fiction writer. Royalroad is a fine place. This way you can even realize your plan for a really long-running series with extensive worldbuilding. Web novels are huge in Japan and China, and the industry have evolved tremendously in the last 10 years. Even western web novel writers at times have decent patreons. What you need is the consistency to put out a chapter regularly. A successful web novel will give your a chance to cut your teeth at writing and will help to find out if you're up to the task. It may also serve as a trump card if you ever want to publish something physically.
I made that mistake of trying to write an epic sci-fi story first set on an alien world with like the equivalent of early 1900s human technology, and humans landing there after having spend three generations on a generation ship. But I never wrote a single line! I spend 10 whole years on world building creating a history of the alien species and how their society worked and created different conlangs for each culture. My aim was to avert the trope of a monotonous alien culture à la the Klingons in Star Trek or similar. Even the Na'vi in Avatar have one culture on this big Earth-sized moon! I still think that's a good aim but I eventually shelved it. Right now I'm working on two different stories in graphic novel form, one a post-apocalypse sci-fi story and the other one set in Paleolithic Europe featuring Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
I have written the start of a few stories now my start is usually a good 60 k words though a short story would probably be a good idea, to write some things that are actually finished up to give be better experience on how to write a full narrative (even if said narrative is in mini form)
Very nice advice, regardless of whether it's outdated or not. It gives a goof foothold, at least, to find modern versions. And I wish velociraptors still ruled today. XD
Sometimes writing stories is like living in real life, there is no real finish to this, there is always sequel you can work on saying what happened after the end, legacy characters, kids of the protagonists, life after life etc.
“Finish it” was the biggest, most mind blowing piece of writing advice I ever received. I also had a ton of those story scraps, before that.
now if only he applies it to end Song of Fire and Ice :D
Me who already wrote 20k and said nah, don’t wanna. (Tho I finished the first draft of another never edited, maybe I will try to edit it with the 4 story arc (I am a pantser / gardener for short stories/ Novellas I don’t plan anything for the bigger ones, just worldbuilding and the most important characters (hopefully they don’t die))
@@MatijaVuk-z9n He thought about himself when he came up with that part :)
Probably 10s of them in my dustbin
That is good advice. And even better is an old person that actually acknowledges that their advice might be outdated.
if only he could listen to his own advice
@@KristijanKL is the coach the one playing on the field? NO! George doesn't have to do a good job, he serves as the example of how not to do it. The coach sits on the sideline while his players play the game, but that doesn't mean he's not a good coach. In fact if you want to see why his advice is good, all you have to do is look at him. Is that what you want to happen to you? No? then finish your stories
@@KristijanKLHe doesn’t listen to it once and people get pissy. Calm down, George RR Martin wrote so much more besides Game of thrones.
Most of it isn't to be honest too. it's still the same out there, just done a bit differently. You also have more self publishing options unlike before.
@@dionenisnikci that's also true. I was joking but unironically even ignoring all the short stories and science fiction stuff before simply writting a story as long and complex as ASOIAF is something most writers can only dream of. George honestly gets to much heat even when some of it is funny
As an aspiring writer that has a notebook with 20+ project ideas, I really needed to hear this.
Thank you, Dom and Mr. Martin
Oh, having 20+ project ideas isn't the problem, I think, those ideas can still become stories one day. The point is that you select one and write and finish it.
Personally, I would select the one that speaks to me personally, write what you know, as they say. Or, write what you're interested in and care about most right now.
Oh that’s awesome! Have you put any of them to paper yet?
If you angle for short fiction, there’s a Website called Vocal you might want to check out. Like UA-cam for short fiction 🤷♂️
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7o yes, I am well aware the issue is getting started. Having multiple ideas is really a gift because I'll always have something to work on, but I've gotten so used to writing for a grade that I don't know how to write for myself. It's going to be difficult, but I'm working on it. I actually just worked on the second chapter to my kids chapter book.
My problem is that I have to work against my muse. I've noticed that sometimes an idea I had many years ago will have been made by someone else. For example, Ghostbusters afterlife. Maybe 15 years ago I had the idea of a sequel where Egon passed away whilst working on something very important, but he never told the guys. (Sound familiar?) But in my version, after his funeral a tape is given to the guys by his lawyer telling them what he'd been working on and that if he died then that's what killed him. My version also included a little back and forth competition between Peter and Oscar, Dana's son, whom he'd become estranged with (again, estranged child storyline, just like afterlife, but i went for one we were already familiar with). I would've loved to see Chris Pine in the role of adult Oscar.
When after life came out and I saw part of my idea was used, I realized my muse went off to someone else, but I'm ok with it because After Life turned out great. I really enjoyed it.
Good luck with your project ideas!
@@shanakeebooks thank you! ☺️
There are probably a hundred comments here saying how much they needed this as an aspiring writer, but I'm going to add just one more. I graduated college 3 years ago & have yet to finish a single story. I don't think I've even written more than a few paragraphs in at least a year. Listening to this advice has helped me see that this is normal & that the only way over is through & that I need to start writing again. Thank you so much Dom for talking with Mr. Martin about this & putting it out there for us & giving us some much needed kicks in the butts & hope.
Get a timer app on your smartphone. Set it for five minutes, turn off all the lights and youtube, sit at your computer and type away. Type drivel. Type nonsense. Just get used to typing.
Do that and add twenty seconds per day. In a year you'll have gone past an hour. Somewhere along the line you'll stop writing nonsense and start writing something coherent. If you miss a few days, go right back to five minutes and build up again. Do it for longer if you want, but the five minutes is your fallback.
It will work. It sounds mundane and stupid, but it WILL work.
Another thing aspiring writers need to do is read. For some reason it seems that many aspiring writers don't like to read. That's like cheap that doesn't like food. Something that they have in common is bad grammatical, punctuation, formatting and dialogue issues. Reading a lot and from different genres (ex. Thriller, comedy, fantasy, historical, memoir, crime, mystery, horror, etc.) will help you out because you get to experience it visually/physically.
I liked that first point. Another way of thinking about it is: "What's an "aspiring writer""? "Someone who hasn't done it yet." I get why "aspiring/newbie writers" don't write. They fall into the dopamine trap. They come up with an idea and are so excited to tell everyone it. They feed off the (brief) attention and everyone saying "That's a great idea!", " Yeah, I'd read that!" but when(if) they try writing the idea that energized feel dissipates. So they continue talking more about their ideas vs actually writing them.
Edit. Chef not cheap.
Actually I began to want to write after reading wayyyy too much and too many things lol. I wanted to contribute too now that everyone gave me so much.
It's also good to know when to archive an idea I think. I have been writing a little on some stories, but it's been way too long and nothing came of it. I still like them a lot but I think I should start anew and build something stronger now that I've more control over what and how I want to write.
This is just a personal opinion as a fellow writer, but I think a lot of the bad grammar and what have you has a lot to do with the fact that we live in the Wattpad generation of writers. Where writers don't have to obtain formal editors or have beta readers before they put their work out there for consumption. Then those underwritten works end up getting 100k readers over time and the only feedback they seem to get is from people on the same writing/reading comprehension level as they are, and they only ever tell the author how "awesome" the work is without the slightest bit of constrictive criticism.
Even when it needs serious revision.
Then, with those kind of numbers, Wattpad (or a Wattpad-like site such as Inkitt or Royal Road or what have you), offers to help publish their work with (seemingly) few to no edits or alterations. That's how we end up, not only with undercooked novels on store shelves, but books that end up becoming direct-to-streaming small budget movies that once you learn that they were based on Wattpad-like novels you end up asking yourself "How did this ever get greenlit, let alone PUBLISHED?".
But most books suck.
One piece of advice I will never ignore.
Whenever I see an interview of GRRM, he always seems like such a nice and smart guy. I get that it's frustrating waiting for the conclusion of a series you care about, but like. No matter if or when ASOIAF continues, he's written five of the best fantasy novels (imo) as it stands. Some people need to chill and give the guy a break.
The best? 🤣
No.
100% correct
Didn't he help with the world building for Elden Ring as well?
@@crypticcryptid4702 he did
i appreciate that he starts with the "my advice might be outdated i started way back when"
Man
I don’t like ASOIAF, not my cup of tea, but I LOVE George. In the slang of a dear friend, “he’s just a petit monsieur!” Which I thinks fits GRRM perfectly
That's funny, because a lot of fans are the EXACT opposite way, they love the story, but HATE George because of his delays and hiatuses
@@tobeymalone3436 I think my dislike of the work allows me to not really care about its release 🤔 so I’m not at all invested in his progress, I just like hearing the kind old guy tell stories and give what I see as fireside advice
On rejection letters: One of my favorite rejections was from Marion Zimmer Bradley - I think for either a magazine or short story collection, many, many years ago.
The rejection was mostly form "doesn't meet our needs," with a bit tacked at the end: "and not funny as intended." (Yes, it _was_ a humor piece.)
Underneath her signature were two hand-written comments, presumably from staff members: "I thought it was funny!" and "Me too!"
That two members of her staff were eager to put their opinions in as well made it my favorite rejection letter for the longest time.
thats funny
considering what Bradley did I'd consider it lucky you weren't associated with her anymore
@@jessilynallendilla5433 I had been wanting to avoid mentioning that particular bit, but yes. When I was typing my original post, I was thinking less of her, and more of those staffers. I couldn't help but wonder how many of them had their careers damaged by association with her.
George RR and the dom are an amazing combo! Thanks For the treat🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
That's some damn good advice. One I am going to take. Currently working on my first novel but I will take my time by writing other short stories. Now finish Winds of Winter dammit!
I took George's first lesson recently. Instead of that big novel, that I still plan to end, but has been stuck around 300 pages for a long time, I'm writing a short story, inspired mostly on a background element of my original idea. Mostly because I realized that even if the big story I plan doesn't make it, the short one would still work perfectly as a standalone story, and because I already have planned what comes later, so I don't run the risk of getting sidetracked with other ideas, and make it way longer than it needs to be.
take your 300 pages and fire up ChatGPT or Claude. brainstorm it out.
A piece of advice that I would give is that even if you meticulously go over every detail, what you'll come up with will ultimately be a first draft that gets revised, so don't stress about perfection early on. Let if flow out of you, take some time away, and then go back to revise. It's easy to forget but there are these things called editors, so it's best to keep them in mind. PS a video or two on Martin's early Sci-Fi work could be cool!
One more pointer. In the words of Faulkner, read everything. Stuff you love, stuff you hate, bad books, good, middling, the all time greats, genre, literary, etc. I'd extend this to other mediums as well. As McCarthy says, books are made out of books. You will take something valuable out of them every single time. Either what you want to emulate/incorporate into your style or mistakes you never want to make.
Good advice to anyone is finish things that you start
Yes, and write write every day. At least until you've got your first 5 mil socked away offshore.
I feel like more people need to hear GRRM's explanation of Heinlein's advice because it seems as some people really interpret it as 'never rewrite your stories whatsoever and never look over and edit it, you will always get it first try'
Hearing number two gives me hope. I am constantly starting something, getting a certain way through then thinking it isn't good as I've got used to the story and the idea wears off on me. So to hear that even someone like GRRM went through something similar when starting out gives me inspiration.
I had a conversation with Mr. Martin about Wild Cards just last night. I was dreaming but I felt a connection was made.
I know what you're talking about.
I once went shoes shopping with Tori Amos. Another time the Kelly Family lived in our attic. And once Danny Trejo had a crush on me.
Nice advice and just really fun and comfortable to listen to after a long day.
Thanks for this Dom! Whenever I see an interview of GRRM, he always seems like such a nice and intelligent man. I understand the frustration for the wait for the next novel but after everything he had given us he deserves to chill. He's one of the Best after all.
The late fantasy literature grandee, David Eddings, also recommended starting with smaller stories. He said he himself had started with short stories, before adding "no you may not read them; I burned them"
It seems fairly common advice to start small. Though I personally think if you want to write a novel, then write a novel. However, you can still write a single stand alone novel, rather than a 6 book series, and a book could be 80k words instead of 200k. So there are degrees of building your way up.
The actually finishing things is good advice for anything. I know so many visual artists who start pieces and never finish them.
0:28 he wrote Sand Kings and it’s fantastic.
This is really wonderful advice! And, as someone who is currently writing many short stories and submitting them far and wide (in the hope of one day unveiling my major work as a recognised author), this helps put my mind at ease a bit that I'm on the right path. Thank you, GRRM and Dominic Noble, for this fantastic interview!
I love these collabs
man i really needed to hear that. Everything, especially the finish everything part. Very much thank you two!
This actually picked me up. I’ve submitted a couple stories to a magazine and got rejected both times after 6 months of waiting. I’m still writing though. 😊
Somebody tell that man just how god damn much I love elden ring
I mean, he probably wrote a one page outline and then said “Sure I’ll take this large bag of cash and you can profit off of my name. Thanks”. 😂
You must be 'ungry
Another one?! Amazing ❤❤❤❤
Thank you for this ❤❤❤
The problem with short stories is that nobody publishes them anymore. It’s good advice for getting better, but not for getting published.
That's how I feel as well. There are so many options for one to get published that they just drown in a sea of blogs and magazines
That was interesting advice. Thanks Dom, I hope you enjoyed your meeting. 😊
Never heard Mr. Martin speak(dont really care about the GoT series) but the man has such a wonderful voice.
There is something beautifull about an old skilled writer (or any sort of artist or craftsman) being asked for advice and then answers: "Here is the advice I got when I was just starting out!"
It is experience refined and passed down from generation to generation
Ray Bradbury had similar advice, write many, many short stories before you ever think of tackling a novel. He recommended writing a short story a week.
I really needed the, "stop rewriting after each rejection" advice! Also the kick in the butt that you gave to push through the rejections and just keep sending things out!
I admire George R.R. Martin intensely. Perhaps not least because I like him as a person so much.
As recently as today, I was provoked into digging out my CV to check how many novels I have published. 231 titles, over 44 years! And still, I get incredibly angry when I get rejected -- even with the stories I have worked on for a really long time!!! Readers only want the material that I have produced without creative resistance. Of course, it's nice for my bank accounts, but painful for the soul.
This is such practical and useful advice; I'm glad to see others feel the same way as me after watching it. As an aspiring writer, I'm adding my comment here in the hope that one day I'll look back at it as a published writer, glad that I listened to good advice and believed in my own ability.
I made the mistake of trying to climb that 'Everest' and go right into my first novel, but after three spin outs and 100,000 words, I realized the problem wasn't my prose, but rather my delivery. The best advice I can give anyone is, if you write something and you're not sure about it, file that story away and work on something else, then come back to it in three months when you've nominally forgotten about it. You'll see ALL of the problems immediately. Fresh eyes do wonders to improving your craft.
Excellent Advice! Thank You.
Short fiction is good to hone your craft, but the industry has moved along and there are far fewer places paying for short stories anymore. There aren't even really any SFF magazines of the type that Martin built his career on anymore.
The likes of AO3 are a good place to cut your teeth, and when you're ready, decide if you're going to self-publish (in which case hire a good editor and cover designer), go trad (in which case get an agent - I speak from experience on how trad publishing can bite you in the ass without one, and a lot of publishers won't take unagented submissions now anyway), or hybrid (all of the work and expense of both types of publishing, but statistically the most likely to result in earning a living)
I'm so glad George is so forthcoming with his advice, it sounds like he really wants to help us new writers.
Great advice, for 50 years ago…
As someone who's been writing their BA thesis for 4 years now, I can never get mad at George for struggling to finish my favorite book series...
It took me several years to finish my BA thesis. It took me having a faculty adviser who actually fit me to be able to get my degree. One who got me and I got her. Maybe helped that I actually managed to get diagnosed with ASD during those years.
@@Elora445 Good to see I'm not alone... For me, it's due to several mental health issues and familial problems and deaths. And I just got my first ADHD meds. (I'm too embarrassed to talk to my adviser about all of this, so I haven't contacted her in a year...)
@@EleiyaUmei
You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. As soon as I told my adviser and begged her to be more straight forward with me, everything was fine. I could also (through the university itself) have gotten more time to write my essay, if I wanted to. Look up if your university has something like that. Or maybe your adviser could spend some of their time to remind you to write, or whatever it is your biggest problem is. (I have two brothers with ADHD.)
Before my university studies, I had to complete my earlier studies. There I lost a complete semester because my mother passed away; grief can really mess with one's head. My condolences. I hope your familial problems will somehow fix themselves.
Also, no matter what happens, I wish you the best of luck with everything.
@@Elora445 Thank you for being so kind ^-^
I have so much respect for this man. And as someone who's been writing short stories for years, I found this super validating!
I love how one of his advices is "finish the story", and yet people still waiting for the last two Game of Thrones books from him since 2011.
Excellent advice! If one can master the art of character development within the constraint of a short story, a novel (should you decide to write one) benefits greatly from that skill.
It's old advice, but it's still great advice! Thanks for posting this!
Going into my second book - this advice is great!
Excellent advice for newcomers that can apply to filmmaking as well, starting with shorts if a good way to get a handle on your style. Sidenote, I've asked my director: "On a scale of Sanderson to Martin, how long do you think this project will take?"
I love that way of measuring time!
Great advice. I just feel like i csnt write short stories. All of my ideas are long ass fantasy stories that work well structurally online, and potentially fine if edited to book format. Either way, loooong stories. I could definitely do a novel length story, but I'd be less into it haha. Thinking of short stories though...i have no idea. Especially because in uni i always choose an intro to a story instead of writing a short story as i have no idea about any story ideas that could be so short
I agree. Short stories are awesome.
Hoi paloi. Very awe inspiring. Thank you.
Thank you for making this little Video Dom, as well as Mr Martin for giving these tips. I'm stuck in a bad rut right now. I want to write but I look at everything I write and think my ideas are terrible and cringe and not good. To hear that that's normal from someone who has been objectively successful. And that they feel the same about their ideas getting worse and worse as they write them down. Makes me feel seen in a way I can't describe and gives me hope that i'm not a complete lost cause when it comes to it. I should start finishing them I suppose hah.
Martins advice here is timeless, at heart, & can he applied to any type of creation or art.
I think I needed to hear this. I have the soul of an author that's been too anxious to actually write, even if nobody else will read it. They've just been trapped in my brain for ages. And knowing that I can jump around between projects instead of all-in on one puts me at ease. Maybe I pick up a bunch of empty notebooks and I dedicate them to different projects and ideas. And I also need to quit writing in a linear fashion.
Short stories, little blurbs, etc, are great to do. The band on stage will always do tuning and warm ups before they play a song. The artist will have failed sculptures or scrapbooks of sketches before their gallery showing. He's not saying you should abandon your magnum opus. But maybe you should write a paragraph about the protagonist in an unusual situation removed from the main story. Put them in another universe, even one that already exists in another author's work. How would your character react to being a detective, or meeting the last unicorn? It's amazing how much you learn about them, and yourself as a writer.
Whaaaa!? Damn, guy! 🌺💜
I’m so glad you got to meet him, I know he means a lot to you as a writer. You’re a bigger person than me, if I met GRRM at this point, I’d just pass him by and cry later. It used to be my number one dream to meet him, and an unfinished fantasy series is peak first world problems, but… I don’t want to give that man any space in my mind to disappoint again 😢 bittersweet indeed…
He lives!
Extreme respect for him acknowledging that the advice was good at the time but he doesnt know for sure if it's still good. Overall I do think it is pretty good, especially number one: You must write.
An interesting aside to his comment about trying to sell short stories to Playboy…the first GRRM story I ever read was a short story called “Sandkings”, which was featured in Omni magazine, a sort of Sci Fi/Weird Tales anthology magazine published by one of Playboy’s chief competitors, Bob Guccione.
Omni magazine was great!
As much as I dislike the general air of nihilism in his work, the man does give good advice. Write, finish what you started, then make it everyone else's problem till someone personally tells you to stop. I can get behind that.
I haven't ever seen the interpretation that nihilism is a theme of GRRM's work, In fact I've heard it argued that asoiaf has existentialism as a theme so I'm curious to know what you mean by that.
@@fatpenguin0089 I mean, most of the heroic characters got killed off brutally and dishonorably in his first 3 books. Most of the villainous characters keep getting rewarded for what they did and the living heroic characters get tortured horribly in some form. That’s the general air of nihilism here.
@@nont18411 That's not nihilism, that's just a bleak story. And we don't even know how it ends yet.
@@Scytheslinger What’s the difference?
And let’s look at the profile of heroic (or morally good) characters, shall we?
- Ned: beheaded
- Robb: Shot by three arrows then shanked in the heart then beheaded and used as meat puppet
- Catelyn: Throat slit, strip naked and then revived as a vengeful zombie
- Jon: Getting shanked multiple times
- Oberyn: Head exploded
- Sansa: Being groomed by a pedophile
- Brienne: Getting threatened by a zombie Catelyn and had her squire held hostage
- Stannis: Getting betrayed and lost the battle against the Boltons
- Shireen: Getting burned alive soon
- Rickon: Stuck in a cannibalistic island
- Bran: Got his mind hijacked by a creepy hive mind old man
- Arya: Became radicalized by a death cult
- Tyrion: Being exiled and hunted down by the government
- Sam: Getting invaded by Euron’s fleet
- Jeyne: Getting raped by Ramsay
- Theon: Getting enslaved and tortured by Ramsay
See what I’m saying? No good deeds go unpunished in his story.
It's not just ASOIAF, though I would argue that the way the show ended is kind of in keeping with the general vibe of his writing, only much too condensed due to directorial choices.
I was thinking more of his other published and finished works, like Tuf Voyaging (scifi, a man comes into possession of an ancient spaceship capable of genetically engineering almost anything, then discovers new depths of sentient depravity and desperation as his new toy comes into contact with the rest of the galaxy) and Windhaven (that one did have a more hopeful story, which might be partially due to a cowriter, though still plenty of mundane and fantastical misery about change and aging and how trying to make a difference doesn't really amount to as much as we might hope).
It's just a little bleak, as Scytheslinger pointed out. To me it reads as nihilism, but I could be wrong. xD
Noble u beautiful bastard this has made my day. Thank you from my heart. George RR Martin ur works are magnificent, I bow to express my respect. Thank you for your work. Great advice
I think it's good advice. Start small, then eventually go big.
I really love that despite actually giving good advice that’s still relevant, George acknowledges that the world now is very different to the world when he was a young writer, and that his advice may be a bit outdated.
Hearing him say he's still working on Winds of Winter made me very happy.
I haven't been able to write a lot lately due to loads of things, some personal stuff, but some also just life happening, but 10-15 years ago I did write a lot and while I never got published I lived by this mentality of sending it on to the next person as soon as it came back from the first guy. I consider myself lucky that the very first reaction letter I got was actually a personalized letter. Not so much a we didn't like these specific things rewrite and try again, no, they were very clear that they didn't think the story was for publishing, but they left enough information in there that I gathered at least someone had read more than just the first page, even if they didn't read the whole thing, and ending by saying don't take this as the end of the world, we think there is potential there if you are willing to work for it and you are welcome to send us more scrips in the future. Every rejection letter since has just been a standard fill in the blanks and return to sender forms, but that first one still lives with me and is sometimes what motivates me to get a few words in when I have some time to spare.
pragmatic advice, no short cuts...i like it 😊.
Great advice.
This is mostly great advice. One thing about the current SFF short story market though: I wouldn’t revise to a personal rejection unless you really agree with it or it’s explicitly an R&R (revise and resubmit) request. Otherwise you’re revising for someone who doesn’t want your story, and another editor may love what they didn’t-literally happened with multiple stories I’ve sold so far. The rest is still super on point though!
Really, really wonderful and thoughtful advice. Very helpful. My dream in life is to ask GRRM a for advice on writers block, and NOT in a passive aggressive way I swear lmao I genuinely want to know his thoughts on it
Yay I never had this advice. I had plans to make a trilogy but I’ll start a novella series.
Thanks George!!
Gotta love George
Martin's short stories are quite good. His novel Fevre Dream is quite good. ASOIAF is quite good. The unspoken rule, then, is also consistency. Be consistent with the quality, and discard what is not up to snuff.
Love you Dom and love you GRRM. 🥰
"You must write" " You must finish what you write" Damn you man 😡
I remember talking to George R.R. Martin at a convention in Austin, TX. I asked him if he were going to write any more of his Tuf Voyaging stories. He combined several of his short stories into the 'novel.' I loved this book. I can not say I have liked a lot of his newer stuff... maybe because of cats?
George looks fantastic
What a cozy fellow he is ^^
Thank you!
Starting with short stories is pretty good advice
...well duh, me lol
"You must finish it!" Oh, the irony...
The irony throne ?! 🤡
Thank you, This is very good advice, I've had this short story in my mind. I think I'll try writing it and sending it to Scholastic, it's a spooky story and I hope maybe goosebumps has a spinoff series of books lol or maybe I can rewrite it for a different series.
I hope this is start for new interviews
I would like to see the Dom tackle Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" at some point!
An in-person interview with Dom, on the topic of how he's still working on Winds of Winter.
This guy really will do absolutely anything in place of actually working on Winds of Winter.
I think if you're a fantasy writer, web novels is a great way to start, unless you really hate the stigma of being a modern pulp fiction writer. Royalroad is a fine place. This way you can even realize your plan for a really long-running series with extensive worldbuilding. Web novels are huge in Japan and China, and the industry have evolved tremendously in the last 10 years.
Even western web novel writers at times have decent patreons. What you need is the consistency to put out a chapter regularly. A successful web novel will give your a chance to cut your teeth at writing and will help to find out if you're up to the task. It may also serve as a trump card if you ever want to publish something physically.
Im writing a 24 chapter fiction Fantasy novel. First time writing ✍️. Ive been working on it for years.
So when are we publishing winds of winter grrm
For writing, I like to "do things by the book".
I made that mistake of trying to write an epic sci-fi story first set on an alien world with like the equivalent of early 1900s human technology, and humans landing there after having spend three generations on a generation ship. But I never wrote a single line!
I spend 10 whole years on world building creating a history of the alien species and how their society worked and created different conlangs for each culture.
My aim was to avert the trope of a monotonous alien culture à la the Klingons in Star Trek or similar. Even the Na'vi in Avatar have one culture on this big Earth-sized moon!
I still think that's a good aim but I eventually shelved it.
Right now I'm working on two different stories in graphic novel form, one a post-apocalypse sci-fi story and the other one set in Paleolithic Europe featuring Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
I'll listen to him when he finishes his damn series
Wholesome guy
A vary good thing to hear
Fantastic advice. :3
I have written the start of a few stories now my start is usually a good 60 k words though a short story would probably be a good idea, to write some things that are actually finished up to give be better experience on how to write a full narrative (even if said narrative is in mini form)
Very nice advice, regardless of whether it's outdated or not. It gives a goof foothold, at least, to find modern versions. And I wish velociraptors still ruled today. XD
Sometimes writing stories is like living in real life, there is no real finish to this, there is always sequel you can work on saying what happened after the end, legacy characters, kids of the protagonists, life after life etc.