George has enough money to hire a team of writers to help him write A Dream of Spring. He could have a writer's brainstorming session and then assign 20 or so writers to produce one or two draft chapters each. George can then edit the draft, write the bits he wants to write, and get it done in one to two years.
That all sounds splendid but its easier said than done. I can't imagine most veteran writers to leave their magnum opus in the hands of others to write or even have access to.
@@Kalinik. The he will likely leave it unfinished, which will mean that it will be in the hands of amateurs to complete after the copyright expires in 100 years or so.
@@captainnolan5062 With how slow he is and the fact that he still has 2 books to write, I'm not extremely optimistic that he'd be able to finish them. I hope he does, but time will tell. He has said he does have the ending laid out, so at least someone will be able to finish it in a similar way hopefully. hell, chatGPT has already written an ending lol
@@Kalinik. " chatGPT has already written an ending lol" ChatGPT is WAY too politically correct to write anything even remotely acceptable even by literal GOT Season 8 standards. Even if it weren't PC, AI just isn't even close to being sophisticated enough to write an ending for that series. Lets not even play.
As a fanfic writer in my spare time (when I'm not running my youtube channel or doing chores around the house) I find alot of my most productive moments come to me when I am at work rather than sat at my desk. I find it helps to not be focussed too much on the act of writing until you know what you want to write.
Great video. Just 2 small points: - The Meereenese Knot was the delay behind DwD. Feast’s delay was caused by cutting the previously planned 5 year timeskip. - He’s written episodes, short books and world lore and even a game in this same time period. So his block seems very specific to the main story. The man’s clearly got no problem when there’s no pressure.
Things that have helped with writer's block: If super frustrated or anxious, take a break. Do something else. Then come back to it. Start in the morning. (Prevents from procrastinating too much.) Write stream of consciousness and edit later. Or write bullet points or an outline. Then transcribe those points into sentences. Sometimes a good environment helps. I.e. organized, clean desk; no sounds; or some background music etc. Whatever floats your boat. If you get into a flow, follow it. If not, try for a set time and then take a mini break. Set rewards. Of course trying to find inspiration is another way to go about it but sometimes you end up procrastinating or just waiting for it to hit which ends up prolonging writer's block. In the end of the day, I believe it is about reigning in your writer's block with discipline and stick to techniques you find the most effective. Personally I think GRRM isn't disciplined nor does he have the incentive to complete his ASOIAF series anymore. He fears the backlash from fans if it isn't up to par with their expectations and he most likely has written himself into a corner. So instead, he procrastinates with other projects because other projects are just easier and more fun. I don't expect him to finish his series at all at this point. And he has described his style of writing as gardening and seeing where the characters take him which means he doesn't have a detailed outline that can help him make more efficient progress and thus he waits for inspiration, which alludes him. And so the series won't finish and his ego and pride prevents him from passing it off to another writer who could help him put pen to paper and complete it.
He should just let chatGPT write it at this point. I'm so glad I never got invested in the books. Being as invested as I was in the show was already a waste of years of my life. I'd be super-pissed if I had sunk even MORE time into the book series knowing we will never get a real ending to the story, which for show watchers would be for the SECOND time. If GRRM was serious about finishing ASOIAF he'd have quit going off on tangents doing minor projects (and even finishing *whole other books* - ahem Fire & Blood) to get the last two books out years ago. I'm done with this story.
Engaging in more than one craft can help. I'm usually a musician but wrote a collection of poetry last year when I for some reason got nowhere with my music. Getting "writers" block as a musician sucks though, since not playing instruments makes you slowly loose your ability to play, so every day you don't it's gonna be even harder to pick it up again. At least with writing you don't forget how to use a pen or keyboard if you give it a break.
Music is muscle memory, it's absolutely like getting back on a bike again. I had to quit for a year because I had a small cell tumor on my left thumb once and I was back and better than ever once I got the surgery over with. I could technically still play keys but that's different muscle memory from guitar. Being able to play and having writers block are two separate problems though, I practice to keep my chops up when I can but will still keep musical writers block going on for weeks, then a good idea for something will come to me in a dream or whenever it's most inconvenient typically lol.
Found you during my bi-annual bender of ASOIAF masochism but started to sit forward for your impassioned and compassionate dive into writer's block. By the end I was moved and not a little bit inspired to do something about... you know. So, thanks man. Subscribed, for starters.
Hemingway reportedly suffered terrible writers block near the end of his life. I can't imagine not being able to, even if no one reads it, writing is valuable.
I remember hearing a story where he was supposed to write something for JFK. Apparently he spent hours on a single paragraph and basically just broke down because he couldnt write anymore.
Great Video! I really liked how you described the feeling of brimming with so many ideas, you can't keep track of them, they just constantly happen on your head, to maybe a few years later feeling your creative horizon rapidly "shrink instead of expand". And looking back you feel like the ideas that once seemed to be so out there and orinigal to be childish, on the nose or just not very creative. I think that this feeling is actually what it feels like when your creative horizon expands. Because you can see so much further and are aware of so many possibilities and people who achieved such greatness, that suddenly the space you're been occupying feels extremely limited. At least that's the way I think about this specific side of a creative block
A common issue I have with fantasy pieces is that after awhile it starts to feel claustrophobic, like there’s no where you can go in that world with the character that won’t breath new life into it, and that’s what I feel he’s hit in his writing.
My beliefs are that it’s from some sort of frustration or distraction going on in a person’s life. It’s harder to think and write if you have so many other things you have to handle. I’ve noticed when I’m in school I’m simply not as strong as a writer as I am in the summer.
I was told by my mentor once, “If you name that monster, you will give it power over you” as an artist what helps me get over a creative block or a slump, is to let go of any expectations that whatever I’m working on must turn out perfect on the first try. This frees myself so much weight and I end up exploring and enjoying the process. Eventually I start coming up with art pieces I’ve never imagine possible. Perhaps this could apply to writing as well. Try not to think about “writing” and just explore via stream of consciousness or short stories or something. Pretty soon you’ll be writing!
I always thought GRR Martin had outlined the end of the story too H,B,O and thought it was pointless too finish as he has wrote other the Dunk and Egg stories etc,,,
@@paulbowman2340 not a hundred percent sure. GRRM has talked before how he's not an architect author, he's a gardening author. The former lays out the story before they begin it, while the latter begins the story and let's it go in natural directions
Counterpoint, he is just unmotivated and unintrusted in the story itself. Back when he 1st announced That HBO would be doing an Adaptation of his series, he made it clear he had no interest. The books were a thought experiment - the War of the Roses but with magic. By book 3 he was losing interest. Then he realized that he made the cast too young. When HBO approached him He was on record in interviews as saying that this would be how people would see how the story would end. He struggled Through book 4 (which was half of book 3) and book 5 he completed and destroyed several times. His fans didnt help, besieging his forums with insults about him being fat and dying before finishing it. He certainly has not given up on writing, after HBO was announced he has continued to churn out wild cards books, as well as numerous other science fiction and fantasy stories. The only reason why he is walking back on that and claims to be actively writing the books again is because the showrunner's crap all over his legacy. From comments they have made, while they were Offered multiple seasons and extra episodes to fully flesh out the story they were given, they were not interested. They wanted Game of Thrones to end so that they could go on and do other things. Which is why the last 2 seasons are reviled by everybody. Up until that point, Martin had made it clear that They had his complete outline and That the TV series would be whatever he would have eventually written. Now that people HATE the show, he wants to recover his honor. But its been a decade. And in the novels the cast are too young. And at the end of the day we will get the same ending. After all its based on the War of the Roses and in it, an absolute nobody got the throne because everyone else is dead. So he knows he will ultimately get shit on again. It is frustrating to me because he has spent much of his last 5 or so years trying to claim that all of the comments and "from older interviews aren't What he meant to say. There's no harm in it. There's no shame in not finishing a series because you lose interest. But now his pride has taken hold. And the end result is we may get a book 6 but we will never get the end of the series. Especially since now hes saying that it was going to be 7 books but now may need to be 9. I don't mean to sound like the jerks that went on his forums, but he is old, very fat, and not in good health. And he wants to revisit a setting and documentation that he abandoned over a decade ago. There's nothing that's gonna come of this period he wrote the prequels and now there's a new TV series, which is going to be all the excuse he needs. Mark my words, the prequels will lay the pipe to explain why the TV show had to end the way it did
This is so much to read but so informative. Dont worry, you didnt come across as a jerk, at least to me. If this is true, then its very unfortunate because Season 8 is such a terrible end to a story that has so much potential. For GRRM to be ashamed of it but having to redeem it with the prequels, makes me empathize heavily with him. For his sake, I hope he can write the end of the story and that its much better than the show so he and the fans can get what they want.
You create really great video essays! Both in terms of content, pacing and the video material used. The fact that comparatively so few people see them says something about the intelligence of the UA-cam audience and not about the undeniable quality of your work.
Greetings Selador... Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Tolkienesque novelist D L Lindeman, RAT stands for the Real American Tolkien, a title that I will surely take away from G R R Martin. My introductory series The Erdani Saga {pronounced Air Donny} is already finished and is contracted for publication starting this year, 2024, I do not suffer from Writer's Block... Why? Because I enjoy writing. The same enjoyment that I found in reading "The Hobbit" at the age of ten, I now have when creating my own expansive narratives. My feelings towards G R R are mostly pity. He jumped into the ocean of fantasy world building and drowned under the weight of his own bloated creation. The fourth book was a disaster, not in its crafting, but it diversion from its predecessors.
I love that you mentioned Joan Didion. She is one of my favorite writers and inspires me, not to put my poetry manuscript in the freezer, but to continue writing. By the way, her name is not like J. K. Rowling, its pronounced Joe-n.
@@TheSelador The Center will not hold is a great doc. Also thanks for making a video on writer's block. I'm glad my experience with it has never been as bad as George's. I guess this video reassured me somewhat haha
I have this problem with programming and writing code, I find the best way is to start thinking of general ways to tackle the problem, what order to do things, what to do first.
I've noticed that if i change the page color, or the text color when i get in a block usually helps me. (Note, ive written 10 original novels, and well over 500k in other works.) It helps me not to see an empty white page, so changing it to a green or black page. Sometimes seeing a black page with white words instead of the opposite helps me. If that doesn’t work, i skip the scene and move on from there. In the next writers block incident, i go back between the scenes i haven't finished, and the one right after where im working. Its silly, but it works for me.
I don’t think it is really writers block that is the issue. GRRM is a post modernist writer, which is why the good guys have such a hard time in his world and the bad guys have an easy time of it without much redemption. If your world view is to challenge meta narratives, and you create an opus which does this, you can’t then suddenly wrap up your story using the methods of the “hero’s journey” legends. You’ve killed all your heros, your villains are irredeemable, and there is no way to have a satisfying end. He’s a victim of his own philosophy.
This was recommended to me while it still had fewer than 400 views. Perhaps the algorithm is about to favour you ? Figured I'd engage and encourage it too. Have my algorithm food, my like and my best wishes. Thanks for the content . FEED THE GOOGLE : IT HUNGERS.
I don't know if he's suffering from writer's block in general, more-so that he has block around this specific project, the conclusion of a very complex and intertwined story. He frequently writes lengthy blog posts and has contributed work to other series and completed other projects. I think it's been speculated that what happened in the TV show was based on an outline Martin gave to them. But with that being negatively received, he probably decided to change aspects of it. And the concept of the show finale being poorly received would have been a gut punch, even if he imagined a better explained ending. Add to this that he knows that if he fails to finish the books, the show's final season failure will drag down the legacy of the project. There's also a lot of the general stuff that's been going on in the world. Martin took Trump winning the presidency poorly, and that probably was depression inducing for years (which may or may not repeat this year). Then there was Covid and the Russo-Ukraine War, both of which have a draining effect upon writing because you kind of wonder about the relevance of your creations in the face of real-world problems. For me, I wrote And then there's been a general cultural change since the 1990's, which means he's probably trying to tone down some of the edgier parts of the book (the issue being that said edgy parts might be necessary to the story). Perhaps the lesson between Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time is that people should be cautious about undertaking such extensive projects that span decades in construction. Writing can be hard, but it becomes a lot harder if you have to focus on the same project for such a long time. And what you originally conceived of as a fun project that you loved can become a burden.
The Two Towers ended in a cliffhanger. "Frodo was alive, and had been taken by the enemy!" People eagerly anticipated Return of the King, and were dismayed when it took Tolkien extra time to finish it. He kept quibbling with the appendices. Eventually Tolkien's publishers put their foot down and gave him an ultimatum to call it finished. RotK was published only a year after TTT. If only they knew how bad it could actually get.
I'm gonna pitch in my solution here, but I feel like I also need to specify my kind of writer's block. I write long form fiction. I have the initial idea, get really excited, but then as time goes by while I'm plotting and mapping the chapters, I start to lose steam because time passes and life events go on and the weather changes... lmao ... So I get lazy and start to feel all the doubt and pressure... And I think the process of writing outlines can make you feel like you already wrote it. (Martin is a 'pantser' type, I wouldn't be surprised if that method has cornered him in his plot several times) So my solution is to find media that matches the 'vibe' of the work, or the scene you've imagined, and really immerse yourself as much as possible to light that spark again. Even better if the media you pick is kinda crappy on it's own. For example, I'm currently working on a vampire novella, it's not romance but I chose to watch the Twilight saga when I got stuck in the narrative because Twilight is just so bad it inspired me and makes me want to write out of sheer spite. But I will give props that the first movie has an interesting rainy/gloomy atmosphere that vaguely matches the vibe of what I'm writing. But it doesn't need to be exactly the same. My novella has a mystery element, and reading Raymond Chandler detective noir stories has also kept my engine running. And creating moodboards on Pinterest ... Visuals that match the vibe of scenes.... Basically anything that keeps you in that mental state. If your idea was inspired by another piece of media, you can rewatch/listen/read that thing over and over to stay in that zone. Keep it on the background while you write to stay in the zone. And especially for first drafts, just write it blind. No editing, and if you're stuck, put in placeholders like [character says something smart and main character is caught off-guard] and move forward. You can even change your font colour to match the background, but just write the worst version and move on. Come back later once everything is dumped out like a landfill. It's much easier to refine once you have a preliminary sketch! Anyway... That's it for me yapping... I hope it helps someone! 💐
Generally, for me, the solution is to just not write for a little while. Put all the paper down for about a week before coming back to it. There are a couple caveats: that's just what works for me, and that only works when I know exactly where the story's going and am just too fatigued to write it. When the problem is that I don't know where the story is going, or that I don't understand one of my own characters? That is a nightmare. That, I can't solve quickly or without a lot of effort.
He should just let chatGPT write it at this point. I'm so glad I never got invested in the books. Being as invested as I was in the show was already a waste of years of my life. I'd be super-pissed if I had sunk even MORE time into the book series knowing we will never get a real ending to the story, which for show watchers would be for the SECOND time. If GRRM was serious about finishing ASOIAF he'd have quit going off on tangents doing minor projects (and even finishing *whole other books* - ahem Fire & Blood) to get the last two books out years ago. I'm done with this story.
The last book was released in 2011. 12 years later only small parts and TOO MANY postponements of the date... at this point the next book will be finished by GRR Martin's grandchildren!!Enough!! I don't want to hear about new TV series or other types of shows!!! The last book came out in 2011!!!!! I think we should take GRRM and put him on a deserted island with few distractions and not come out until The Winds of Winter is over. Please please George!!!! Finish the book. I do whatever you want!! I'm count the seconds!! Hugs.
Why Should I Care When There's a Whole Lot of Actual Literature to Read (Including Some Reviewed Here in your Marvelous Channel, Not Trying to Be a Dick but Cmon) - my next vid thnx
I don't think the issue is ONLY writer's block. It's that, and the fact that instead of tackling the block on Winds, he just keeps starting new projects/jobs instead. I know that when you have writer's block it can be helpful to look at something else for a while (I'm right there too), but years and years and years of that "something else" is beyond what's necessary...
My take on writer's block is that you cannot edit a novel that isn't there. It's better to push through it, have something to show for it, and then fix it in further drafts. Does it exist? Sure. But I also think that it so often becomes an excuse to not write rather than anything legitimate. I agree with the word count thing, though. Typically, I write around 2,000 words a day, five days a week. The other two days, I do 1,000. Mind you, this is while juggling two separate projects. On my primary novel, I write 1,000 words a day. On my secondary novel, I write another 1,000 words a day.
Dont think martin has a writer block, he produced in this years two book in the universe, and all the lore for elden ring and works on a lot of other stuff too. I think his writing process is just to specific and slow, he already said that for the mereenese knot he wrote 3 versions of quentins arrival to mereen, and that was to give an example, he probably wrote a lot more chapters that never made to the final book. For the winds of winter i think he will have a lot more of that, he has so many caracters joining up, so he can write not just a lot of versions of how the story goes but a lot of this versions being told by a lot of different caracters, so he has a lot of work not just to see how is the better way for the story to go but which caracter better fits to tell a certain part of the story. That why he is taking so long, he is writing not just one book but several books at once and diferent versions of wich one of this books. And thats whats make his books amazing. And people forget that feast and dance are exentialy the same books, so took him 10 years to write it more or less, so he is not writing slower his story just got a lot more complicated to write with his writing process
Joe Abercrombie would be a great writer to take over A Song of Ice and Fire. Brandon Sanderson is not dark enough to maintain the feel of the story. Maybe Brent Weeks?
He ia salways at events and working a new shows for HBO, I never understood why he doesn't remove himself from his fame to create a legacy. He is ruining that opertuity the pressure must be overwhelming but he goes off to write Dunken egg. Do that stuff afterwards. I think it;s never going to happen either, anymore. too many youtubers have figured out his surprises.
He needs to take 6 months to plan it and then finish it, killing off and nobly ending his characters' stories the best as he can. He can't have a sand snake thinking in a tower about how she screwed up for 20 pages.
I can't speak to everyone's writer's block. Maybe yours really is something psychological, I don't know. For me, it usually boils down to uncertainty about the story at that point. I might know where it's going to end up, might know where it started. But I'm not quite sure how to connect this joint to this one, this link to that one and so on. If this is you, I'd suggest writing what you do know about your story. Write the scenes you can, the ideas you can. Then, as you go, you can fuse it back into the point where you're blocked. Sometimes our minds try to be too clever, too original. "I've gotta come up with something that isn't redundant to get this plot point done! What?" No, you don't. Write what you can. Great writing is built using the scaffold of your garbage writing. Edit later. That's what drafts are for.
I've been suffering from Writers Block for nearly ten years. In the end I just gave up on writing and took up bodybuilding. Ideas came back, but the moment i started to write them down the block came back and I found myself staring at the blinking cursor once again. In the end I just threw my laptop out and never picked up the craft again. Writing is too lonely a career path for me and i actually discourage anyone from picking it up. Don't bother with writing, try making movies, creating animations, drawing or playing music. Writing is a curse not a blessing.
video starts at 8:00
George has enough money to hire a team of writers to help him write A Dream of Spring. He could have a writer's brainstorming session and then assign 20 or so writers to produce one or two draft chapters each. George can then edit the draft, write the bits he wants to write, and get it done in one to two years.
That all sounds splendid but its easier said than done. I can't imagine most veteran writers to leave their magnum opus in the hands of others to write or even have access to.
@@Kalinik. The he will likely leave it unfinished, which will mean that it will be in the hands of amateurs to complete after the copyright expires in 100 years or so.
@@captainnolan5062 With how slow he is and the fact that he still has 2 books to write, I'm not extremely optimistic that he'd be able to finish them. I hope he does, but time will tell. He has said he does have the ending laid out, so at least someone will be able to finish it in a similar way hopefully. hell, chatGPT has already written an ending lol
@@Kalinik. " chatGPT has already written an ending lol"
ChatGPT is WAY too politically correct to write anything even remotely acceptable even by literal GOT Season 8 standards. Even if it weren't PC, AI just isn't even close to being sophisticated enough to write an ending for that series. Lets not even play.
That sounds horrible 20 writers involved
As a fanfic writer in my spare time (when I'm not running my youtube channel or doing chores around the house) I find alot of my most productive moments come to me when I am at work rather than sat at my desk. I find it helps to not be focussed too much on the act of writing until you know what you want to write.
Great video.
Just 2 small points:
- The Meereenese Knot was the delay behind DwD. Feast’s delay was caused by cutting the previously planned 5 year timeskip.
- He’s written episodes, short books and world lore and even a game in this same time period. So his block seems very specific to the main story. The man’s clearly got no problem when there’s no pressure.
Thanks for the feedback man, much appreciated. Cheers for watching too
Things that have helped with writer's block:
If super frustrated or anxious, take a break. Do something else. Then come back to it.
Start in the morning. (Prevents from procrastinating too much.)
Write stream of consciousness and edit later. Or write bullet points or an outline. Then transcribe those points into sentences.
Sometimes a good environment helps. I.e. organized, clean desk; no sounds; or some background music etc. Whatever floats your boat.
If you get into a flow, follow it. If not, try for a set time and then take a mini break.
Set rewards.
Of course trying to find inspiration is another way to go about it but sometimes you end up procrastinating or just waiting for it to hit which ends up prolonging writer's block. In the end of the day, I believe it is about reigning in your writer's block with discipline and stick to techniques you find the most effective.
Personally I think GRRM isn't disciplined nor does he have the incentive to complete his ASOIAF series anymore. He fears the backlash from fans if it isn't up to par with their expectations and he most likely has written himself into a corner. So instead, he procrastinates with other projects because other projects are just easier and more fun. I don't expect him to finish his series at all at this point. And he has described his style of writing as gardening and seeing where the characters take him which means he doesn't have a detailed outline that can help him make more efficient progress and thus he waits for inspiration, which alludes him. And so the series won't finish and his ego and pride prevents him from passing it off to another writer who could help him put pen to paper and complete it.
He should just let chatGPT write it at this point. I'm so glad I never got invested in the books. Being as invested as I was in the show was already a waste of years of my life. I'd be super-pissed if I had sunk even MORE time into the book series knowing we will never get a real ending to the story, which for show watchers would be for the SECOND time. If GRRM was serious about finishing ASOIAF he'd have quit going off on tangents doing minor projects (and even finishing *whole other books* - ahem Fire & Blood) to get the last two books out years ago. I'm done with this story.
Engaging in more than one craft can help. I'm usually a musician but wrote a collection of poetry last year when I for some reason got nowhere with my music. Getting "writers" block as a musician sucks though, since not playing instruments makes you slowly loose your ability to play, so every day you don't it's gonna be even harder to pick it up again. At least with writing you don't forget how to use a pen or keyboard if you give it a break.
Music is muscle memory, it's absolutely like getting back on a bike again. I had to quit for a year because I had a small cell tumor on my left thumb once and I was back and better than ever once I got the surgery over with. I could technically still play keys but that's different muscle memory from guitar. Being able to play and having writers block are two separate problems though, I practice to keep my chops up when I can but will still keep musical writers block going on for weeks, then a good idea for something will come to me in a dream or whenever it's most inconvenient typically lol.
Found you during my bi-annual bender of ASOIAF masochism but started to sit forward for your impassioned and compassionate dive into writer's block. By the end I was moved and not a little bit inspired to do something about... you know. So, thanks man. Subscribed, for starters.
Hemingway reportedly suffered terrible writers block near the end of his life. I can't imagine not being able to, even if no one reads it, writing is valuable.
I remember hearing a story where he was supposed to write something for JFK. Apparently he spent hours on a single paragraph and basically just broke down because he couldnt write anymore.
@@TheSeladorthat's the alcohol
Great Video! I really liked how you described the feeling of brimming with so many ideas, you can't keep track of them, they just constantly happen on your head, to maybe a few years later feeling your creative horizon rapidly "shrink instead of expand". And looking back you feel like the ideas that once seemed to be so out there and orinigal to be childish, on the nose or just not very creative. I think that this feeling is actually what it feels like when your creative horizon expands. Because you can see so much further and are aware of so many possibilities and people who achieved such greatness, that suddenly the space you're been occupying feels extremely limited. At least that's the way I think about this specific side of a creative block
A common issue I have with fantasy pieces is that after awhile it starts to feel claustrophobic, like there’s no where you can go in that world with the character that won’t breath new life into it, and that’s what I feel he’s hit in his writing.
My beliefs are that it’s from some sort of frustration or distraction going on in a person’s life. It’s harder to think and write if you have so many other things you have to handle. I’ve noticed when I’m in school I’m simply not as strong as a writer as I am in the summer.
Good video, thank you for continuing to make them. Remember to take care of yourself Mr Selador. Writer's block is tough.
Haha thanks man much appreciated. Thank you for watching.
I was told by my mentor once, “If you name that monster, you will give it power over you” as an artist what helps me get over a creative block or a slump, is to let go of any expectations that whatever I’m working on must turn out perfect on the first try. This frees myself so much weight and I end up exploring and enjoying the process. Eventually I start coming up with art pieces I’ve never imagine possible. Perhaps this could apply to writing as well. Try not to think about “writing” and just explore via stream of consciousness or short stories or something. Pretty soon you’ll be writing!
I see G.R.R. Martin and raise Patrick Rothfuss
I agree with you
I also wonder to what degree the reception of the show's ending impacted GRRM's motivation to finish the series
I didnt consider that but its probably a big factor. Must feel like the hype has died off now as well unfortunately
@@TheSelador your fans hype hasn't died tho. Keep the faith, you're doing God's work, son
@@qjames0077 that's very kind, thanks for the continued support man much appreciated
I always thought GRR Martin had outlined the end of the story too H,B,O and thought it was pointless too finish as he has wrote other the Dunk and Egg stories etc,,,
@@paulbowman2340 not a hundred percent sure. GRRM has talked before how he's not an architect author, he's a gardening author. The former lays out the story before they begin it, while the latter begins the story and let's it go in natural directions
Counterpoint, he is just unmotivated and unintrusted in the story itself.
Back when he 1st announced That HBO would be doing an Adaptation of his series, he made it clear he had no interest.
The books were a thought experiment - the War of the Roses but with magic. By book 3 he was losing interest. Then he realized that he made the cast too young.
When HBO approached him He was on record in interviews as saying that this would be how people would see how the story would end. He struggled Through book 4 (which was half of book 3) and book 5 he completed and destroyed several times. His fans didnt help, besieging his forums with insults about him being fat and dying before finishing it.
He certainly has not given up on writing, after HBO was announced he has continued to churn out wild cards books, as well as numerous other science fiction and fantasy stories.
The only reason why he is walking back on that and claims to be actively writing the books again is because the showrunner's crap all over his legacy. From comments they have made, while they were Offered multiple seasons and extra episodes to fully flesh out the story they were given, they were not interested. They wanted Game of Thrones to end so that they could go on and do other things. Which is why the last 2 seasons are reviled by everybody.
Up until that point, Martin had made it clear that They had his complete outline and That the TV series would be whatever he would have eventually written. Now that people HATE the show, he wants to recover his honor.
But its been a decade. And in the novels the cast are too young. And at the end of the day we will get the same ending. After all its based on the War of the Roses and in it, an absolute nobody got the throne because everyone else is dead. So he knows he will ultimately get shit on again.
It is frustrating to me because he has spent much of his last 5 or so years trying to claim that all of the comments and "from older interviews aren't What he meant to say. There's no harm in it. There's no shame in not finishing a series because you lose interest. But now his pride has taken hold. And the end result is we may get a book 6 but we will never get the end of the series. Especially since now hes saying that it was going to be 7 books but now may need to be 9.
I don't mean to sound like the jerks that went on his forums, but he is old, very fat, and not in good health. And he wants to revisit a setting and documentation that he abandoned over a decade ago. There's nothing that's gonna come of this period he wrote the prequels and now there's a new TV series, which is going to be all the excuse he needs. Mark my words, the prequels will lay the pipe to explain why the TV show had to end the way it did
This is so much to read but so informative. Dont worry, you didnt come across as a jerk, at least to me.
If this is true, then its very unfortunate because Season 8 is such a terrible end to a story that has so much potential. For GRRM to be ashamed of it but having to redeem it with the prequels, makes me empathize heavily with him. For his sake, I hope he can write the end of the story and that its much better than the show so he and the fans can get what they want.
You create really great video essays! Both in terms of content, pacing and the video material used. The fact that comparatively so few people see them says something about the intelligence of the UA-cam audience and not about the undeniable quality of your work.
Thank you for the kind words
Kudos to you. This was an excellent video!
Cheers man, glad you enjoyed it
Hope the algorithm picks this up. I enjoy this channel very much
Thank you for watching. More to come in the future!
July 8 2024: Still no "Winds".
Man, your content is great.
Thank you, glad you enjoy it
Greetings Selador... Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Tolkienesque novelist D L Lindeman, RAT stands for the Real American Tolkien, a title that I will surely take away from G R R Martin. My introductory series The Erdani Saga {pronounced Air Donny} is already finished and is contracted for publication starting this year, 2024, I do not suffer from Writer's Block... Why? Because I enjoy writing. The same enjoyment that I found in reading "The Hobbit" at the age of ten, I now have when creating my own expansive narratives. My feelings towards G R R are mostly pity. He jumped into the ocean of fantasy world building and drowned under the weight of his own bloated creation. The fourth book was a disaster, not in its crafting, but it diversion from its predecessors.
I love that you mentioned Joan Didion. She is one of my favorite writers and inspires me, not to put my poetry manuscript in the freezer, but to continue writing. By the way, her name is not like J. K. Rowling, its pronounced Joe-n.
Joan is great, I loved the netflix doc on her too. I'll get the name right next time as well haha. Thanks for watching
@@TheSelador The Center will not hold is a great doc. Also thanks for making a video on writer's block. I'm glad my experience with it has never been as bad as George's. I guess this video reassured me somewhat haha
@@ashlybuck5706 that's good to hear man glad it helped somewhat, good luck with the writing I hope it goes well for you 👍
I have this problem with programming and writing code, I find the best way is to start thinking of general ways to tackle the problem, what order to do things, what to do first.
GASP - oh no you did not!
Im going through this right now, smh. Writing a massive fanfic that ive been tossing around in my head for like 10 years.
I've noticed that if i change the page color, or the text color when i get in a block usually helps me. (Note, ive written 10 original novels, and well over 500k in other works.) It helps me not to see an empty white page, so changing it to a green or black page. Sometimes seeing a black page with white words instead of the opposite helps me.
If that doesn’t work, i skip the scene and move on from there. In the next writers block incident, i go back between the scenes i haven't finished, and the one right after where im working. Its silly, but it works for me.
Those final words! Just brilliant.
I don’t think it is really writers block that is the issue. GRRM is a post modernist writer, which is why the good guys have such a hard time in his world and the bad guys have an easy time of it without much redemption. If your world view is to challenge meta narratives, and you create an opus which does this, you can’t then suddenly wrap up your story using the methods of the “hero’s journey” legends. You’ve killed all your heros, your villains are irredeemable, and there is no way to have a satisfying end. He’s a victim of his own philosophy.
Excellent point here...
great video!
I´m no stranger to the dreaded block. Lol.
This was recommended to me while it still had fewer than 400 views. Perhaps the algorithm is about to favour you ? Figured I'd engage and encourage it too. Have my algorithm food, my like and my best wishes.
Thanks for the content .
FEED THE GOOGLE :
IT HUNGERS.
Thanks man much appreciated, hope you enjoyed the vid
You're welcome, and of course I did
GRMM finished A Game of Thrones in 1996 though.
Talking about this reminds me of The Wheel of Time series... Granted, that sadly went off the rails before Mr. Jordan passed away.
I don't know if he's suffering from writer's block in general, more-so that he has block around this specific project, the conclusion of a very complex and intertwined story. He frequently writes lengthy blog posts and has contributed work to other series and completed other projects. I think it's been speculated that what happened in the TV show was based on an outline Martin gave to them. But with that being negatively received, he probably decided to change aspects of it. And the concept of the show finale being poorly received would have been a gut punch, even if he imagined a better explained ending. Add to this that he knows that if he fails to finish the books, the show's final season failure will drag down the legacy of the project.
There's also a lot of the general stuff that's been going on in the world. Martin took Trump winning the presidency poorly, and that probably was depression inducing for years (which may or may not repeat this year). Then there was Covid and the Russo-Ukraine War, both of which have a draining effect upon writing because you kind of wonder about the relevance of your creations in the face of real-world problems. For me, I wrote And then there's been a general cultural change since the 1990's, which means he's probably trying to tone down some of the edgier parts of the book (the issue being that said edgy parts might be necessary to the story).
Perhaps the lesson between Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time is that people should be cautious about undertaking such extensive projects that span decades in construction. Writing can be hard, but it becomes a lot harder if you have to focus on the same project for such a long time. And what you originally conceived of as a fun project that you loved can become a burden.
My new favorite channel. (sentance took six months to write)
When you start thinking in terms of ideas being "problematic" you are in self censorship land. Leave immediately.
The Two Towers ended in a cliffhanger. "Frodo was alive, and had been taken by the enemy!" People eagerly anticipated Return of the King, and were dismayed when it took Tolkien extra time to finish it. He kept quibbling with the appendices. Eventually Tolkien's publishers put their foot down and gave him an ultimatum to call it finished. RotK was published only a year after TTT. If only they knew how bad it could actually get.
I'm gonna pitch in my solution here, but I feel like I also need to specify my kind of writer's block. I write long form fiction. I have the initial idea, get really excited, but then as time goes by while I'm plotting and mapping the chapters, I start to lose steam because time passes and life events go on and the weather changes... lmao ... So I get lazy and start to feel all the doubt and pressure... And I think the process of writing outlines can make you feel like you already wrote it. (Martin is a 'pantser' type, I wouldn't be surprised if that method has cornered him in his plot several times)
So my solution is to find media that matches the 'vibe' of the work, or the scene you've imagined, and really immerse yourself as much as possible to light that spark again. Even better if the media you pick is kinda crappy on it's own.
For example, I'm currently working on a vampire novella, it's not romance but I chose to watch the Twilight saga when I got stuck in the narrative because Twilight is just so bad it inspired me and makes me want to write out of sheer spite. But I will give props that the first movie has an interesting rainy/gloomy atmosphere that vaguely matches the vibe of what I'm writing.
But it doesn't need to be exactly the same. My novella has a mystery element, and reading Raymond Chandler detective noir stories has also kept my engine running.
And creating moodboards on Pinterest ... Visuals that match the vibe of scenes....
Basically anything that keeps you in that mental state. If your idea was inspired by another piece of media, you can rewatch/listen/read that thing over and over to stay in that zone. Keep it on the background while you write to stay in the zone.
And especially for first drafts, just write it blind. No editing, and if you're stuck, put in placeholders like [character says something smart and main character is caught off-guard] and move forward.
You can even change your font colour to match the background, but just write the worst version and move on. Come back later once everything is dumped out like a landfill. It's much easier to refine once you have a preliminary sketch!
Anyway... That's it for me yapping... I hope it helps someone! 💐
Generally, for me, the solution is to just not write for a little while. Put all the paper down for about a week before coming back to it. There are a couple caveats: that's just what works for me, and that only works when I know exactly where the story's going and am just too fatigued to write it. When the problem is that I don't know where the story is going, or that I don't understand one of my own characters? That is a nightmare. That, I can't solve quickly or without a lot of effort.
He should just let chatGPT write it at this point. I'm so glad I never got invested in the books. Being as invested as I was in the show was already a waste of years of my life. I'd be super-pissed if I had sunk even MORE time into the book series knowing we will never get a real ending to the story, which for show watchers would be for the SECOND time. If GRRM was serious about finishing ASOIAF he'd have quit going off on tangents doing minor projects (and even finishing *whole other books* - ahem Fire & Blood) to get the last two books out years ago. I'm done with this story.
The last book was released in 2011. 12 years later only small parts and TOO MANY postponements of the date... at this point the next book will be finished by GRR Martin's grandchildren!!Enough!! I don't want to hear about new TV series or other types of shows!!!
The last book came out in 2011!!!!!
I think we should take GRRM and put him on a deserted island with few distractions and not come out until The Winds of Winter is over.
Please please George!!!! Finish the book. I do whatever you want!!
I'm count the seconds!!
Hugs.
Ok, but what about Patrick Rothfus? :3
Commenting for algorithm.
Why Should I Care When There's a Whole Lot of Actual Literature to Read (Including Some Reviewed Here in your Marvelous Channel, Not Trying to Be a Dick but Cmon) - my next vid thnx
I don't think the issue is ONLY writer's block. It's that, and the fact that instead of tackling the block on Winds, he just keeps starting new projects/jobs instead. I know that when you have writer's block it can be helpful to look at something else for a while (I'm right there too), but years and years and years of that "something else" is beyond what's necessary...
My take on writer's block is that you cannot edit a novel that isn't there. It's better to push through it, have something to show for it, and then fix it in further drafts. Does it exist? Sure. But I also think that it so often becomes an excuse to not write rather than anything legitimate.
I agree with the word count thing, though. Typically, I write around 2,000 words a day, five days a week. The other two days, I do 1,000. Mind you, this is while juggling two separate projects. On my primary novel, I write 1,000 words a day. On my secondary novel, I write another 1,000 words a day.
If he starts lifting he will finish it.
Dont think martin has a writer block, he produced in this years two book in the universe, and all the lore for elden ring and works on a lot of other stuff too. I think his writing process is just to specific and slow, he already said that for the mereenese knot he wrote 3 versions of quentins arrival to mereen, and that was to give an example, he probably wrote a lot more chapters that never made to the final book. For the winds of winter i think he will have a lot more of that, he has so many caracters joining up, so he can write not just a lot of versions of how the story goes but a lot of this versions being told by a lot of different caracters, so he has a lot of work not just to see how is the better way for the story to go but which caracter better fits to tell a certain part of the story. That why he is taking so long, he is writing not just one book but several books at once and diferent versions of wich one of this books. And thats whats make his books amazing. And people forget that feast and dance are exentialy the same books, so took him 10 years to write it more or less, so he is not writing slower his story just got a lot more complicated to write with his writing process
Joe Abercrombie would be a great writer to take over A Song of Ice and Fire. Brandon Sanderson is not dark enough to maintain the feel of the story. Maybe Brent Weeks?
Tom wolfe not to be confused with Tomas Wolfe the prolific writer
So true
Well he has to read all his books again as i expect he has forgotten what has happened
He ia salways at events and working a new shows for HBO, I never understood why he doesn't remove himself from his fame to create a legacy. He is ruining that opertuity the pressure must be overwhelming but he goes off to write Dunken egg. Do that stuff afterwards. I think it;s never going to happen either, anymore. too many youtubers have figured out his surprises.
He needs to take 6 months to plan it and then finish it, killing off and nobly ending his characters' stories the best as he can. He can't have a sand snake thinking in a tower about how she screwed up for 20 pages.
Schösch
I can't speak to everyone's writer's block. Maybe yours really is something psychological, I don't know. For me, it usually boils down to uncertainty about the story at that point. I might know where it's going to end up, might know where it started. But I'm not quite sure how to connect this joint to this one, this link to that one and so on. If this is you, I'd suggest writing what you do know about your story. Write the scenes you can, the ideas you can. Then, as you go, you can fuse it back into the point where you're blocked. Sometimes our minds try to be too clever, too original. "I've gotta come up with something that isn't redundant to get this plot point done! What?" No, you don't. Write what you can. Great writing is built using the scaffold of your garbage writing. Edit later. That's what drafts are for.
I've been suffering from Writers Block for nearly ten years. In the end I just gave up on writing and took up bodybuilding. Ideas came back, but the moment i started to write them down the block came back and I found myself staring at the blinking cursor once again. In the end I just threw my laptop out and never picked up the craft again. Writing is too lonely a career path for me and i actually discourage anyone from picking it up. Don't bother with writing, try making movies, creating animations, drawing or playing music. Writing is a curse not a blessing.
first lol
Maybe he has early onset alzheimers
Hes writing plenty of stuff thats NOT Winds of Winter, this is not "writer's block".