George R. R. Martin on the writing and editing process...

Status
Not open for further replies.

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
5,309
Reaction score
1,094
Location
umber and black Humberland
Just saw this on GRRM's blog. I thought it might be interesting for those interested in being traditionally published to see what the editing process can be like for a very large novel in a long series. Kind of a fascinating peek into the construction of what will surely be an excellent novel!

http://grrm.livejournal.com/217066.html#cutid1
 

WriteMinded

Derailed
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
6,209
Reaction score
775
Location
Paradise Lost
Thanks for posting that. I love George R. R. I didn't know he'd finally finished A Dance with Dragons. I was hoping this one would be the last of the series. I doubt I'll live long enough to see the next one. :)

Lots of posts here on AW about vampire novels. GRMM wrote my favorite, Fevre Dream.
 

Alouette

bad apple
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
199
Reaction score
12
Thank you for posting! I love his books and just marvel at their intricacy and how he keeps track of all the plot threads. It's hardly surprising it takes him so long to churn them out, really! (Although, A Dance with Dragons was pushing it, I think.)
 

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
9,232
Reaction score
1,897
Location
Providence, RI
Looks like this series will end when GRRM does. Or maybe not, if Brandon Sanderson is still around. ;)
 

Fulk

Occasional Contributer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
571
Reaction score
40
Location
Illinois
I think the most exciting part of that post is how he mentioned copies of all his partials are sent to the special collections at Texas A&M. If and when those are public, I intend to look over every one of them. (Maybe I'll be the student of fantasy literature he speaks of).
 

playground

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2011
Messages
1,404
Reaction score
138
For someone that has only read the first three books will that link spoil a bunch for me if I read it?
 

Parametric

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
10,818
Reaction score
4,684
For someone that has only read the first three books will that link spoil a bunch for me if I read it?

Only a bit. There's some discussion of the viewpoint characters in A DANCE WITH DRAGONS - if you see a character's name there, you'll know they survived A FEAST FOR CROWS. Apart from that, I don't think any spoilers are mentioned.
 

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
5,309
Reaction score
1,094
Location
umber and black Humberland
I don't think any characters are even mentioned, but I can't recall clearly. Oh -- Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion are mentioned, but all that really tells you, as Para said, is that they survived AFFC. :)

Mostly, it's just an interesting look at how he goes about writing, rewriting, working with editors, and preserving his older versions of a manuscript. It's kinda cool!
 

Anne Lyle

Fantastic historian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
3,469
Reaction score
397
Location
Cambridge, UK. Or 1590s London. Some days it's har
Website
www.annelyle.com
I know what he means about the "sweat". I didn't have to reduce my word count in the final polish, but I managed to trim off 500 words anyway, just by identifying places where I'd repeated myself (e.g. stated something in the narrative and then had a character paraphrase that in dialogue a couple of lines later - oops!).

I enjoyed the first book of ASOIAF, but my reading time is limited at the moment so I'm sticking to somewhat shorter novels!
 

ColoradoMom

Banned
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
356
Reaction score
22
Location
Rural Colorado
Website
www.the-simple-homeschool.com
Very interesting. He appears to be an "edit as you go" writer and I am as well, so it is good to know that not everyone writes blindly until first draft completion and then waits to go back and tighten it up. I would think that such a long book would almost require that sort of plan, whereas a shorter book would allow for more more writing and less editing in the first draft.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.