Active Users:318 Time:14/05/2024 12:08:14 AM
I think Martin's problem is being a perfectionist. AgentApple Send a noteboard - 15/08/2021 01:01:03 PM

View original post
After all, you never could fault Jordan's writing speed or release pace, just the way he lost control of the plot. And I really don't believe that Jordan milked the series for commercial purposes - frankly, by the time of book six, he had made plenty of money already. Besides, I think he wanted to be done so he could move on to something else, whether an entirely different project or some side-project set in Seanchan or wherever, as was suggested at some point iirc. He just literally lost control - introduced too many side plots that he just couldn't bring himself to cut but also didn't manage to tie up fast enough. Perhaps a stricter editor might have helped - one who wasn't his wife - though any author who's had that much success already is bound to get plenty of leeway from their editor.

In Martin's case, he created expectations he couldn't live up to, both in terms of the writing and in terms of the release pace, with those three strong opening books released in such short succession. Then he got stuck while also wanting to dial back how much of his time he spent on aSoIaF... and the more impatient fans became, the less motivated he got, I guess. That being said, both his books and the TV series based on them did have very strong starts and were hugely influential for the wider genre, so you can hardly consider them failures... he's just not as strong a finisher as he is a starter, clearly.


Which is closely tied to procrastination when things go sideways.

Reply to message
Who has let readers down more, Robert Jordan or Georgerr Martin? - 01/08/2021 05:43:47 PM 497 Views
Martin - 01/08/2021 09:45:25 PM 177 Views
WRONG! Book 4 and 5 are Fabulous, and the prequels are more fun as individual stories - 02/08/2021 07:13:02 PM 171 Views
Bah - 02/08/2021 07:53:04 PM 166 Views
We Must Imagine Martin [ Happy ] ? - 02/08/2021 11:07:36 PM 152 Views
RJ not for dying, but instead for giving us books 7 to 10 (I never did 11) - 02/08/2021 07:10:33 PM 183 Views
If Jordan had died after Book VI and the series remained unfinished, it would have been better - 02/08/2021 08:02:11 PM 181 Views
We agree in a lot with this - 02/08/2021 11:06:26 PM 137 Views
I notice you also un-corrected my corrected "Georgerr Martin" - 04/08/2021 07:10:50 PM 255 Views
It annoyed me - 05/08/2021 01:58:03 AM 146 Views
Impossible for me to know - 02/08/2021 09:13:16 PM 165 Views
Very good point - 04/08/2021 06:46:14 PM 226 Views
Martin has definitely frustrated his fans and tested their patience far more... - 03/08/2021 09:05:21 PM 197 Views
"Not as strong of a finisher" may be the understatement of the year - 04/08/2021 06:48:03 PM 198 Views
another good point - 04/08/2021 06:58:32 PM 168 Views
I think Martin's problem is being a perfectionist. - 15/08/2021 01:01:03 PM 134 Views
Maybe if he were good at writing... *NM* - 16/08/2021 09:15:30 AM 161 Views
My vote is for GRRM. - 11/08/2021 12:57:37 AM 167 Views
Martin - 13/08/2021 02:09:19 AM 135 Views
Martin. I think he is a classic perfectionist. - 15/08/2021 12:59:23 PM 140 Views

Reply to Message