George RR Martin called Game of Thrones “traumatic” and confirmed that they’ve deviated from his plot thank rhllor I can sleep tonight
“GAME OF THRONES author George RR Martin is “a little sad” about the way the HBO show will end the stories created in his Song of Ice and Fire books and would “prefer” it was done differently.“
“I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure.”
“It can also be… traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don’t match”
I was listening to an old interview with Sue Grafton (you know, A for Alibi) and they asked her why there wasn’t a Kinsey Millhone movie and it was because she refused to sell her character and lose control of it and it wasn’t leaving money on the table because her sanity and self-respect were worth a hell of a lot of money.
Anyway, here’s Wonderwall.
Bold of any of us to assume GRRM has an ending in mind.
Because here’s the thing: there is no “exactly the way I did it” because he hasn’t. There’s no “did it” or “end” to the stories he’s written. Because he hasn’t written them. And he’s had time - he was pitched in January 2006 and the series began actual development in January 2007. That’s 13 years to write three books that he assured his fanbase had already been plotted out - and in that time he’s written … one. (And a half, if you count the weird “complete history of House Targaryen” - or “stalling for time” - that is Fire & Blood.) He handed over the reigns of storytelling to people who had to actually hit the deadlines they made to their own fans, and then got “a little sad” when that creative didn’t match the as-of-yet uncommunicated mythical ending he continues to push back into the ether of tomorrow.
And I’ll be clear here: as a fan of the books, while I appreciate the world he’s created, I no longer believe he has an actual creative vision for the end of these books. His constant assurances and subsequent broken promises lead me to believe he’s written himself into a corner and doesn’t know how to get out. And as a hobbyist creative I also think it’s shitty that he’s taking pot-shots from the sidelines of “no, not like that” at other professionals when he’s provided no alternative “creative vision” to match, aside from “not that.”
There’s nothing more frustrating than when you pitch an idea to someone, and their feedback is “no, not like that” while offering no alternative or pathway to success. Just “not like that.” It’s like someone saying “Imagine an airplane. No a different one. That’s not the one I had in mind. No, still not right.”
And here’s the thing: I think in his heart of hearts, GRRM agrees with this, because the article ends with the following quote:
I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here.”
Yeah. I agree with you there. Because I don’t even watch the show, but in this era of perpetually chaptered, never-ending story universes, I appreciate that the showrunners of GoT did the one thing the series never could: finish the story. That it’s different from a theoretical ending that may never come is immaterial - there are a million books never written and a million songs never sung. Until they’re created, they don’t matter.
