Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Neil Gaiman on George R. R. Martin and "entitlement issues"

Excellent post by Neil Gaiman over at his journal, addressing fan angst over the long wait for the next book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.  Read it now.

I freely admit that I'd love nothing better than to see that A Dance With Dragons is available for pre-order (for real this time). But I'm in agreement with Mr. Gaiman. We'll get the book when we get it - and no fan of the series wants Martin to rush the job or slap together something just to shut the fans up. That does the series no favors.

Martin has both the curse and the blessing of having a highly enjoyable, incredibly detailed and complex, and well-loved series that's not finished yet. We don't know how it ends. Depending on his creative process, Martin himself may not know how it ends, or he may know how it ends but not exactly how he'll get there. It will happen when it happens, like all art, and it will satisfy the readers or it won't. 

And if the fans get too tired of waiting, they could try writing their own books.  Why not? They'll learn that:

  • it's fun!
  • it's not as easy as it looks!
  • even writers need to take a night off to recharge, get some sleep, read, or watch Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus

Heck, even though tonight is one of my writing nights, I'm taking it off. Why? I'm tired, I'm frazzled from work, and I know myself well enough to know that any writing I do tonight will be garbage. Sometimes that's what has to be done and writing is always better (and more fun) when it's a "want to do" not a "have to do". 

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