If you keep up with any writing-related social media, forums, communities, or news, you’ve probably heard the hullabaloo about George R.R. Martin (GRRM) that’s been going around for the last two days. It started with a blog post by Martin himself. The post, titled Howard Meets Hercules, is about a film adaptation of a novella by Howard Waldrop, an American Science Fiction author who passed away in 2024. GRRM was a close friend of Waldrop, and used the blog post to share his excitement about the upcoming short film.
He also used it to call out his fans.
Here’s the direct quote, with some book names trimmed out for brevity:
(I know, I know. Some of you will just be pissed off by this, as you are by everything I announce here that is not about Westeros or THE WINDS OF WINTER. You have given up on me, or on the book. I will never finish WINDS, If I do, I will never finish A DREAM OF SPRING. If I do, it won’t be any good. I ought to get some other writer to pinch hit for me… I am going to die soon anyway, because I am so old.
I lost all interest in A Song of Ice and Fire decades ago. I don’t give a shit about writing any longer, I just sit around and spend my money. I edit the Wild Cards books too, but you hate Wild Cards. You may hate everything else I have ever written, the Hugo-winners and Hugo-losers, […] and all the other anthologies I edited with my friend Gardner Dozois, You don’t care about any of those, I know. You don’t care about anything but WINDS OF WINTER. You’ve told me so often enough).
Thing is, I do care about them.
And I care about Westeros and WINDS as well. The Starks and Lannisters and Targaryens, Tyrion and Asha, Dany and Daenerys, the dragons and the direwolves, I care about them all. More than you can ever imagine.
I loved “A Dozen Tough Jobs” the first time I read it, ages ago. I loved Howard too. It saddens me that he did not live long enough to see the film; I hope we do him justice. How can we not? Hercules, Howard, Joe, Lion Forge… I wish you all could share my excitement at the prospect of this movie.
The response?
This post has hit the media news cycle, with headlines including (but not limited to):
- George R.R. Martin Is Really Starting to Get Sick of Your ‘Winds of Winter’ Complaining (Gizmodo)
- George R.R. Martin Claps Back at Frustrated Fans: “Some of You Will Be Pissed by This” (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Will George R. R. Martin Ever Release The Winds of Winter? Here’s the Latest (People)
- George R. R. Martin is so very sick of people complaining about Winds Of Winter (AV Club)
- George R.R. Martin goes off on fans complaining about Winds of Winter delay: ‘Some of you will just be pissed’ (Entertainment Weekly)
- George R.R. Martin Has a Meltdown On His Blog Over Fans Asking About The Winds Of Winter (Fandom Pulse)
… You get the idea.
George claps back
So what gives? Privileged published juggernaut gets angry that people are asking him to do his job? Grieving man suffers the attack of entitled fans as he tries to preserve the memory of a cherished friend? Depending on where you hang out on the internet, you may have heard these takes and more. In communities where I spend my online time, a lot of this has boiled down to one core question:
Does a published author have a commitment to their readers to finish their books within a reasonable timeframe?
Or, more bluntly:
Does GRRM owe the world his books?
Why do people care?
A lot of factors can go into people’s sentiments on this matter. GRRM has “made it.” Most authors will never have the privilege of writing as freely as he does—as many books as they want, as long as they want, and as slowly as they want—let alone for so much money. While he creeps up on a decade and a half of writing Winds of Winter, BIPOC and queer authors fight for recognition in publishing spaces. Less popular authors get asked to shorten their series due to presumed lack of demand. And then there are the fans who’ve fallen in love with GRRM’s books, waiting on tenterhooks to see if their favourite characters survive. There are fans who hated the show and want to see the book fix what they feel HBO broke. Then there are those who’re simply tired of the fuss.
“If he’s still writing things,” they ask, “why can’t he just finish the damn series already?”
First, the question of privilege
Someone like GRRM has built an empire on a certain piece of work—an empire others can only dream of. There is certainly an element of privilege in this. It’s in the influence he now wields, and the money he now makes. It’s in the fact that his other axes of privilege stacked his odds of attaining his current fame. Many authors in his position have turned out to be breathtakingly toxic, all while enjoying the continued favor of their publishers. That’s a whole conversation on its own.
Publishing is a cutthroat world. There may never be enough seats at the table for everyone. This may lead to lost sympathy for GRRM simply because he’s achieved what others would kill for. We believe that opportunity should have gone to someone else. That his success is representative of a broken system. Sometimes this complaint is code for “it should have been me” i.e. garden-variety jealousy, but there are valid critiques in it as well.
But does that translate to a writing obligation?
I disagree.
GRRM owes the world good representation. He owes the world a positive use of his platform to boost those with less privilege. He owes the world his behavior as a decent human being.
He does not owe the world his books.
And his fans, conversely, don’t owe him their attention, their money, or their trust.
Unfinished until proven otherwise
Online readers on platforms like Wattpad, Tapas, Webtoon, Royal Road, etc. are intimately familiar with this phenomenon. On these free online sites, it goes both ways. Undiscovered authors whine about their lack of audience before they’ve even finished a book, while readers who’ve been burned too many times steer clear of anything unfinished. It takes a steady posting schedule and a library of finished work for an author to earn the trust of this audience. And even then, there are readers who won’t touch a book (let alone a series) until it’s marked complete.
This is totally fair. In fact, it’s good practice if a reader doesn’t want to be burned. Readers who do this have done nothing wrong.
GRRM’s fans are experiencing what generations of Wattpad readers already know: that if something isn’t finished, there’s a chance it never will be. We’re less used to this in publishing, which tends to deliver completed books. Unlike standalones, however, even traditionally published series maintain their risk of incompletion. And popularity—of the series, or of the author—can actually hurt more than it helps.
The popularity paradox
Contrary to many readers’ assumptions, popularity can actually increase the chance of a book or series being abandoned. As a story gains fame, pressure on the author increases and entitled fans (a small but vocal fraction) tend to multiply. Creative freedom can become choked by audience expectation. Backlash and reader demands can annihilate motivation to write. Fame itself can lead to imposter syndrome so strong, the author becomes paralyzed, unable to believe their work is good enough to keep writing.
And then, because they’re popular, sympathy for their problems drops. They’re successful now, therefore they no longer deserve support. Money can buy everything, and they’re a sellout for having it. They’re a punching bag now. They can take it because they’re popular. And if they complain, well, their seat should have gone to someone else. Too bad, so sad, now shut up and write.
GRRM is still human. He still grapples with writer’s block, motivation, and imposter syndrome. Sure, he makes more money than I will ever dream of, but I haven’t (yet) been given a reason to believe this has tainted his humanity. May that statement stand in perpetuity.
Wouldn’t trade places if you paid me
As an Epic-Fantasy author, I actually have an enormous amount of sympathy for GRRM. First off, he seems like a pretty decent dude. I’m loathe to say that in public after what happened with Neil Gaiman, but I’ll edit this post if it comes down to that. Second, GRRM was far from a one-hit wonder. He’s been through the grind as a writer. The runaway success of A Song of Ice and Fire (better known as Game of Thrones) was a big break decades into his career. Third, trying to finish a series with a complete—and fan-reviled—TV show breathing down your neck sounds like a fucking nightmare, pardon my French.
But fourth, I happen to know that while GRRM made a living as a writer for a long time before it, ASOIAF is (to my knowledge) the first series he’s ever written. First series are brutal. They’re a special beast. I have an entire blog post on this topic, I see it so often in the writing community. Second and third series aren’t much better, but by then, at least, an author can anticipate the gruelling crawl of the ending.
He’s not angry; he’s tired
Now, if GRRM was out here blaming fans for the lesser success rates of his other projects (if he sees such an effect at all), I’d write him off in a heartbeat. Same goes if he finished Winds of Winter, only half his audience turned up to read it, and he whined about them having no faith. Reader trust is a commodity, not a right. It’s earned, not cosmically deserved. No GRRM reader is obligated to read his work, to buy his books, or to support him in any way. It’s their choice, and they can also choose to walk away.
But the thing is… he’s not whining. I read the blog post expecting far worse, for all the noise being made about it. All it told me, in the end, was that GRRM is well aware that his readers are angry, and that he’s caught some pretty toxic flak from entitled fans. Also that he still wanted to share that short film, because he cares. His pushback, to me, sounds fair. He knows people love his work. He also loves other work. He wishes his fans could share that.
That’s valid, if you ask me.
About the Author
A.B. Channing is a queer speculative fiction writer and blogger who loves analyzing the writing industry and dislikes speaking about himself in third person. Most of his work is Dark Fantasy or Horror, but he frequently dabbles in Sci-Fi, Paranormal, and Romance. When not at his keyboard, he can most often be found up to his elbows in a pond.
Follow This Blog
Want to be notified of more posts like this? Enter your email below to subscribe to this blog. You won’t be added to A.B. Channing’s regular newsletter.