Leaving Fans Hanging. . .

George R. R. Martin has not finished Winds of Winter. In fact, he has recently had a tantrum over fans of the series (myself included) holding his feet to the fire over making us wait so damned long for it. He deserves the excoriating he’s been getting. I can’t believe he’s been allowed to not finished this series by the publisher.

And this leads me to my point for this post - this is why I believe that writers need an outline, especially for long, complex works like ASOIAF. I can’t see how anyone can create and finish such a sprawling story without one. Martin’s refusal (or inability) to finish the series is a case in point. He used to make a big deal about being a gardener or a pantster (writing without an outline) rather than an architect or plotter. I am a plotter. Plotters can suffer from the same issues of losing interest but at the end of the day you can go back to your outline and see where things are not working or pick up the story and keep on writing. If you need to make changes you can make them rather easily because you can see the bones of the story, its structure, and keep the story on track to being finished without getting lost, frustrated and then giving up, which it seems Martin has.

What a disservice to readers who have been waiting for the next book for so many years!