‘Game Of Thrones’: Pressure To Complete Books Gets Under Martin’s Skin ‘To Some Extent’

George R.R. Martin has been writing the A Song of Ice and Fire series of books that have been turned into HBO’s Game of Thrones TV show since 1991. The author is currently trying to finish the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, but he admitted in a recent interview that he is feeling the pressure from HBO and fans to finish the story, and it does affect him.

“Yes, to some extent it does, but when the writing is going well it doesn’t matter,” Martin said when asked by New Mexico In Focus if the pressure to complete the books gets under his skin. “When I’m there and working, I just kind of fall through my computer screen and I forget the world, I forget deadlines, I forget the TV show, and the emails, and all of that stuff. It’s just me and the characters and the world that I’m describing, and I’m writing a page at a time, and a scene at a time, and a word at a time.”

The fact that he does feel pressure is interesting since HBO executives stated in early July that they are unconcerned about Martin’s notoriously slow pace. However, Martin stated just last week that he’s foregoing all of his usual activities during the filming Game of Thrones season five, such as visiting the set and writing the script for an episode.

So does Martin then feel an obligation finish the books? Not necessarily. He stated in this excerpt (via The Escapist) that he doesn’t necessarily feel obligated to finish the book, but he does have a desire to finish the series.

Obligation is an odd word, I don’t know if I would go with that word. I certainly feel a desire to finish the book. And it must be said that while I do get a lot of emails and mail of the type you’re describing, there are also many, many that are supportive, and probably far more of people saying “take your time, I love your books, whenever you’re ready I’ll be here.” Of course which is an attitude that I find far more pleasant than the “when will it be done?”

I’ve actually given up answering the question “when will it be done?” In the early days, especially after the third book, because the fourth book took a really long time, and I kept being wrong. People said when will it be done, and I’d give an answer and it would not be done by then, I would run into some problem, or decide to rewrite, or I would change course. And once you give a date and then you miss that date, there’s an element of the audience that thinks you’re doing it deliberately.

There are even some strange conspiracy theorists out there who are convinced that I finished the whole thing years ago but I’m just hiding the books in my cellar and releasing them in order to maximize something or other. There’s a lot of craziness that goes on, but it’s pressure, and the obligation is to the work itself. I’m telling a story, however many books you divide it into, three books, four books, seven books, which is what I’m presently going for, it’s one story, as much as as Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings is one story. It has a beginning, it has a lot of middle, and eventually it will have an end.

The rest of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels have already been mapped out by Martin, it’s just putting pen to paper and fleshing out the details. However, HBO’s Game of Thrones has already deviated in some significant ways such as dropping characters and introducing new plot elements that were not in the books. Even if Martin does not finish the seventh and final book in time, it sounds like the showrunners will be able to complete the series.

What do you think? Will Martin complete the books in time for the TV show to end or will TV show end first? And, does it matter? Let us know in the comments below.

[Images via Game of Thrones Season Four]