George R. R. Martin Quotes

Author Image

George R. R. Martin

Profession : Author

Birth : September 20, 1948

I love fantasy. I grew up reading fantasy.

George R. R. Martin

The vast majority of writers out there, they finish their books, and no one cares whether their book is late or ever comes out at all. And then it comes out, and two reviews are published, and it sells 12 copies.

George R. R. Martin

The prejudice is still there, but it's breaking down. You have writers like Michael Chabon and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. He's a writer who's determined to break down genre barriers. He's done amazing things.

George R. R. Martin

I had an encyclopedia with a list of flags in the back, so I would look at all these flags of China and Liberia and England and Denmark and whatever, and I learned all the different flags, and I tried to imagine what it would be like to be voyaging on some of these ships.

George R. R. Martin

You always try to do your own thing. One of the things I wanted to do was to write a book that combines some of the best traits of contemporary fantasy with some of the traits of the historical novel.

George R. R. Martin

You want people to be eager for your book; the downside is when the people forget the series even exists.

George R. R. Martin

A lot of writing takes place in the subconscious, and it's bound to have an effect.

George R. R. Martin

I try to make the readers feel they've lived the events of the book. Just as you grieve if a friend is killed, you should grieve if a fictional character is killed. You should care. If somebody dies and you just go get more popcorn, it's a superficial experience isn't it?

George R. R. Martin

Yes - 90% of fantasy is crap. And so is 90% of science fiction and 90% of mystery fiction and 90% of literary fiction.

George R. R. Martin

I worked out of Hollywood for 10 years and I had my heart broken half a dozen times, so I know all the things that can go wrong.

George R. R. Martin

I have some other novels I want to write. I have a lot of short stories - I love the short story.

George R. R. Martin

I've never been good with deadlines. My early novels, I wrote by myself. No one knew I was writing a novel; I didn't have a contract.

George R. R. Martin

Many writers will get a contract by selling chapters and outlines or something like that. I wrote the entire novel, and when it was all finished, I would give it to my agent and say, 'Well, here's a novel; sell it if you can.' And they would do that, and it was good because I never had anyone looking over my shoulder.

George R. R. Martin

I've written some standalone novels, but a book series allows fans in. There's much more intense involvement.

George R. R. Martin

I've never been a fast writer.

George R. R. Martin

I tend to write one character at a time. But I don't write the entirety of one character at a time.

George R. R. Martin

Whenever I switch from one character to another, there's always a few days where I really struggle because I'm changing voices and I'm changing ways of looking at the world. I'm not just flicking a switch; it's harder process than that.

George R. R. Martin

I had a couple of friends, but I was mostly the kid with his nose in a book.

George R. R. Martin

I had this desire to see the world. I couldn't see any of it, but I saw it in my imagination, and that's why I always read books, and I could go to Mars or Middle Earth or the Hyborian age.

George R. R. Martin

When I am writing best, I really am lost in my world. I lose track of the outside world. I have a difficult time balancing between my real world and the artificial world.

George R. R. Martin