I spent a number of years reading and then waiting for the books of the highly acclaimed Song of Ice and Fire series to come out. Over time the stories grew to such acclaim that the series was made into an HBO series called Game of Thrones. Television waits for no man. We have passed the point where the TV series has extended beyond what Martin has written. I thought I was wrong about that, but when Martin visited and interviewed the master, Stephen King, it was clear that Martin is not even remotely close to done with book six: Winds of Winter. Here is what this means: The TV series will finish the Game of Thrones long before the books do and the endings may or may not be similar. That is new territory for me. I have never been involved with a written series that is as yet unfinished before the TV adaptation ends its complete arc. The Walking Dead doesn’t count as it departed from the script relatively quickly and still follows the essence of a storyline that is so far ahead of what we’ve seen on TV that it may never catch up.
So what does it all mean? I’m not sure. It makes me question what I’ve been writing in a whole new way. Perhaps I need to develop the same talent King efforted to transmute to Martin–the talent of writing faster. Perhaps I need to work more and develop my craft in a way that is condicive to A) creating something TV studios want and B) finishing the arc before any real adaptation begins. Martin hopes to avoid the Robert Jordan curse of dying before the work is ended, but at this rate it seems woefully unlikely that he will publish more than a book a decade and he claims to have two more after Winds of Winter. Each of those promises to be a 1500+ page omnibus. I’m excited and live in utter dread of the idea at the same time. I don’t know a writer who can bring the world of Westoros to life the way he can and given his schedule, he can hardly live long enough to do so.
So, yeah. I guess I need to get better enough to finish it myself or just get over it. Egotistical? Yeah, but the other alternative is prayer, and I’m already doing that. The other thing I’m doing is watching the end of Season Six with rapturous glee. Tomorrow night is Game night and I cannot wait.