From the E-Mailbag…

Tom Collins writes…

In your recent post, "The Deadline," you made it very clear how you feel about writers unable to deliver work by the date promised. (You were against it.) Which is why I'm curious to know how you feel about George R.R. Martin.

I don't know whether you're a fan of Game of Thrones, either the novels (which are known collectively as A Song of Ice and Fire) or the TV show, but I'm sure you know the situation surrounding Martin's falling behind on writing the book series. The first three books were released fairly regularly, appearing in 1996, 1998, and 2000, which is not atypical for an epic fantasy series. Then the deadlines began blowing up, and Martin kept falling further and further behind. Book 4 took five whole years to hit the shelves (2005), which was apparently practice for blowing deadlines compared to Book 5, which took six years (2011).

Meanwhile, HBO created the TV adaptation, also released in 2011. American TV obviously has a slightly more stringent system of deadlines it must adhere to, which means that as the 5th season of the show is set to debut next April, there is not even a hint that Martin is making equal (or any) progress on Book 6. At this point, the TV show is almost certain to surpass the novels in terms of plot progression. In effect, HBO will be writing an ending to this epic story before Martin does.

Genre fans, as you may have encountered from time to time, are not renowned for their patience. In response to a query from a frustrated fan about Martin's blown deadlines, in a blog entry called "Entitlement issues…," Neil Gaiman famously responded, "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch."

Do you have an opinion here? Is Gaiman right in thinking that Martin's fans are acting wrongly entitled — are treating Martin like a "bitch" — for expecting him to deliver a book in a timely manner? ("Timely" is subjective, but I'd suggest expecting delivery of subsequent books on a schedule comparable to the first three books, or expecting at the very least adherence to the numerous publicly stated and blown deadlines for the next two, is not unreasonable.) Or is Martin an artist whose timetable ought not be questioned, who should be immune from deadline expectations?

First of all, you're wrong: I didn't know the situation surrounding Martin's falling behind on writing the book series but I guess I do now. Secondly, Neil is right. Neil is always right. And if he says I'm wrong when I say that, he's right about that, too.

This is actually quite some distance from the issue I was talking about, which is that writers need to finish their work for themselves. They need to not find excuses to not write (very easy to do) and complete their projects if they really want to claim to be writers. There's a whole other set of reasons to finish work and it has to do with not screwing up your collaborators, destroying production schedules, etc. I've written about that in the past.

In the matter of Mr. Martin and Game of Thrones, I have to admit I'm not familiar with the circumstances. I'm always a little hesitant to jump on the Blame the Writer bandwagon because I have seen a number of times when the writer is not to blame for a project's tardiness but it's easy for everyone else to presume he or she is at fault. I'm sure someplace on this site, I've told a few of these stories but sometimes, the reason something comes out way past the announced on-sale date is that the folks who did the announcing announced an unrealistic, never-gonna-happen date. That has been done by accident and it's also been done quite deliberately.

There are also delays of the "Act of God" variety or which come close to that. Our Groo Vs. Conan mini-series didn't meet its advertised on-sale date because Sergio was hospitalized.

And of course, sometimes the writer is just plain late. That may well be the case with Game of Thrones, I don't know.

If it's late because George Martin is lying on a beach somewhere, partying with bikini girls and chortling, "Those dweeb fans of mine can suck it and wait," those dweeb fans might well be justified in their anger. I wouldn't blame them one bit if they stopped buying his books and put that money towards the purchase of, say, the new Groo mini-series — which will be out on time. Somehow, given Martin's reputation for excellence and his many years writing good stuff and meeting deadlines before anyone ever heard of Game of Thrones, I doubt that's the case here.

And if it's late because it's just taking longer than it should for Martin to be happy with the material…well, if I were a fan of that series (which I probably would be if I read it), I'd be inclined to cut the guy some slack. I'd have affection and understanding for a guy who was giving me something I loved so, rather than anger. I might even think, "Boy, given how he's sweating over this next book, I bet when we do get it, it'll be especially awesome."

In the piece I wrote the other day, I wasn't talking about guys like George Martin. At least, I don't think I was. I was talking about someone who's screwing his own life up and blaming others for the fact that he can't get his work done. I doubt that is the case with Game of Thrones. My guess is it's just taking longer than anyone expected. If I were in his position — yeah, like there's a chance of that happening — I might have a little trouble with the expectations and also with the ancillary demands on my time that come with that kind of success. If you love what he does, grant him the right to be a human being and not a machine.