Stop Telling George R. R. Martin to Hurry Up with ‘The Winds of Winter’

Recently, I have been reading comments on Goodreads below George R.R. Martin’s ‘The Winds of Winter’ (and also on Patrick Rothfuss’ ‘Door of Stone’) that are frustrated with the wait for the new book.

Shut up.

We are the readers and they are the writers. It sounds like an obvious point but many seem to forget that. I am of the strong belief that once a book is published, the reader then own their own interpretation of the text. The images that cascade through their mind when they read the book and the thoughts they have afterwards are their own. The author does not own your interpretations.

This is where the unpublished books come in. They are not finished or published yet, sothe reader has no say on how quickly it should be written. The story must be what the writer wants it to be, and rushing them will only make the work less their own vision of their art. This would be both an awful shame for the writer, and a waste of reading time for the reader.

There is an argument to be made that the promise of more books in a series is a promise to publish those books within a reasonable amount of time. I strongly disagree. The promise of more books in a series is a promise of more books in a series. The writer does not want their readers to wait! They themselves probably want to finish their books – they are as excited as the reader is in that sense.

The point it, bombarding an author’s comment section, email inbox, twitter feed… whatever, is (and I have a list):

• stupid
• rude
• pointless
• inconsiderate
• disrespectful

I could go on but you get the idea.

My main reason for writing this post is to ask for patience. The book/s won’t be published any sooner if you complain. If the writer rushes then the book/s will suffer in quality. Give the writers you respect space to write and you will eventually receive that book you so desperately want; and it will (hopefully!) be worth the wait.