The 70-year-old has spoken out in a new interview of how he steers clear of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire fan theories on the internet now. Speaking with The Observer, Martin said: “At first I was very flattered and I’d go on message boards and think: ‘Oh, this is cool, they’re all really excited.’” However, the author soon realised he couldn’t continue reading predictions for The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, especially if they were wrong. After all, he might be tempted to be inspired by them.
Martin continued: “But then I began to think: ‘No, I should really steer clear.
“‘I don’t like the fact that some people have figured things out that are correct, and I don’t like the fact that other people have figured out things that are wrong but that could influence me too.’
“So I took myself out of all that and let fans have their theories, some of which are right and some of which are wrong. They’ll find out which when I finish.”
The author has also spoken of his relief that Game of Thrones is over, admitting it had a bad effect on him.
He said: “I don’t think [the TV series] was very good for me.
“The very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down.
“Every day I sat down to write and even if I had a good day … I’d feel terrible because I’d be thinking: ‘My God, I have to finish the book. I’ve only written four pages when I should have written 40.’”
Meanwhile, Martin has set himself a personal deadline to complete The Winds of Winter.
Martin has been struggling to finish The Winds of Winter, what with its complexity and the distractions of also working in TV.
Nevertheless, he’s set himself a personal deadline of next summer.
He’ll be heading to WorldCon in New Zealand and he’s said that if he doesn’t have a published copy in his hand when he arrives, he gives fans “formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done.