Want to be a novelist or a screenwriter? Study this book.

[Tim]

Here's my take on George R.R. Martin's storytelling genius: http://bit.ly/HJiHyL

What do you think?

[Will]

Well done. An enjoyable read.

[Tim]

Thanks Will. I appreciate that.

[Richard]

i enjoy you're entries but the thing with Martin is - after 2 volumes of the series - i feel absolutely no compulsion to read any more. how many times can you swallow cold porridge?

[Tim]

Actually Sandyboy, you may be surprised, but I agree. I gave up halfway through the second book.

The problem is that the series doesn't carry much of a deeper meaning, so the initial excitement fades. It ain't literature, it's entertainment - and after a while you get tired of it, like too much cotton candy.

But for me at least (as implied in the post) Martin sustained the fascination through the first book. And, as I explained in the post, I think he was absolutely masterful in the way he went about hooking readers in.

My bottom line is that Martin has a lot to teach us - even though he's certainly no Tolstoy, and no Tolkien either . . .

[Richard]

i think stephen king merits study more. especially his earlier, leaner works. he could thumbnail a character study perfectly and drive plot along addictively. then again he was drunk and on speed both of which may have helped. tried writing drunk and on drugs, never worked for me

[Dave]

I have to agree with you again Tim. Although I managed to finish the fourth book I stopped enjoying it after the third. Obviously the story continues to progress but I felt like nothing new was actually happening.

I can't help comparisons with the Wheel of Time as I have read both together. With WoT I have read the whole series a couple of times and even found the slower books enjoyable. I think the difference for me is the WoT is a slow build-up to an ending we always know is coming, whereas with A Song of Ice and Fire it does feel as if no-one (and possible even the author) knows where the story is going. I may be doing Martin a great disservice here, and there is certainly no harm in that method of story telling, it's just that for me it doesn't stack up against comparable series I have read it with.

[Paul]

I enjoyed the blog post and agree, especially when it comes to describing action. I don't think the reader wants to read a blow by blow account but be given the effects and feelings of the action.

As for his story telling prowess, most authors understand the technical challenge of creating tension and conflict, with foreshadowing so that a reader can take pleasure from having 'seen it coming' without being brick batted by it.

What is difficult is to pull it off with aplomb. GRRM does so,I think, in the first two books. I started to wane in the third and have no idea why I struggled to the end of the fourth.

My theory here is that he lost sight of what made the first two so good and destroyed the pacing with overly verbose description and less interesting characters. The culling of characters that takes place went too far, resulting in the need for replacements that did not match the ones the reader had started with.

Structure is also something he manages well. I am not a fan of the writing of Dan Brown, but he too at least understands the technical nature of structure to get pages turning. I find it hard to imagine how GRRM could have told such a far reaching and epic tale other than by using the structure he employed - it directly organises the material in the reader's mind, helping them to keep track of where they are in the story and the characters involved.

[Tim]

Here's Part II of the Game of Thrones craft analysis, examining how Martin sets the hook for readers in Chapter One. Enjoy!

http://bit.ly/HoRfJ4

(Comments welcome, and please help spread the word about the blog if you like it. I'm enjoying it, but it's a lot of work and I'd like it to be as widely read as possible.)

[Eyehavenofilter]

Quite a way with words there Tim. I do enjoy being pulled into a story. I like the detail as long as it doesn't put me to sleep or last FOREVER.
With Martin it's not just his descriptions its his conversations that tickle my fancy. Such clever banter has me hooked!

[M]

No question thrones should be studied. He creates excellent characters and good plot lines which are weaves together masterfully. The one area he fails in is prose writing. You can tell he is a tv writers.

[Tim]

Thanks for the compliment, Ada-Lee. Glad you enjoyed it.