Fans believe that George R.R. Martin’s delay in writing The Winds of Winter was due to the HBO show’s ending.

George R.R. Martin keeps on delaying his sixth novel in A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter. He eventually decided to refrain from making any announcements regarding the release of the book. Martin revealed in a 2022 interview that he was ripping apart chapters from the ever-growing pages of The Winds of Winters.

George R.R. Martin on the sets of Game of Thrones | HBO

Many believe that Martin’s confidence took a hit after the ridiculous expectations from Game of Thrones fans. It is also possible that the series’ poor conclusion also affected the way Martin perceived his book.

Fans Believe Game of Thrones Ruined George R.R. Martin’s Vision For The Winds of Winter

Emilia Clarke in a still from Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire | HBO

Game of Thrones‘ biggest mistake was that it outrun the story that George R.R. Martin had begun with A Songs of Ice and Fire series. By the time the series reached its final season, it had to completely invent the storyline since Martin’s sixth book in the series, The Winds of Winter, was incomplete. The series finale faced massive backlash from the fandom.

Martin continues to get questions about when he will complete the series. He had previously announced several final release dates for his book, but he failed to finish it every single time. During an interview with Penguin Random House, he shared that the novel is getting longer and longer.

He revealed that when he was re-reading several chapters, he didn’t like them and had to rip them apart. He re-wrote several chapters of the book multiple times. Martin shared with Penguin Random House:

I continue to work on it. It continues to get longer and longer. I was working on it the day before I flew back here for three or four days. But I was rereading some chapters that I’d written earlier and I didn’t like them well enough and I kind of ripped them apart and rewrote them.

Some fans may have figured out why Martin is struggling with his book. They blame the HBO show and its last two seasons for rattling the confidence of Martin. Fans speculate that Martin may have lost his motivation since the show had already revealed the shock value in his story.

One fan shared on Instagram that Martin may have realized that he could never live up to the ridiculous expectations of people. People hating on the show’s ending has also added to Martin’s lack of confidence in his project.

Another fan shared that the show’s cast & crew didn’t bother to learn their source material, which ruined Martin’s planned ending for the book. Some of the fan reactions read:

I feel like the show was a major distraction, and then the last two seasons rattled the confidence he had in the conclusion he originally planned.

@danny.okeefe

He realizes this book will never live up to the ridiculous expectations people have for it.

@danield.187

He is never going to finish this book. The ending of the show was his ending, it was panned bc it was rushed and actors didn’t bother to learn their source material. He’s only ever wanted to be famous, he is now, and finishing his series will only hinder his fame.

@erica_nalani

At this point my theory is that he got burnt out with the show and how HBO destroyed so much character development by the end of it, to the point that he doesn’t care anymore (look at all the stuff he’s done in the middle of writing Winds of Winter).

@fsottorff

This man is literally a perfect example of the writer’s struggle, everything he says what we as writers go through ALL OF THE TIME just that he’s probably a perfectionist.

@sandyclawsford

While he’s struggling with The Winds of Winter, Martin has been actively involved in other projects. He handpicked the creator for the Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon, Ryan Condal, and worked with him on the series based on his book Fire and Blood. He also helped in the worldbuilding of the Elden Ring video game and hinted at his involvement in a film/series adaptation of the same.

George R.R. Martin Has Given Up On Predicting The End Of The Winds of Winter

Ned Stark’s death scene in Games of Thrones | HBO

George R.R. Martin is done predicting the end of his novel The Winds of Winter. During an interview with Vanity Fair, he revealed that he had given up hope on predicting the end of the novel. He changed his attitude, sharing that the novel will be done when it’s done. He shared with Vanity Fair:

I’m making progress, but I’ve given up on any hope of predicting the end. Every time I do, I don’t make it and everybody gets mad at me, and there’s no sense. It’ll be done when it’s done.

Martin was unhappy with fans speculating about the unfinished novel when he came down with COVID-19 in 2022. The speculations horrified the author a little but he shared that he had made considerable progress on the novel during the two years of isolation.

He added that he didn’t feel close to dying at all and didn’t want to speculate on that matter. He shared:

Hopefully, COVID won’t kill me, so we won’t have that issue. I do find it a little grisly, people speculating online about what’s going to happen to the rest of the books when I die. I don’t like to speculate about that. I don’t feel close to dying.

Fans can now enjoy the screen adaptations of Martin’s works, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, now streaming on Max.