One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
You want people to be eager for your book; the downside is when the people forget the series even exists.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the importance of maintaining audience interest in a book series to prevent it from being forgotten.
George R. R. Martin's quote underscores the delicate balance authors must strike between cultivating enthusiasm for their series and the risk of losing that interest over time. It suggests that while it's vital for readers to be excited about upcoming installments, there's a significant downside if they forget about the series altogether, emphasizing the challenges of sustained engagement in storytelling.
Themes
BookSeriesAudienceInterestEngagementStorytelling
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of social media on reading habits, you might quote Martin to illustrate how easily interest can wane.
More from George R. R. Martin
All quotes →I hate outlines. I have a broad sense of where the story is going; I know the end, I know the end of the principal characters, and I know the major turning points and events from the books, the climaxes for each book, but I don't necessarily know each twist and turn along the way. That's something I discover in the course of writing and that's what makes writing enjoyable. I think if I outlined comprehensively and stuck to the outline the actual writing would be boring.
George R. R. MartinRead
There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.
George R. R. MartinRead
I did not do it. Yet now I wish I had.’ He turned to face the hall, that sea of pale faces. ‘I wish I had enough poison for you all. You make me sorry that I am not the monster you would have me be, yet there it is. I am innocent, but I will get no justice here.
George R. R. MartinRead
But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. 'Life is not a song, sweetling,' he'd told her, 'You may learn that one day to your sorrow.' In life, the monsters win, she told herself.
George R. R. MartinRead
I write from this tight third-person viewpoint, where each chapter is seen through the eyes of one individual character. When I'm writing that character, I become that character and identify with that character.
George R. R. MartinRead
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