To while away a train journey yesterday, I caught up on one of my favourite podcasts, "I Should Be Writing", which just started running again after a hiatus in May. The first new episode was live from Balticon, and unlike the regular show was a tipsy, sweary and totally hilarious session (not the the regular show isn't entertaining, just seldom laugh-out-loud funny). The highlight was a song by John Anealio, based on a quote by Neil Gaiman, which inspired this blog post.
The story's a bit old now by internet standards, but a good story is worth retelling. That's what we do, right?
A fan of George R R Martin wrote to Gaiman asking if Martin owed it to him, the reader, to finish his epic fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire". Now I've only read Volume 1 so far, but I loved it and fully intend to buy the next book once I've finished my work-in-progress. Like the enquirer I do hope Martin finishes it in the not-too-distant future, though knowing how slowly he puts the books out, I am not hurrying.
However, as Neil Gaiman succinctly put it, "George R R Martin is not your bitch". As writers, we don't owe our audience anything - except thanks for buying our books. Readers have no idea how hard it is to write a novel. Well I have news for you guys; something that takes hours of your time to read can take weeks, months, even years to produce. It doesn't matter how fast or slow one writes - in fact, writing slowly is much harder work, in my experience. No-one willing writes slowly if they can avoid it; it's tough to maintain that momentum, the total involvement in the narrative that makes the story come alive. Slow writing is a sign of self-doubt, and we should be encouraging tardy authors, not whining that their books are late. Fan pressure is the side of success that I least look forward to.
So let's hear it for Neil, George and all the other writers out there. There are a thousand struggling authors who would love you to buy (and read) their books. The wait for the next volume of ASOIAF will go much quicker if you find other books you like - and you might just discover a new favourite in the process.
And here for the record is Gaiman's original post, which is of course far better written than my incoherent ramblings :)
I'm halfway through the ISBW episode, so I've only heard the first song, which I enjoyed a fair bit.
I don't think slow writing is necessarily a sign of self-doubt. Then again, I don't do all the pre-work you do, so going slow as I figure things out just makes sense. And sometimes, self-doubt might be a good idea -- save a lot of revision down the road!
Nice take on the idea.