George R. R. Martin Quotes

I like to have a title before I start writing.

Outlining is like putting on training wheels. It gives me the courage to write, but we always go off the outline.

After I finish writing a chapter, I'll print it out, cut it up into paragraphs, and cut away any transition sentences. Then I shuffle all the paragraphs and lay them out as they come. As I arrange and hold them next to each other, very quickly a natural structure for the chapter presents itself.

I am a big proponent of writing a great outline. That way you can avoid hitting a roadblock. There is no worse feeling than writing yourself into a corner but if you've figured it all out in the outline then you won't have that problem.

Even if you plan your book, the actual writing is unplanned.

The writing process for me is pretty much always the same - it's a solitary experience.

I like to write from scratch most of the time, but I like to have a backup plan just in case.

The research is the easiest. The outline is the most fun. The first draft is the hardest, because every word of the outline has to be fleshed out. The rewrite is very satisfying.

Re-writing is different from writing. Original writing is very difficult.

The writing process, it's too mysterious to try and describe.

The way I outline has changed quite a bit from when I first started writing.

The problem is once you've written the opening paragraph and worked out how the rest of the story will go in your head, there's nothing in it for you. I write in longhand using disposable fountain pens on the right-hand side of the notebook for the first draft, then I rewrite some of the sentences and paragraphs on the left-hand side.

I write down portions, maybe fragments, and perhaps an imperfect view of what I'm hoping to write. Out of that, I keep trying to find exactly what I want.

Kids think you just sit down and start writing. I always tell them you never do that.

I don't have a plan for a story when I sit down to write. I would get quite bored carrying it out.

My writing process, such as it is, consists of a lot of noodling, procrastinating, dawdling, and avoiding.

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.

I should be concentrating on writing pages.

The most difficult and complicated part of the writing process is the beginning.

I have never written anything in one draft, not even a grocery list, although I have heard from friends that this is actually possible.

Outlining is not writing. Coming up with ideas is not writing. Researching is not writing. Creating characters is not writing. Only writing is writing.

I spend a lot of time outlining before I write the first word.

I write everything out in longhand in one fast go. And then I throw out the first few and start over again. By the end of the first draft, the whole thing's messy and disgusting and horrible, but you really understand the foundational stuff.

Keep your hands moving. Writing is rewriting.

I find writing a book a slow, intricate process, a kind of obstacle course punctuated with great rewards. But research is always thrilling, and I tend to incorporate newfound material up to the very last minute.