George R. R. Martin’s Writing Advice
Discover George R. R. Martin’s writing advice and learn what the acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire author says about becoming a better writer.
George R. R. Martin is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He was born on 20 September 1948.
Martin published his first full-length novel, a space opera, Dying of the Light, in 1977. He established himself as a science-fiction and fantasy writer with his short fiction, and in 1981 he received several awards for his novelette ‘Sandkings’.
Martin also worked in television during the 1980s. In 1986, he became a story editor for The Twilight Zone. The following year, he joined Beauty and the Beast as an executive story consultant and later became a producer.
He is best known for his epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which began with the 1996 novel A Game of Thrones. The series was adapted for television as Game of Thrones. In 2018, Martin published Fire & Blood, a history of House Targaryen, the family at the centre of his A Song of Ice and Fire world.
Martin has received numerous science-fiction and fantasy awards, including four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, the Bram Stoker Award, the Locus Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Daedalus Award, the Balrog Award, and the Daikon Award, also known as the Japanese Hugo.
On his website, Martin offers advice for aspiring writers.
George R. R. Martin’s Writing Advice
- ‘The most important thing for any aspiring writer, I think, is to read! And not just the sort of thing you’re trying to write, be that fantasy, SF, comic books, whatever. You need to read everything. Read fiction, non-fiction, magazines, newspapers. Read history, historical fiction, biography. Read mystery novels, fantasy, SF, horror, mainstream, literary classics, erotica, adventure, satire. Every writer has something to teach you, for good or ill. (And yes, you can learn from bad books as well as good ones — what not to do)
- And write. Write every day, even if it is only a page or two. The more you write, the better you’ll get. But don’t write in my universe, or Tolkien’s, or the Marvel universe, or the Star Trek universe, or any other borrowed background. Every writer needs to learn to create his own characters, worlds, and settings. Using someone else’s world is the lazy way out. If you don’t exercise those “literary muscles”, you’ll never develop them.
- Given the realities of today’s market in science fiction and fantasy, I would also suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That’s like starting in at rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest.
- Short stories help you learn your craft. They are a good place for you to make the mistakes that every beginning writer is going to make. And they are still the best way for a young writer to break in, since the magazines are always hungry for short SF and fantasy stories. Once you’ve been selling short stories for five years or so, you’ll have built up a name for yourself, and editors will start asking you about that first novel.
- Whatever you do, though… good luck. You’ll need it.’
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