George RR Martin Writing Advice: Write What You Know

A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones Author George R. R. Martin on Writing What You Know

[@jonsnow3157]

I will write nothing.

[@youknowwho9203]

That’s because you “DON’T WANT IT” 😂

[@LilyZayli]

I have to reply to this because it made me laugh out loud. Thank you, I've never laughed so hard at a KZbin comment before 💕 Have a nice day, 'Jon Snow' :P

[@sindzi4559]

Write about your queen

[@jonsnow3157]

@@LilyZayli 👑

[@ninjacom3]

I read this in his voice too. Hilarious.

[@TheHaiku2]

He writes the way he talks. He takes his time to say what he has to say. Never getting in a hurry.

[@hebt9mlk]

4:23 the laugh still has pain somewhere inside it.

[@nelzar]

Excellent advice, as always. I could listen to him speak all day.

[@alexhadow]

agreed

[@ReyWilde]

Absolutely.

[@bmoneybby]

George, this is Winds of Winter Winds of Winter, this is George There you go.

[@bradyrieger5798]

George needs to know Winds of Winter

[@hellscream46]

He knows the heart of it.

[@skorpion1117]

HBO shat all over his plot ideas and now he has to either work around it or create new ones. Takes a lot of effort.

[@bradyrieger5798]

@@skorpion1117 George has stated in the past that he doesn’t want to change endings in the books just because we know what’s going to happen.

[@arraikcruor6407]

Why do people assume the plot is going to be the same? So many things from books had been changed after season 4. Most plot became completely different from the books.

[@SlayzChannel]

@@arraikcruor6407 because if u read books, there is spolers that all of that will happen, dayneris will have 3 betrayls last betrayl will be because of love "John killing her", Cersei and Jaime will die together, because jaime always talking about how they were born together and will die together etc.. (sorry for my english, its not my native lang)

[@stephenc.4319]

Martin understands the craft of writing very well. When you ask the average writer to comment about writing they just spout meaningless cliches we've all heard a thousand times before. But he really gets to the core of what it's about and how to do it well. Which is probably why he's probably the best writer of his generation in the style he works in.

[@TheKrazyLobster]

This man is a treasure in this world

[@PuckTheFenguins]

God the wealth of knowledge this man has accumulated over his lifetime.... I could listen to him speak for daysssss

[@TheMastermind729]

I have been listening to him for days

[@MartinEiken]

With enough empathy, you can write convincingly about most things despite not having experienced it. And you can ''experience'' many things through film, TV and books as well. I think ''write about what you know'' is another, harsher way of saying ''make your writing believable to the reader''. If there are logical inconsistencies within it, or literal mistakes that anyone with knowledge of the subject you're writing would notice, you would lose all credibility and the story would be ruined. George has not been in a relationship with and had kids with his own sister, nor has he killed Rhaegar Targaryen with a warhammer to end a dynasty or murdered his own father with a crossbow after a lifetime of hatred and neglect. But he writes these characters and situations convincingly because he is able to emphatize with and understand how he himself and the people around him would feel, think and react in these situations, and so the characters and their experiences are all convincing regardless. So I still don't agree with ''write about what you know''. I think it's potentially misleading and it underestimates and almost completely disregards imagination.

[@MartinEiken]

As an aspiring writer myself, I'd say write about what you care about and want to tell, and make sure to double check your sources and edit any misinformation or mistake.

[@MartinEiken]

@@youssefbarj9770 Yeah, exactly. But the quote ''write about what you know'' sounds a little ambiguous and can be easily misunderstood. I heard it for the first time while attending film school a few years ago, and the teacher who talked about it seemed to interpret it as ''write about what you PERSONALLY know'', and I disagreed completely. A few years earlier, some filmschool teachers were teaching and discussing the idea of copying already established filmmakers and popular films and how that was common and okay, but I argued that if you want to stand out in the world of writing or filmmaking, you should aspire to write from your own heart, and that since we are all individuals with our own personalities and stories, writing whatever YOU want to write, will give you a much bigger chance to stand out and be recognized. They disagreed completely, but years later I kind of see their point. As I've started writing fantasy, science fiction, thriller and drama etc I've noticed that although I don't start from a point of ''Oh Game of Thrones/LOTR is really popular, I'm just gonna copy as much as I can from them and my story will be as good'', as I've been writing, I've noticed that a lot of my material is at least subtly similar, but I wasn't conscious of it while writing. And I had a sort of epiphany; everything you have ever said or done in your life, is based in inspiration. We copy our parents, siblings, classmates, celebrities, whatever it is, and the words we use have also been learned at some point, and we've seen them used in books, movies or other media, and so they are a form of inspiration as well. The key is to just write whatever comes to mind, and let the stories flow naturally. On revisiting, you will notice that much of what you write is inspired by your favourite books, movies, TV-series or whatever it is. That's just how creativity works. You come up with it on the spot, and the idea may be original, but in essence it isn't. But that doesn't take away from it. In a way, we are all telling the same story, over and over again, whether it be epic fantasy, historical drama or a situational comedy. In a way, it's all the same thing.

[@nicok8203]

​@@MartinEiken you can tell you're a writer because I never read comments as big as that comfortably without pausing or rereading. Even if late I want to add my own thought to your "everything is based in inspiration", since I'm autistic and I experience this quite heavily: People copy superficial things and see if they can identify with it, and in that way develop their personality and apply it to new situations in their own way. That last part is missing for me and probably for that reason it stands out to me extremely clearly who has personality and who handles out of analysis. I dare bet the first group is much better at writing a story around the emotions they've experienced than the copy-pasters like me. I would excel at writing about a complex society with all the intricate little details and how they work together without ever running dry of inspiration, but as soon as I zoom in to a person and have to describe personality I'll fail miserably since it's something much harder to convey when you haven't personaly felt it. Just saying someone is laughing or frowning all the time isn't going to cut it. Copying works and copying from experiencing through the eyes of another works great, but it can't compare to your own personal "knowing". Have you tried writing through the eyes of your opposite gender?

[@izmatopia4347]

well he didn't say ONLY write what you know, but LEAN into what you know as your signature. At least that's what I got from this.

[@marianv7413]

I think it's kind of like Grrm said that “working with empathy“ is not as “powerful“ as drawing from experience especially when addressing heavier topics like war in that way.

[@turkialshamary6230]

Goerge : write what you know about Me : but I know nothing 😕 Also Goerge : exactly !

[@lordodysseus]

I write with my emotions. I usually write my fear and pain and trauma. I've been told it's some of my best writing.

[@welcometotheparty5642]

Who is u

[@august_ross]

@@welcometotheparty5642 a writer

[@welcometotheparty5642]

@@august_ross u not so good at it if I never heard of u

[@user-lc2jz5oo3z]

@@welcometotheparty5642 He's Nobody

[@kriskelvin5775]

@@user-lc2jz5oo3z I see what you did there. With my only eye.

[@theoldwaywasbetter6384]

Dying of the Light is one of my favorite books. That one was incredible.

[@yvesgomes]

I found it more horrifying than Fevre Dream. Dying of the Light is what I (maybe only I -_-') would call Anthropological Horror.

[@sportsnewz5608]

GRR Martin's friend fought in Vietnam war, he learn about wars, human empathy their which influence is novels. He's writing the subjects that he really knows. This define his characteristic of his life.

[@tshegofatsoletlape8721]

What's the name of the friend?.

[@idiotsmonthly3969]

"Write what you know" really means "Know what you're talking about" and "Write what you care about."

[@FreezVy]

this man is super charismatic

[@TheObicobiHD]

Fantastic advice, expect no less from George 👏

[@QueenDaenerysTargaryen]

Martin is a good writer 👍🐲🔥🐲🔥🐲

[@GreatOldOne9866]

I like his ideas but I don’t really care for his writing style. To each their own though 😊

[@odajunior5373]

And a very slow one.

[@GreatOldOne9866]

@@odajunior5373 hey, George! Could ya speed it up? My pet snail is getting away!

[@dzanc]

Rock solid, George

[@Cptidris]

Great advice

[@briffaaa2631]

Thank you sir!!!

[@iagocasabiellgonzalez7807]

Brilliant, as every time he talks

[@HebrewsElevenTwentyFive]

Powerful 👍🏾

[@djemba]

I hardly read but watch lots of shows through out my life. Cant really write but currently writing stories of my own. Hope someday I'll make it.

[@MartinEiken]

I read Dying of the Light about a year ago and although it is difficult to compare it to Asoiaf as that is much much longer and larger in scale, I thought Dying of the Light was phenomenal, and would love to see it adapted to a miniseries or film sometime. The name ''Worlorn'' still crosses my mind sometimes, brilliant and thought-provoking name for the planet and setting of the story, and the dying cities on the planet were described in such rich detail that I feel like I've actually been there. Highly recommend for anyone who haven't checked out his other stuff, for me so far it has all been fantastic :)

[@francisabellana445]

Holy Shit Martin wrote something that is much bigger than asoiaf?

[@Tahchoices]

Sounds like world + forlorn together,I’m quite curious now. Thank you :)

[@deyvisoonjean10]

Thank you! Love your channel !!!

[@giovannimosca7210]

My personal advice to George R. R. Martin: write.

[@agoldenage9918]

Damn.

[@lobolunar1049]

That was a nice one😂

[@youknowwho9203]

Genius

[@anabenskywalker122]

This is great. I’ll definitely take this into consideration when writing my own stories. I like how he brought up science fiction and that we don’t know what it’s like to live on another planet, because a lot of my stories have to do with time travel and aliens

[@Life_Of_Mine_]

Lovely!

[@apacalypsagon3758]

Jokes on you george i want draw and write comics. Good advice all things considered.

[@sportsnewz5608]

Writing the emotional truth of your own life. Whatever furniture you put in your story, like how it feels like to live in Barcelona and the daily struggles, the assassination of jews or whether it's a far distant planet or a fantasy world the core is still what you know about your emotional truth.

[@astronomicafilms]

I wonder if the Vet he’s talking about is Glen Cook, and the Black Company in particular?

[@noname3609]

Dying of light was so good I read it in 12 hours,a few years ago.

[@darthgromit6837]

Interesting

[@tmdwu43]

Kurt Vonnegut Jr is my other favorite writer and it seems like George is talking about Kurt in this clip. Big love

[@mike_reads_stuff]

Vonnegut served in WWII.

[@Crowald]

I often share my work with friends, and I am by no means an experienced writer. One of my favorites is a fantastic story, something so implausible that it defies any suspense of disbelief. It is so couched in absurdity that it corners itself from ever being a believable story, that it could or would ever happen. A man is alone at the end of the universe, and his only companion is a sentient artificial intelligence. After humanity discovered a way to traverse the barriers between theoretical parallel universes, their empire spanned across the stars and every conceivable moment in time and space. The story isn't about that at all. It's not even about the effects of that. The kind of colonialism and environmental destruction brought on by it. The setting is the functional collapse of the universe, in a place where will becomes reality and the laws of physics fail to apply. Everything that survived was a terrifying creature, certifiable demons and incomprehensible outer god-esque horrors from the bowels of the places humanity never managed to make it, even with their near godlike status through technology. Then, one day, someone surveys the broken remains of New York from a time he never lived in, he finds someone that strode through the fog to find him. Walked an inconceivable distance just to find him. It defies all logic and reason. After spending so much time alone, he barely believes that they're real. So he treats them like they're just a figment of his imagination. All of it sounds completely absurd, does it not? Why would any read this? But I wrote it anyways, because I was just trying to work on my ability to describe things that aren't real, mundane concepts that are mostly uninteresting. The way that a world without consistency looks. How the buildings around them oscillate between states of pristine condition, and absolute ruin. Ultimately, some of my friends told me that it might be my best work. and I couldn't understand why for the life of me. Hearing this though, I think I get it now. It's just a story about loneliness. It's all just self-reflection seated in a setting that attempts to distance itself from the reality of my situation. The end of the universe is such a sci-fi concept that it can't possibly read as the same thing as some boring guy with no friends who does nothing but sit in his room from his stay-at-home job. Ultimately, both the reality and the story are the same, and I wrote it well because I understand what loneliness does to people. What it did to me.

[@sammae4254]

That's why my characters are loosely based on me and my friends and family. Then I'll do research for fantasy/medieval setting.

[@wawad94]

How can we watch the full interview?

[@jhljhl6964]

I write what I don't know, yet I don't about that.

[@sirrykr1679]

I am fine when it comes to essays. Apart from that. Nope. Not a writer. But I do respect good writers enormously. How could I not. I love to read. Even as a child before I started school I would prefer books over toys.

[@iSauddd]

george r r martin favorite character to write is tyrion, and as he said his heart was broken by women back in the days , you can see alot of that in shae's story line and how broken and angry tyrion was

[@guzvar]

* Write what you know * Meanwhile, Stephen King sweating nervously because of THAT chapter from IT

[@Seanph25]

That’s why he writes so fast. He’s trying to burry us under a mountain of content so no one asks questions.

[@dee6561]

Damn, and I have a Screenwriting Class that also says the same thing

[@sportsnewz5608]

GRR Martin didn't participate in the Vietnam War. He was anti-war. He went to college, had heartbroken by women. His life characteristic was loneliness, heartbreak, sadness. He wrote books about romance based men getting their heart broken by women.

[@IzraelGraves]

Yeah, we all watched the video.

[@gogozeppeli9267]

Which author was he talking about?

[@Mr.PepeSilvia]

He should write about procrastination. Just kidding love ya George.

[@bendorlinhg6180]

He's started it and sold it to HBO already

[@thehopefulyetdoubtful3656]

I need some help from George R.R Martin because I'm struggling to write a book I've started writing

[@michaelokedasi1012]

Good Job! 😂

[@hebt9mlk]

MasterClass would be helpful if you got the cash for it, I’m writing a novel too and the courses there help me so very much. Wish you the very best of luck.

[@thehopefulyetdoubtful3656]

@@hebt9mlk I can't use my card online so I need face to face help. Thanks for the tip though & good luck with your writing

[@deathdeathington]

George is definitely someone who understands the human condition.

[@SteveJubs]

Maybe I just had a decent English teacher in school, but I’ve never heard this advice be put any other way

[@jordan9503]

he forgot to mention you should write some bangers and then never deliver the conclusion

[@narxes]

Me, who's dumb as a rock, but wants to write: well fuck

[@frederickirchhoff2413]

But where does he know all this from?! All the parts in "a game of thrones" where Jon joins the nightwatch thinking it's the most honorable thing for his life and later struggles with the thought of desertition and actually deserts at some point, all its details written with total authenticity and completely organic understanding for what Jon is going through. My thoughts and actions were quite literally the same when I joined and deserted from the French Foreign Legion.

[@IzraelGraves]

He's right here officer, I found him

[@internetguy8075]

My best guess is that he talks to a lot of people, listens to a lot of people and reads a lot of first-hand accounts and maybe diaries & letters. If you haven't experienced something yourself, the next best thing is to try to understand someone who has.

[@blakedeines7913]

Cool advice. I liked it better when Mark Twain said it first though

[@Johannnnnnnnnnnnn]

My advice Have your time just write

[@fragr33f74]

Anyone know which friend George is referring to?

[@Limpshot_McGee]

What author was he talking about? When he mentioned the Vietnam War, my mind immediately went to Robert Jordan, but I don't think he ever wrote science fiction.

[@MrDarthBaker]

Maybe Joe Haldemann

[@aniketsanyal5586]

could be Glen Cook or Lucius Shepard, fantasy and science fiction writers respectively. But very likely Joe Haldeman, who wrote a great science fiction novel published 1974 called The Forever War

[@JohannVF]

Sounds like the friend he's talking about might be David Drake.

[@Martin-ub9ci]

Goes on to write the red wedding...

[@taronwaite963]

If you are seeking a great book to read, then nothing could be better than the book “The War of Colossals.” An exciting story, filled with adventure, war, mutants, and drama.

[@mackfarlainethebarenakedau5113]

I really don't know what that means.

[@zdenda66alorddandas86]

I guess it means that writers need to go out and get some experience to get inspired by. It also means that if you only read Harry Potter you will unconsciously end up writing a copy of Harry Potter. I think, not sure, I am not a writer.

[@sgzlfiregaming9272]

He looks a bit younger with a bit more color on his beard.

[@MrAdamo]

Why did he write so much about incest 🤔

[@iSauddd]

to create conflict, incest was a common thing in the medieval ages but mostly i see it to create conflict in the story and drama its the reason why robert and ned stark died

[@uniguy2126]

Ok but Leif Erickson was the first European to discover America

[@garethlawton5278]

Wrong, just the first European you know of to have the title. Natives crossed over like 12000 year ago from Europe and settled the entire continent. So no, Lief, that Icelandic explorer (so again technically not European) wasn't the first.

[@kriskelvin5775]

@@garethlawton5278 Natives crossed from East Asia, not from Europe.

[@artofwrick]

Heart break. And there are plenty in game of thrones...

[@tomastoth2053]

Write what you know...then proceeds to write about dragons.

[@GreenHoleSun]

I suspect you haven't heard what he has said. The second hypotesis is that you did not understand what he said.

[@dilhancongar-pn1nd]

Wow this is really interesting, that’s the same way I think about it

[@anthonyt219]

Is lysa tully based on Lisa Tuttle? Lol

[@lordsemen489]

We got the answer bois He just stopped *"knowing"* after ADWD

[@Yoursthedevil]

kzbin.infonInjJU5ERPU?feature=shared This is a pretty good encapsulation of my current sphere of thought.

[@mathieu2289]

RIP Jon Snow

[@hamidkiani2025]

😅😅😅

[@Asduuggee]

"Write what you know" Did he just confirmed that he doesn't know his own ending?

[@thestudio2130]

gmt was ...

[@groaningwolf]

I know nothing!

[@yum8666]

Jotaro wrote Game of thrones???

[@ChaseMcCain81]

How does JJBA have to do with this?!!

[@yum8666]

@@ChaseMcCain81 The HAT

[@ChaseMcCain81]

@@yum8666, good point.

[@noname3609]

Jotaro Kujo is no doubt GAR.

[@SM-zz4gx]

"Write what you know"...... writes mostly about incest. 😳

[@tacituskilgore9368]

I guess jon snow won't be able to write about anything

[@MRJTD99]

George must not know shit then.

[@TheGreatPower365]

So Jon Snow is illiterate?

[@GreatOldOne9866]

In George’s case, it’s not writing WHAT you know, it’s not writing at all.

[@garo7839]

Where can I read your book?

[@GreatOldOne9866]

@@garo7839 and what’s that supposed to mean?

[@bendorlinhg6180]

@@GreatOldOne9866 You know exactly what that means, "Where is the evidence of your writing that puts you in a position to criticize my hero"

[@GreatOldOne9866]

@@bendorlinhg6180 Tone. I WILL criticize him because he’s NOT writing the damn ASOIAF books. Or if he is, he’s being super slow about it and everyone knows it. What business do any of you have asking me of any evidence of writing when you don’t even know if I am writing or not? I don’t even need evidence of my writing to put me in a position to criticize your so called “hero”. Wtf type of logic is that? I can understand when someone is a slow a** lazy at their job when they’ve gone a decade without releasing ANYTHING. It’s been TEN years since A Dance with Dragons and I can’t see, (no matter how big a book The Winds of Winter is) him taking that long or longer to finish it! We should have gotten volume seven last year or two years ago! George isn’t writing. Just accept it and you’ll sleep better. Besides, my original comment was just a JOKE! Everyone now is cracking jokes about TWOW not coming out. You can say what you like against my arguments but you’ll be wasting your time. It’s not going to work. Calling me out on criticizing an author who won’t finish his story which is already too long. Don’t you have have anything better to do? And I’m not just targeting you specifically, I’m targeting ALL of you out there defending George. Martin purists are the dumbest acting people in the entire GOT fandom and you’re not going to change my mind. We’re done here. Leave. Me. ALONE.

[@garo7839]

@@GreatOldOne9866 Damn, bro. Relax.

[@Obese_Pterodactyl]

So is this a cry for help or something? Was he a victim of incest?

[@productgreeks3307]

Anything that goes against existing beliefs system will create some conflict.it include incest, violence, power all these create intense emotions within our animal brain.

[@professorwright1428]

Do not take writing advice from this man until he has written a good book.

[@cerostymc]

He already has written at least 5 good books ;)

[@thedumbdog1964]

Well

[@professorwright1428]

@@cerostymc Have you actually read them? They're great stories but work better in summaries than in practice. The writing itself is woeful and uncomfortable.

[@cerostymc]

@@professorwright1428 I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy reading them. Tbh, I've only read the german translation (though I'll buy the original english book first, when twow comes out), but I personally really enjoyed the writing style. What exactly didn't you like about Martins writing style? That would be interesting to know ;D

[@kliffalibur3497]

The only problem I have with ASOIAF is the huge and random jumps in plot to other characters. I remember this specific scene from (I think it was ADWD) where it randomly skipped to a knight of the King's Guard and him plotting about putting Myrcella on the the throne. It's certainly nice but completely random given that you don't even know who tf he is until that chapter. He is one of the King's Guardsmen you don't really remember until that one narrative chapter. As a matter of fact, he only gets one narrative chapter as the next one he appears in he just dies pitifully. A bit of build-up and context would've been nice in that case. I also remember some scenes where characters just appear in different places you previously remembered them, which is not too big a problem but kind of annoying. This my only problem though, everything else is great in my opinion.

[@likeicare1234]

I am resonating with some of the things George is saying. Let me prompt this: I don't know how to write "well". I don't know how to create a book. Yet, I'm 33 now and hit some hard knocks in my life. When I was 20-24 I've encountered true love. The selfless love for another person in this world. Because of my emotional tantrums involving weed abuse, alcohol abuse I've deleted the entire conversations we had on social media, whatsapp and so on. I have only three things left; 1. Some text messages (actual SMS messages) of me years after trying to get in touch whilst I screwed it all up (I didn't cheat or whatever, I simply made poor decisions on what to do with my life and her). 2. I have some written letters of her expressing her love to me. 2 to be exact. Which I could never throw away. 3. My fading memory of our conversations. I still know how it iniated, how the pinacle of our love seeped through (a very very very special moment). Thing is, I've always thought about writing this "love story" out. It's the only thing I still got. Memories and faded writings. I know how it'll start. I know how it'll end. I also know I can write from the core of my emotion. The prime of my love for life and another human. I've replaced all that love in the meantime for hate, for agony, for judgement on others. I will write this book one day. However, I don't know how to get the acts in anymore. I do feel what George is saying hits me hard. Makes me want to pick up my need for writing this love story. Yet, I don't know anymore.