Quotes by George R. R. Martin

About George R. R. Martin:

George Raymond Richard Martin is an American novelist and short story writer in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, a screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his international bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for its dramatic series Game of Thrones.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

If I was a soldier going to war, I'd be pretty scared the night before a battle. It's a scary thing. And I want my readers to feel that fear as they turn the page.

George R. R. Martin

I have files, I have computer files and, you know, files on paper. But most of it is really in my head. So God help me if anything ever happens to my head!

George R. R. Martin

When the writing is going really well, whole days and weeks go by, and I suddenly realise I have all these unpaid bills and, my God, I haven't unpacked, and the suitcase has been sitting there for three weeks.

George R. R. Martin

The odd thing about being a writer is you do tend to lose yourself in your books. Sometimes it seems like real life is flickering by and you're hardly a part of it. You remember the events in your books better than you remember the events that actual...

George R. R. Martin

As much as I love historical fiction, my problem with historical fiction is that you always know what's going to happen.

George R. R. Martin

I have some other novels I want to write. I have a lot of short stories - I love the short story.

George R. R. Martin

One of the things I love, and I'm a voracious reader as well as a writer, is books that surprise me, that are not predictable.

George R. R. Martin

I love fantasy. I grew up reading fantasy.

George R. R. Martin

One of the big breakthroughs, I think for me, was reading Robert A. Heinlein's four rules of writing, one of which was, 'You must finish what you write.' I never had any problem with the first one, 'You must write' - I was writing since I was a kid. ...

George R. R. Martin

I have an instinctual distrust of conventional happy endings.

George R. R. Martin

Don't write outlines; I hate outlines.

George R. R. Martin

I suppose I'm a lapsed Catholic. You would consider me an atheist or agnostic.

George R. R. Martin

Nobody is a villain in their own story. We're all the heroes of our own stories.

George R. R. Martin

I like grey characters; fantasy for too long has been focused on very stereotypical heroes and villains.

George R. R. Martin

I've always preferred writing about grey characters and human characters. Whether they are giants or elves or dwarves, or whatever they are, they're still human, and the human heart is still in conflict with the self.

George R. R. Martin

I had an encyclopedia with a list of flags in the back, so I would look at all these flags of China and Liberia and England and Denmark and whatever, and I learned all the different flags, and I tried to imagine what it would be like to be voyaging o...

George R. R. Martin

A lot of writing takes place in the subconscious, and it's bound to have an effect.

George R. R. Martin

I'm a huge fan of Tolkien. I read those books when I was in junior high school and high school, and they had a profound effect on me. I'd read other fantasy before, but none of them that I loved like Tolkien.

George R. R. Martin

I think in television and film, it's not usually the child's point of view. It's the story of an adult. If there's a child in a drama or an action-adventure movie, they're someone who needs to be saved, someone who needs to be protected, or if they'r...

George R. R. Martin

I wanted to write a big novel, something epic in scale.

George R. R. Martin

It's really irritating when you open a book, and 10 pages into it you know that the hero you met on page one or two is gonna come through unscathed, because he's the hero. This is completely unreal, and I don't like it.

George R. R. Martin

Author Bio

  • NameGeorge R. R. Martin
  • DescriptionAmerican writer, screenwriter and television producer
  • AliasesGRRM; George Raymond Richard Martin
  • BornSeptember 20, 1948
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionScreenwriter; Writer; Television Producer; Novelist; Playwright; Blogger
  • WorksA Song Of Ice And Fire
  • AwardsNebula Award