He wrote several chapters for Arya in ADWD and decided that the last one would make a better starting chapter for Arya in Book 6 rather than a final one in Book 5. Arya still has several chapters in ADWD (at least two, that I recall, maybe more).
I felt sure that her arc in Dance would end with her first assignment: either to bump off Dany or one of the characters who has taken on a new name that she wouldn't immediately recognize (e.g. Sansa or un-Cat). I don't think this scenario would make sense as a first chapter under any circumstances, so he probably never intended it to end that way.
But GRRM always writes by character, rather than in a particular order. He may have written that Arya chapter knowing it was going into TWoW from the start, but he did it because he was on a roll with Arya and wanted to keep writing whilst the muse was with him.
Apparently the same thing has happened before, particularly with some of the opening chapters of ASoS which were written concurrently with the last few chapters of ACoK.
Martin lets slip a couple new tidbits on ADWD
- 13/09/2009 02:13:55 AM
971 Views
Re: Martin lets slip a couple new tidbits on ADWD
- 13/09/2009 02:20:03 AM
717 Views
Thanks, I missed that. It must be Asha.
- 13/09/2009 12:05:15 PM
717 Views
I will miss Arya's POV in ADWD, though. She's one of my favorites.
- 13/09/2009 07:23:28 PM
754 Views
Arya is still in ADWD.
- 14/09/2009 12:12:35 AM
608 Views
There goes my theory.
- 14/09/2009 02:28:37 AM
579 Views
Possibly.
- 14/09/2009 03:55:05 AM
631 Views
"Only thirty-eight more POVs to wrap up..." ???
- 13/09/2009 10:16:55 PM
673 Views