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Re: Are you seriously that naive? DomA Send a noteboard - 25/03/2011 10:59:27 PM
Look, I'm not about to call RJ a liar. But I'm also not about to admit that he was completely honest about this process. I mean, this is the man who conceived of Aes Sedai...He said he felt ill on Memorial Day which led him to get a check up, which led to the diagnosis. Now maybe RJ was especially careful about his health and went in whenever he felt the slightest thing wrong. Personally, I saw him as someone who wouldn't take much thought to a little discomfort and keep writing.


You'd probably be wrong on this. RJ's "heart disease" didn't have the more usual kind of progression most heart problems had. His heart was just fine until his amyloidosis started to deposit proteins in his heart, eventually causing sudden cardiac and other symptoms. It was fairly alarming symptoms at that (RJ got momentarily blind on the Memorial Day, it's how it started) and he got himself checked. It took many months before he got a final diagnosis, toward the end of the year, after the KOD tour.


And yeah, RJ had the reputation for being a fairly active outdoor man to compensate for the fact he sat all day when he wrote, for Harriet having convinced him years before to adopt good eating habits, and for having full checks-ups regularly. He had his last one, and got his clean bill of health, a few months before the Memorial day incident (we know, because he blogged about it - there had been rumours he was sick around the time, but it was just that: false rumours). If there was ever one thing RJ was very candid about, it's his health.

RJ's writing pace remained fairly constant. As Adam explained, it's publishing that caught up to him. TDR was the last book he had very advanced before the previous one was released (TGH was completed before EOTW even came out) and by the time of LOC Tor has so squeezed the publishing/longer and longer touring/writing/editing schedule that RJ stopped being able to even outline/plan the next book while Harriet edited the current one, and RJ then have to devote a few "gestative months" to do that before beginning the novel itself (which he did for KOD while writing NS. He got much grief for spending time on that short novel, but he always denied it had any effect as he needed that time to let his ideas for KOD brew a bit before writing it anyway. Those times when a writer don't write and must let his ideas brew as they come is always underestimated... GRRM probably had tons of those while writing ADWD, forced to stop for weeks while his ideas to solve this and that matured...).

After COT (a book that a few months of editing and fine tuning could really have helped) RJ put his foot down and insisted that Tor let him have his full six months cycle of creative editing after he finished writing, which they had cut after LOC to publish his books almost as soon as RJ and Harriet had put them together (Harriet and RJ used to edit the book after the writing was done, but after the mid-series Harriet started editing while RJ still wrote. The effect this had on the series's quality could well be underestimated, ie: that's when structural and pacing problems started appearing, when RJ and Harriet worked on the individual parts, but no longer had those months to step back and look and rework the whole afterward.
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A Dance With Dragons - 22/03/2011 11:43:01 PM 2628 Views
See, I disagree. - 23/03/2011 01:05:59 AM 1752 Views
Also, I think we all know GRRM has more interest than just writing - 23/03/2011 05:06:34 AM 1610 Views
I would agree with you, but... - 24/03/2011 06:59:14 AM 1556 Views
If that is true... - 24/03/2011 09:57:13 AM 1465 Views
... - 23/03/2011 01:17:57 AM 1625 Views
Yeah but, come on, 6 years? And 5 years for the book before that? *NM* - 23/03/2011 05:05:01 AM 749 Views
Yes that is longer than most... - 23/03/2011 08:31:57 PM 1524 Views
Many, many.. - 24/03/2011 09:58:28 AM 1690 Views
The way I see it ... - 23/03/2011 03:59:35 AM 1637 Views
If people are upset with him, don't buy the book. - 23/03/2011 07:52:02 AM 1513 Views
Re: If people are upset with him, don't buy the book. - 23/03/2011 01:22:09 PM 1438 Views
Do you guys literally have nothing else to read? - 24/03/2011 06:40:51 AM 1390 Views
do you realize how little time is spent on whining and bitching? - 24/03/2011 10:06:16 AM 1428 Views
Well, you're spending time on it right now. *NM* - 25/03/2011 03:35:10 AM 743 Views
Some is not necessarily a lot. Open a logic textbook. *NM* - 25/03/2011 12:18:38 PM 779 Views
Re: Do you guys literally have nothing else to read? - 24/03/2011 03:58:11 PM 1507 Views
Personally, I completely forgot about the series... - 25/03/2011 03:46:58 AM 1432 Views
Re: Personally, I completely forgot about the series... - 25/03/2011 12:22:07 PM 1468 Views
No, that's not his attitude. - 24/03/2011 11:53:55 PM 1432 Views
The reason some authors say such things is.. - 28/03/2011 09:33:01 AM 1490 Views
yeah - 24/03/2011 10:02:38 AM 1482 Views
Re: - 25/03/2011 03:55:58 AM 1450 Views
accidental double click >< *NM* - 24/03/2011 10:02:39 AM 784 Views
*complain* - 23/03/2011 10:19:33 PM 1558 Views
*sigh* - 24/03/2011 10:11:29 AM 1879 Views
Re: *sigh* - 24/03/2011 01:56:51 PM 1573 Views
Well - 24/03/2011 02:44:00 PM 1504 Views
Re: Well - 25/03/2011 12:17:08 AM 1514 Views
apparently you cant read... - 25/03/2011 12:37:51 AM 1557 Views
Seriously? You don't know how Jordan's illness manifested itself? - 25/03/2011 02:19:23 AM 1592 Views
I'm glad you mentioned LotR - 25/03/2011 03:21:46 AM 1464 Views
Can we please stop making baseless comparisons to Lord of the Rings? Thanks. - 25/03/2011 06:22:50 AM 1482 Views
And can we try to strive for accuracy in what we are saying? Thanks. - 25/03/2011 08:24:51 AM 1506 Views
He still went to work, bucko. - 25/03/2011 06:57:26 PM 1352 Views
Question - 25/03/2011 09:00:08 PM 1473 Views
You, uh, just started arguing my position. - 26/03/2011 10:55:19 AM 1298 Views
Are you seriously that naive? - 25/03/2011 01:07:39 PM 1640 Views
Re: Are you seriously that naive? - 25/03/2011 10:59:27 PM 1396 Views
Re: Well - 25/03/2011 05:08:25 AM 1623 Views
Re: Well - 25/03/2011 01:11:20 PM 1719 Views
Re: *complain* - 24/03/2011 04:01:39 PM 1416 Views
I think you're right, and I also think it doesn't matter - 24/03/2011 12:37:35 AM 1370 Views
i agree, however... - 24/03/2011 10:12:52 AM 1459 Views
I agree with some of that. - 24/03/2011 01:12:10 AM 1500 Views
I don't care at all after so long a wait, but I do love watching the fanboys scramble to defend him. *NM* - 24/03/2011 01:20:15 AM 820 Views
^^^ This ^^^ *NM* - 26/03/2011 11:32:40 AM 807 Views
He's lazy and selfish and has every right to be *NM* - 24/03/2011 02:18:14 AM 783 Views
Your complaints would find more resonance if he hadn't announced a publication date yet. - 24/03/2011 01:55:01 PM 1311 Views
I think you bring up a good point - 24/03/2011 03:35:34 PM 1435 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons - 24/03/2011 02:06:48 PM 1512 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons - 24/03/2011 03:08:27 PM 1428 Views
But Sanderson's book was a mess. *NM* - 24/03/2011 09:35:56 PM 725 Views
Was it really? Which one was this? *NM* - 25/03/2011 03:40:58 AM 802 Views
ToM. Still was better than what Jordan was writing, though. - 25/03/2011 06:21:49 AM 1235 Views
Interesting. - 27/03/2011 11:32:39 PM 1477 Views
I enjoyed them too! They were just a mess structurally. - 29/03/2011 01:54:57 AM 1443 Views
In some places, yeah. - 29/03/2011 04:17:38 AM 1920 Views
I thought it was pretty damn good, personally. *NM* - 25/03/2011 05:13:25 AM 835 Views
I enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed any of Jordan's recent books. - 25/03/2011 06:20:47 AM 1506 Views
I enjoyed it immensely as well, but im still torn - 25/03/2011 03:07:59 PM 1450 Views
I'm torn too. - 27/03/2011 11:34:35 PM 1621 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons - 25/03/2011 05:19:01 AM 1560 Views
This thread is becoming vaguely ridiculous. - 25/03/2011 01:31:40 PM 1531 Views
These threads are always ridiculous. I'm both astounded & not at all surprised that there's another - 25/03/2011 06:39:34 PM 1416 Views
EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE! - 25/03/2011 08:28:10 PM 1375 Views
I love threads like these. *NM* - 26/03/2011 10:53:38 AM 611 Views
Are you familiar with Minecraft? - 25/03/2011 07:05:56 PM 1428 Views
Whoops. - 26/03/2011 09:25:28 PM 1389 Views
What is this I don't even. - 27/03/2011 08:03:59 AM 1267 Views
Jaysus, it's not like he's maliciously holding back the book on you - 25/03/2011 03:46:00 PM 1413 Views
Re: Jaysus, it's not like he's maliciously holding back the book on you - 25/03/2011 04:31:31 PM 1615 Views
Re: Your math up above - 25/03/2011 04:45:23 PM 1422 Views
If you redo it ... - 25/03/2011 04:57:29 PM 1437 Views
Re: Your math up above - 26/03/2011 02:43:03 PM 1588 Views
That was gentle ribbing, not ad hom. Calm down. - 26/03/2011 04:22:24 PM 1363 Views
I used a smiley and everything! - 26/03/2011 04:52:48 PM 1570 Views
That's a great line. - 26/03/2011 07:01:42 PM 1311 Views
Re: That was gentle ribbing, not ad hom. Calm down. - 26/03/2011 05:09:19 PM 1542 Views
When you see people like Nate, Tash, or Rebekah, you don't have to worry. - 26/03/2011 06:59:01 PM 1381 Views
I see that I need to work on my reputation. - 28/03/2011 05:49:30 PM 1458 Views
Perhaps it is the same as one does not speak ill of fairies or elves. - 28/03/2011 11:22:17 PM 1425 Views
YEAH YOU'RE A TERRIBLE ADMIN - 29/03/2011 01:58:41 AM 1375 Views
A very wise man once informed people that George R. R. Martin is not their bitch. - 26/03/2011 09:26:15 PM 1470 Views
How very true. *NM* - 26/03/2011 10:19:59 PM 738 Views

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