Finishing What You Begin

“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 his first one, 'You must write' - I was writing since I was a kid.” – George R.R. Martin

 

Martin, who celebrated his 71st birthday last month, is one of our most prolific and “busiest” writers immersed in his “Game of Thrones” series – both in book form and the recently completed HBO Television programs -- for a couple decades now. 

 

 “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,” Martin said.  “You remember the events in your books better than you remember the events that actually took place when you were writing them.”  

                                                            And, in Martin’s case, we – the readers – vividly remember those “book” events, too.  That's a goal every writer hopes for, but few achieve.  “All fiction,” Martin added, “has to have a certain amount of truth in it to be powerful.”