The fourth season of HBO's hit show "Game of Thrones" won't air until the spring of 2014, but until then, fans can expect an onslaught of promos and trailers. During a recent interview with Empire Online, George R. R. Martin discussed his next book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, "Winds of Winter," his writing process, and what we can expect from the upcoming season.
"In this season, we're using real wolves [for the dire wolves], in very controlled conditions, plus CG and CG enhanced wolves, and we're getting something much closer to what I imagined in the books in terms of size and ferocity and the danger of the wolves," he revealed.
When asked when we can expect to read "Winds of Winter," the forthcoming sixth novel in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, the novels upon which "Game of Thrones" is based, Martin responded shortly, "When it's done!"
While fans have becoming increasingly impatient as they have been waiting years for a continuation to the storyline, it's becoming increasingly clear that Martin won't reveal a thing until he's ready to publish the book. Earlier this season, he even claimed that he would take the story to his deathbed, never allowing another person to write his licensed characters and world, even if it meant "A Song of Ice and Fire" dying with him.
As for how he writes, despite his dizzying array of characters, Martin told Empire that he hates outlines and even advised writers against them.
"I have a broad sense of where the story is going; I know the end, I know the end of the principal characters, and I know the major turning points and events from the books, the climaxes for each book, but I don't necessarily know each twist and turn along the way," Martin said. "That's something I discover in the course of writing and that's what makes writing enjoyable. I think if I outlined comprehensively and stuck to the outline the actual writing would be boring."
Fans who haven't read the books were shocked and heartbroken over the Red Wedding, the penultimate event of season 3 in which three major characters were brutally massacred.
"I have a huge emotional attachment to characters I've created, especially the viewpoint characters," said Martin, who has also teased the upcoming fan-titled Purple Wedding of season 4. "When I'm writing from a character's viewpoint, in essence I become that character; I share their thoughts, I see the world through their eyes and try to feel everything they feel. So when you share that bond with someone, even a fictional someone, it does become difficult to kill them. So that's why the Red Wedding was so painful - and there are other painful things too. So it is difficult to kill off a viewpoint character in particular. But on the other hand, I love creating new characters, as you can tell by the number that I create."
As for which character he finds the most fun to write, Martin admitted that Tyrion Lannister is his favorite, though his favorite house of Westeros remains the Stark house.
Click here to read George R. R. Martin's full interview with Empire Online.
