Editing The Winds of Winter (section)

==Background and publication==
The sixth book is going to be called ''The Winds of Winter'',<ref name=dancingincircles /> taking the title of what was originally going to be the last book of the trilogy,<ref name=atlantic_sex_fantasy /> and later the planned fifth of six books.<ref name=grrm_iv_infinityplus /> By June 2010, Martin had finished four chapters for ''The Winds of Winter'', from the viewpoints of [[Sansa Stark]], [[Arya Stark]], and [[Arianne Martell]].<ref name=dancingincircles /> In July 2010, he added that an [[Aeron Greyjoy]] chapter had been moved from ''A Dance with Dragons'' to ''The Winds of Winter'', accumulating to around 100 completed pages.<ref name=grrm_blog_200721 /> After the publication of ''A Dance with Dragons'', Martin announced to return to writing in January 2012,<ref name=ew_fantasy_king /> spending the meantime on book tours, conventions, and continuing his work on the long-overdue ''[[The World of Ice & Fire]]'' companion guide that he wanted to have finished by the end of 2011. He also worked on a new ''[[Dunk and Egg|Tales of Dunk and Egg]]'' novella that was expected to appear in an anthology called ''Dangerous Women''.<ref name=wsj_spill /><ref name=nymag_butterfly />  It announced in early 2013 that ''Dangerous Women'' would instead feature a novella about the [[Dance of the Dragons]] named "The Princess and the Queen", and that the fourth ''Dunk and Egg'' novella was postponed.<ref>[http://www.westeros.org/ASoWS/News/Entry/Dangerous_Women_Delivered Westeros News, Jan 22nd, 2013]</ref>

In December 2011, Martin posted a chapter from ''The Winds of Winter'' from the viewpoint of [[Theon Greyjoy]] and added that another sample chapter would be included at the end of the US paperback version of ''A Dance with Dragons'', originally expected to be released in summer 2012<ref name=smartertravel /><ref name="sample chapter" /> (international ''A Dance with Dragons'' paper-pack releases in March 2012 had no sample chapter).<ref name=amazon_pubpp_adwd /> Martin also read a portion of a [[Victarion Greyjoy]] chapter at Toronto's [[w:TIFF Bell Lightbox|TIFF Bell Lightbox]] in March 2012.<ref name=tiff3 /> 

In 2014, Martin decided not to make a cameo appearance in the [[Game of Thrones - Season 4|fourth season]] of HBO's ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', in order to free time for the sixth novel.<ref>[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/03/21/george-r-r-martin-shelved-game-of-thrones-cameo-to-work-on-winds-of-winter/ George R.R. Martin Shelved ‘Game of Thrones’ Cameo to Work on ‘Winds of Winter’ (March 21, 2014)]</ref> For a similar reason, Martin declined to write an episode for the [[Game of Thrones - Season 5|fifth season]].<ref>[http://www.ew.com/article/2014/07/26/why-george-r-r-martin-wont-write-a-thrones-episode-this-season George R.R. Martin won't write a 'Game of Thrones' episode next season (July 26, 2014)]</ref> In 2015, Martin cancelled appearances for the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga and the San Diego Comicon, in order to focus on both writing ''The Winds of Winter'', as well as on other work.<ref>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/415405.html Conventions and Cancellations (March 27, 2015)]</ref> 

With 200 finished pages by March 2012,<ref name=ctv_prep /> Martin expressed hope to finish ''The Winds of Winter'' much faster than the fifth book.<ref name=newyorker /> He had previously gotten in trouble from fans for repeatedly estimating his publication dates too optimistically and thus decided to refrain from making absolute estimates for book six.<ref name=ew_fantasy_king /> He considered three years a realistic estimation for finishing ''The Winds of Winter'' if he could write at a good pace,<ref name=guardian_barbarians /> but has also stated that ultimately the book "will be done when it's done".<ref name=atlantic_sex_fantasy /> Martin does not intend to separate the characters geographically again but acknowledged that "Three years from [2011] when I'm sitting on 1,800 pages of manuscript with no end in sight, who the hell knows".<ref name=grmm_iv_ew />

In an interview from early April 2015 Martin declared his intent to complete ''The Winds of Winter'' before the [[Game of Thrones - Season 6|sixth season]] of the TV series began in 2016.<ref name=ew_april_2015>[http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/03/george-rr-martin-winds-date ''George R.R. Martin determined to finish new 'Thrones' book by 2016'']; Entertainment Weekly, April 3rd 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-04.</ref> However, on January 2, 2016, Martin posted on his "[[Not a Blog]]" that, while he had hoped to be able to publish ''The Winds of Winter'' before HBO's sixth season of [[Game of Thrones]] would air, he had not been able to meet the deadlines required to reach that goal. Though Martin states that ''"Yes, there's a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters."'', he states that there are still many pages left to write, and that the book is still months away. Discussing HBO's sixth season, Martin stated that ''"there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of GAME OF THRONES that have not yet happened in the books"'', but also expressed that it is a case of ''"yes and no"'' when wondering whether the TV series will reveal plot points from the books.<ref name=Update>Not a Blog: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/465247.html Last Year (Winds of Winter) (January 2nd, 2016)], retrieved on January 3rd, 2016</ref>
{{Quote|The case of GAME OF THRONES and A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE is perhaps unique. I can't think of any other instance where the movie or TV show came out as the source material was still being written. So when you ask me, "will the show spoil the books," all I can do is say, "yes and no," and mumble once again about the butterfly effect. Those pretty little butterflies have grown into mighty dragons. Some of the 'spoilers' you may encounter in season six may not be spoilers at all... because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so.<ref name=Update>Not a Blog: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/465247.html Last Year (Winds of Winter) (January 2nd, 2016)], retrieved on January 3rd, 2016</ref>}}

In May 2017, Martin confirmed that several "successor shows" set in the world of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' were being developed by HBO.<ref>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/536859.html About Those Spinoffs... (May 14th, 2017)]</ref> He later stated that he is not likely to be writing episodes for television shows until ''The Winds of Winter'' is "done and delivered", including the successor shows.<ref>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/542263.html Who Fears Death?(July 11th, 2017)]</ref> Shortly before the start of the [[Game of Thrones - Season 7|seventh season]] of [[Game of Thrones]] in July 2017, Martin was asked about the differences and similarities between the storylines of the TV show and the books.<ref name=binding>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/541795.html?thread=26239843#t26239843 Binding (July 8th, 2017) - Comment July 9th, 2017]</ref> Martin stated,
{{Quote|"WINDS will be different in some ways, but will parallel the show in others. At this point, there are probably a dozen characters who are dead on the show but alive in the books, so it would be impossible for the two to remain the same. (Also, of course, there are characters in the books who have never even existed on the show, like [[Victarion Greyjoy]], [[Jon Connington]], [[Penny]], [[Arianne Martell]]... )"<ref name=binding/>}}

On July 22, 2017, Martin reported to still be "months away" from finishing the book. Writing that the first volume of ''[[Fire & Blood]]'', which has largely been written, might be published in late 2018 or early 2019, Martin expressed uncertainty about whether ''The Winds of Winter'' might be published first, stating that "''[..] I do think you will have a Westeros book from me in 2018... and who knows, maybe two. A boy can dream...''"<ref name=swordsdrawn>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/544709.html The Swords are Drawn (July 22, 2017)]</ref> On April 25, 2018, however, Martin posted an announcement on his [[Not a Blog]] on the release date of ''Fire & Blood'', stating simultaneously that "''winter is not coming''" in 2018,<ref>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/04/25/fire-blood-on-the-way/ FIRE & BLOOD : On The Way (April 25th, 2018)]</ref>

When asked for an update on the book in April 2019, Martin commented that there was still no release date, but that "it has been going very well lately".<ref>Entertainment Tonight: [https://youtu.be/dddPmvuTQF0?t=615 Game of Thrones Season 8: Breaking Down the Best Theories | Theories and Thrones (retrieved on May 25, 2019)</ref> In May, he jokingly posted on his Not a Blog that "if I don't have ''The Winds of Winter'' in hand when I arrive in [[w:New Zealand|New Zealand]] for [[w:Worldcon|worldcon]], you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on [[w:White Island|White Island]], overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I'm done".<ref>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2019/05/21/thanks-new-zealand/ Thanks, New Zealand (May 21, 2019)]</ref>

On June 23, 2020, Martin reported writing chapters from the point of view of [[Cersei Lannister]], [[Asha Greyjoy]], [[Tyrion Lannister]], [[Barristan Selmy]], and [[Areo Hotah]], and mentioned his intent to work on a chapter set in [[Braavos]] next.<ref name=writing>[[Not a Blog]]: [https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2020/06/23/ Writing, Reading, Writing (June 23, 2017)]</ref>