George R.R. Martin won't let fan reactions to Game of Thrones influence his writing

Some of the fan reactions to the last season of Game of Thrones were less than positive. But George R.R. Martin won't let the negative critic influence his writing process, the author revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Martin is currently working on the sixth book The Winds of Winter and the follow-up A Dream of Spring. With the TV show ending in May, he toyed with the idea of changing the original storylines of the books: "There is a temptation to change it - 'Oh my god, it's screwed up, I have to come up with something different'".

However, he decided to stick with his original ideas: "That's wrong. Because you've been planning for a certain ending and if you suddenly change direction just because somebody figured it out, or because they don't like it, then it screws up the whole structure. So no, I don't read the fan sites. I want to write the book I've always intended to write all along. And when it comes out they can like it or they can not like it", Martin explains.

As Game of Thrones went ahead of the story a few seasons ago, the books won't be anything like the TV show, almost existing "like two alternate realities": "I have very fixed ideas in my head as I'm writing The Winds of Winter and beyond that in terms of where things are going. I have to double down and do my version of it which is what I've been doing."

George R.R. Martin also reveals that he felt pressure in the past to stay ahead of the series. Ultimately, he realised that that's not what it's about: "I don't only want to finish it, I want to make it as good as I possibly can. There's no longer a race. The show is over. I'm writing book. It will be done when it's done."

There is no release date for The Winds of Winter yet.