George R.R. Martin Doesn't Think 'Game of Thrones' Show Was 'Very Good' For His Writing Process

It seems absolutely no one escaped the fan fury over the finale of Game of Thrones. While likely no one got it quite as bad as showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, even author George R.R. Martin, who wrote the book series the show was based on, A Song of Ice and Fire, faced backlash surrounding the HBO hit.

And the volatile reaction from fans has apparently taken a toll on Martin, including his writing and personal life. In an interview with The Guardian, the acclaimed author said he's sticking with his original plan for the last two books, explaining that the show will not impact them. “You can’t please everybody, so you’ve got to please yourself,” he stated.

He went on to explain how even his personal life has taken a negative turn because of the show. “I can’t go into a bookstore any more, and that used to be my favorite thing to do in the world,” he said. “To go in and wander from stack to stack, take down some books, read a little, leave with a big stack of things I’d never heard of when I came in. Now when I go to a bookstore, I get recognized within 10 minutes and there’s a crowd around me. So you gain a lot but you also lose things.”

Martin added that the show also put insurmountable pressure on him. “I don’t think [the series] was very good for me,” he admitted. “The very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down. Every day I sat down to write and even if I had a good day … I’d feel terrible because I’d be thinking: ‘My God, I have to finish the book. I’ve only written four pages when I should have written 40.'”

Fans of the book series are fully aware of Martin's struggle in finishing the final two installments, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, though his recent admission now sheds some light on his troubled process.

This article also appears on Mental Floss.