George RR Martin on Why He Kills Characters
Summary
TLDRIn this video transcript, the speaker reflects on the emotional impact of character deaths in storytelling, emphasizing the importance of honesty in depicting war and its consequences. They discuss the influence of Tolkien's work on their writing, highlighting the power of unexpected deaths and the realism it brings to fantasy. The speaker aims to elicit strong emotions, including fear and grief, to create a vicarious experience for readers, allowing them to live through the narrative as if it were real.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker has a deep affection for their characters, including the antagonists, and even those they have killed off in their stories.
- 🤯 The speaker finds it important to treat war realistically in their writing, reflecting the harsh realities of life and death, as opposed to the often sanitized portrayals in other fantasy novels.
- 🎭 The speaker is critical of fantasy stories where the hero and their companions survive unscathed through great dangers, arguing that it lacks the visceral fear and peril that real war entails.
- 🌟 The speaker admires the impactful deaths of characters in Tolkien's works, such as Boromir and Gandalf, for their emotional weight and narrative significance.
- 😔 The speaker expresses disappointment when the emotional impact of a character's death is undercut by their resurrection, as it diminishes the sense of real danger and uncertainty.
- 🧐 The speaker emphasizes the importance of evoking genuine fear in their readers, akin to the fear one might feel in a dangerous, real-life situation, rather than the thrill of a rollercoaster ride.
- 📖 The speaker's goal is to create a vicarious experience for readers, where they not only read but also live through the emotions, sensations, and events described in the narrative.
- 🍽️ The speaker wants readers to fully immerse in the described experiences, such as feasts, jousts, and intimate scenes, to the point where they can almost taste, smell, and feel them.
- 💔 The speaker aims to make readers grieve for the loss of a character as they would for a loved one, highlighting the emotional depth they strive for in their storytelling.
- 🌐 The speaker believes that reading is about experiencing a multitude of lives and shaping one's identity through the absorption of stories and their emotional resonance.
- 🙌 The speaker thanks the audience for their engagement and the impact their work has had on them, emphasizing the transformative power of literature.
Q & A
What is the speaker's relationship with the characters they create, including the antagonists?
-The speaker has a deep affection for all characters, including the antagonists like Ramsay Bolton, whom they describe as misunderstood due to a hard childhood.
Does the speaker enjoy killing off characters in their stories?
-The speaker does not enjoy killing characters but believes it is necessary for the story, reflecting the harsh realities of life and war.
What is the speaker's view on the portrayal of death in fantasy novels?
-The speaker believes that death is a part of life and should be reflected in art, especially in fantasy novels, to maintain a sense of realism and tension.
How does the speaker feel about the depiction of war in literature, particularly in comparison to J.R.R. Tolkien's works?
-The speaker appreciates the honest portrayal of war in Tolkien's works, such as the deaths of Boromir and Gandalf, which they find powerful and influential.
What impact did Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' have on the speaker's approach to writing?
-Tolkien's work had a significant influence on the speaker, teaching them the importance of treating war honestly and the power of unexpected character deaths.
Why does the speaker dislike stories where the hero and their companions survive without significant loss?
-The speaker finds such portrayals unrealistic and irritating, as they believe war brings out the beast in men and that anyone can die, regardless of their role as a hero.
What kind of fear does the speaker aim to evoke in their readers?
-The speaker wants to evoke a visceral fear, similar to the fear one feels when their life is genuinely at risk, rather than the thrill of a rollercoaster ride.
How does the speaker describe the experience they want their readers to have when reading their work?
-The speaker wants readers to live the experiences described in their work, feeling the emotions and sensations as if they were real.
What is the speaker's goal as a writer in terms of reader engagement?
-The speaker's goal is to create a vicarious experience for the reader, making them feel as if they are part of the story and its events.
How does the speaker view the impact of literature on a person's life?
-The speaker believes that literature shapes a person as much as real-life experiences, with memories of great books being as vivid as personal memories.
What message does the speaker convey to their readers at the end of the script?
-The speaker thanks their readers for creating something meaningful for them, emphasizing the power of literature to provide a thousand lives of experience.
Outlines
📚 The Complexity of Character Love and Death in Fiction
The speaker expresses a deep affection for their characters, including the antagonists, and even those who meet a tragic end. They argue that characters, like Ramsay Bolton, are products of their circumstances and deserve understanding. The discussion moves to the necessity of death in storytelling, especially in the fantasy genre, drawing a parallel to J.R.R. Tolkien's influence and the realistic portrayal of war and its consequences. The speaker emphasizes the importance of honesty in depicting war's brutality and the mortality of all characters, heroes included, to create a sense of peril and engagement for the reader.
🎢 The Power of Fear and Emotional Depth in Storytelling
This paragraph delves into the importance of evoking genuine fear and strong emotions in readers through storytelling. The speaker differentiates between the thrill of fear on a rollercoaster, which is controlled and temporary, and the more profound, visceral fear experienced when one's safety is uncertain. They aim to replicate this intense emotion in their writing, wanting readers to feel the grief of a character's death as they would for a real person. The speaker also discusses the immersive experience of reading, where the reader lives through the characters' experiences, drawing a connection to the lasting impact of literature on one's life and identity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Characters
💡Death
💡Fantasy Novel
💡War
💡Hero
💡Emotions
💡Vicarious Experience
💡Literary Influence
💡Fear
💡Writing Style
💡Reader Engagement
Highlights
The author expresses love for all characters, including the antagonists, and even those who are killed off.
Ramsay Bolton is described as a misunderstood character with a hard childhood.
Death is portrayed as a necessary part of life and art, particularly in fantasy novels.
The author emphasizes the importance of treating war realistically in fiction, reflecting its harsh realities.
The impact of Tolkien's work on the author, especially the deaths of characters like Boromir and Gandalf.
The author's irritation with unrealistic portrayals of war in fiction where heroes survive unscathed.
The desire to create a sense of fear and danger in readers, similar to real-life experiences.
The importance of evoking strong emotions in readers, such as grief over a character's death.
The author's goal to make readers live the experiences within the book, not just read them.
The comparison between the fear felt on a rollercoaster and the fear felt in life-threatening situations.
The author's aspiration for readers to experience the full range of emotions, including excitement and arousal.
The idea that reading is a vicarious experience that shapes individuals as much as real-life events.
The author's belief that books read in youth have a lasting impact and become part of one's identity.
The quote about a reader living a thousand lives before they die, emphasizing the power of reading.
A thank you to the audience for creating something meaningful through their engagement with the author's work.
Transcripts
do you love your characters or do they
drive you insane at times or yes both
both yeah I do I do love them even even
the bad guys even the ones I kill even
Ramsay Bolton Ramsay's a misunderstood
fellow what do we misunderstanding he
had a hard childhood yeah as a good
excuse do you like killing your
characters no I don't do it so much so
it's I do think it needs to be done big
fan of death up there okay you know
Valar morghulis all men must die I think
it's part of life and and art needs to
reflect life particularly if you're if
you're writing a fantasy novel an epic
fantasy you know certainly since the
days of Tolkien so many fantasy novels
have been about war I mean there's a war
at the center Lord of the Rings you know
they have Sauron and his great armies of
Orcs and and south wings and
easterling's and and other Ling's are
all moving out and the free man of the
West are fighting against them and of
course in my in my books there's a
considered it will be more complicated
war going on but you look at all of the
other writers who've been in between and
is there's Wars and wars and Wars now
I'm not saying you have to write about
war there many other interesting things
to write about
and I've written about some of them I
don't have a war in all my books but if
I'm gonna write about war if any writer
is gonna write about war then I want him
to treat war honestly and one thing I I
know about war from people who served in
Vietnam and served in other Wars is you
know it does bring out the beast in men
and anybody can die it doesn't matter if
you're the hero I think everybody who
died in any war thought they were a hero
right to the moment that the bullet blew
off the top of theirs ago so it
irritates me when I when I I'm watching
a movie and or reading a book and the
hero is going through incredible dangers
him and his six buddies and none of them
die you know maybe one of them gets
wounded at some point but they they will
survive pretty much untouched at the end
I mean and Tolkien which I read when I
was young and and at a pretty formative
age I think that book had an immense
influence on me and it does have some
powerful deaths in it it the death of
Boromir still resonates me that was that
was a powerful moment the death of
Gandalf in the mines of moria when when
the Balrog drags him down to the thing
and he says live fools and that's
enormous ly powerful because you know
especially at that point in the book as
Gandalf is the candle fits the father
figure Gandalf is the guy who has the
answers Gandalf is the one who knows
what they should do and how they should
do it and suddenly he's gone and the you
know down the hobbits are on their own
with Strider and Boromir and people they
don't necessarily trust because their
relationships are still fairly new at
that point and they're facing untold
dangers and they don't have Gandalf to
warn them of exactly what's around
next turn and Bend that's a hugely
powerful moment which I actually if it
had been me Gandalf or stayed dead I
think you know bringing him back as
surprising but it in some ways it
undercut the power of that moment and by
setting up those moments toki and also
set me up for the moment where it seemed
like frodo had died you know when when
i'm reading the end of the the two
towers and shelob's stabs him and he
seems to be dead and Sam took takes the
ring and then the book is over you know
and you have to wait for the next book I
really thought Frodo was dead
I thought token had earned his stripes
with me he'd killed Boromir he had
killed frettin now he killed Frodo my
god I really don't know what's gonna
happen this book anyone can die and it
became so much more exciting in that
point because anyone could die that
peril was real and that's the feeling I
want my readers to have that it if
you're gonna hear is the feeling you and
your rate is to have yes actually you
know in a word if you're gonna write
about fearful situations I want you to
have fear and the right kind of fear I
mean we we go on rollercoaster rides and
we're scared right that rollercoaster
rides are scary supposedly but we're not
really scared we know that we're gonna
get off the roller coaster after three
minutes and however high we go and then
we plunge down and there's a certain
thrill in a and I guess an adrenaline
rush or something like that so we like
to be scared in certain senses but
that's one kind of fear but there's
another kind of fear that you feel when
like you're all alone and you're walking
in a bad neighborhood and and suddenly
you hear footsteps behind you and your
turn and you see see some people come in
and you don't know who the hell they are
and you know that that's a moment or a
moment that a soldier or a policeman or
any
one fears when they're in a situation
where their life is on their on the line
and that's a that's a much more visceral
kind of fear and that's the kind of fear
I want to read her to feel I mean I
think writing is about strong emotions I
want you to to be afraid when I'm
putting the characters in a scary
situation when a character dies I want
you to grieve for that character as you
would for a friend or a loved one or a
parent and it's an entire you know
vicarious experience which is my goal as
a writer I want you if I'm gonna
describe a feast I don't want to just
say yes and then they ate a feast it was
delicious
I want you to I wanted you to smell the
food and taste the food whether it's
delicious food or bad food or whatever I
smelled the particular things if it's a
Gauss I want you to have the excitement
of getting caught up and who's going to
win the joust if it's a sex scene I want
you to get hot and bothered or I want to
I want you not just to read my work but
to live my work that's I know they're
giving away this book bags here that the
some of the I guess one with the VIP
tickets that says a quote I said a
couple years ago about a reader a reader
lives a thousand lives before he dies
the man who never reads lives only one
but I've always felt that I I think
reading is about vicarious experience I
look back on cocaine which I read I'd go
like I said when I was 12 and 13 and I
remember things that happened in the
book of you know from half a century
later as if I live them I don't remember
the actual things that I lived at that
time I have forgotten who sat behind me
in geography class and you know what I
was doing that June you know of my 13th
year and all that so much of this memory
is gone but but the the memory of these
great books that I read at that time not
just Tolkien but HP Lovecraft probably
how
Robert a Heinlein some of the books I
was reading for school and all that the
classics of literature Dickens and so
forth
Shakespeare those are very much part of
me and I think they're part of us all
all of us readers we absorb this stuff
and it shapes us as much as the real
events of our real lives so in that
sense it is real so I think for all of
us here you've created something that's
done that for us so thank you very much
[Applause]
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