One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
Has my tale turned you speechless? Come, curse me or kiss me or call me a liar. Something.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire for emotional engagement from the audience, whether positive or negative.
In this quote, George R. R. Martin emphasizes the importance of the audience's reaction to the storytelling. He conveys that he values any response—be it admiration, anger, or disbelief—as a sign of effective storytelling. Instead of seeking indifference, he highlights that a storyteller's success lies in provoking a strong emotional response from the listeners or readers.
Themes
StorytellingAudienceEmotionEngagementReaction
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the power of storytelling in literature.
More from George R. R. Martin
All quotes →I hate outlines. 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. 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.
George R. R. MartinRead
There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.
George R. R. MartinRead
I did not do it. Yet now I wish I had.’ He turned to face the hall, that sea of pale faces. ‘I wish I had enough poison for you all. You make me sorry that I am not the monster you would have me be, yet there it is. I am innocent, but I will get no justice here.
George R. R. MartinRead
But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. 'Life is not a song, sweetling,' he'd told her, 'You may learn that one day to your sorrow.' In life, the monsters win, she told herself.
George R. R. MartinRead
I write from this tight third-person viewpoint, where each chapter is seen through the eyes of one individual character. When I'm writing that character, I become that character and identify with that character.
George R. R. MartinRead
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