It’s a bit more complex than that. He wrote himself into a corner. GRRM calls his writing style “gardening”, where he doesn’t plan the entire story ahead meticulously but rather lets the characters do what makes sense for them in the situations he writes, even if he didn’t plan on that outcome.
The upside of that is a much more realistic and convincing story as characters don’t do convoluted shit to get where the author wants them to be. The downside is that in book 4 GRRM introduced so many new characters that his “garden” is now too big and out of control and he can’t get it back to his original outline of the story.
The most famous example is that in book 2 he gave Daenerys a plot of starting to oppose slavery and oppression, but that plot spiraled out and became her defining characteristic, that is completely unrelated to the other ongoing plots in the books, and now by book 5 he can’t get Daenerys out of the east without having her betray all her principals and ideals.
Pretty sure Oda has the ending planned and in sight already. We are in the final saga and the pace is faster than it used to be. I think he was lost around dressrosa -> punk hazard -> wano but figured it out during egghead.
Hasn't Oda stated he already knows the ending? I know he said that the One Piece is an actual thing and not just "the friends we found along the way" and since thats the crux of the story, I venture he likely has at least a general idea of how the story ends.
Sorry, if anything "gardening" style should make it easier to continue the story. Even if the original outline is hard to reach, surely there must another satisfying resolution.
Sorry, if anything "gardening" style should make it easier to continue the story
Not really, it has resulted in him having disparate story threads which need to be satisfyingly resolved in a coherent way - without having fully planned out how they will come together.
He has a broad outline of where he wants to end up, but he hasn't meticulously planned everything out - meaning every time he writes a chapter he needs to check it doesn't contradict every other chapter. If he had a fleshed out central plan this wouldn't be necessary.
The benefit of the gardening approach came at the start of the writing process, not the end.
Introduce parallel universes or gods or what have you to get a get out of jail free cards he can literally make a world full of parallel worlds within world within shadows of trees or shadows of wings or what ever
Or ask a writer AI for suggestions or select a group of lucky fans that get to help him finish the story in a meaningful way
If he lacks new ideas then ask someone fresh look at Beserk with Miura and Mori
Asking for help isn't weakness refusing to ask for help is
I think that's the problem, that he's insisting on trying to make his original goal/ending make sense. If that's the case, he really needs to just come to terms with the fact that the ending needs to change, and let the story/narrative dictate it.
There is also the problem that some realistic stories don't end particularly interesting.
For example, if Jaime would get infected during his time in the riverlands and die of dysentery, that would be realistic. Can happen to anyone. Wouldn't be much of a thrilling read though.
163
u/coatimundos 6h ago edited 3h ago
It’s a bit more complex than that. He wrote himself into a corner. GRRM calls his writing style “gardening”, where he doesn’t plan the entire story ahead meticulously but rather lets the characters do what makes sense for them in the situations he writes, even if he didn’t plan on that outcome.
The upside of that is a much more realistic and convincing story as characters don’t do convoluted shit to get where the author wants them to be. The downside is that in book 4 GRRM introduced so many new characters that his “garden” is now too big and out of control and he can’t get it back to his original outline of the story.
The most famous example is that in book 2 he gave Daenerys a plot of starting to oppose slavery and oppression, but that plot spiraled out and became her defining characteristic, that is completely unrelated to the other ongoing plots in the books, and now by book 5 he can’t get Daenerys out of the east without having her betray all her principals and ideals.