Is George R. R. Martin an artist, or an entertainer?
- GRRM released 3 excellent fantasy novels in a planned 6 book series, each approximately 2 years apart.
- He takes 5 years to write the next novel, splits it in half because it is too long, and releases the boring half, promising the other half is "almost done."
- He takes another 5 years, and the 2nd half of the novel is supposed to arrive this year.
- During this period, his substantial and rabid fanbase splits into two groups - those who still think he is great, and those who think he is fat, lazy, and not "doing his job" by releasing his books in a timely fashion.
- GRRM tells the Negative Nancy's to get off his blog, Neil Gaiman calls them ungrateful jerks, the rest of the internet also has an opinion.
The last line of Gaiman's blog post was:
"And Gareth, in the future, when you see other people complaining that George R.R. Martin has been spotted doing something other than writing the book they are waiting for, explain to them, more politely than I did the first time, the simple and unanswerable truth: George R. R. Martin is not working for you."
I have to disagree with that statement. George R. R. Martin is working for Gareth, and myself, and all of his other fans. Gaiman probably isn't working for his fans. And the distinction is one of Artist vs. Entertainer.
And Artist is someone who creates a work that they find satisfying and powerful. An Entertainer is trying to create a work that their audience finds satisfying and powerful. Kat Williams says that he tries to optimize his "huge laughs per minute" when doing standup. That's entertainment, not art - he'll discard his favorite joke if the audience doesn't get it. On the other hand, Jonathan Blow is clearly an artist. If you don't get his work, that's your fault, and he's not going to compromise his vision to make it more accessible or widen his audience.
So - back to GRRM, is he an artist or an entertainer? I would argue with the amount he blogs and interacts with his audience, with the amount he merchandises his intellectual property, he's clearly trying to make alot of money, and be lauded, well liked, and idolized by his hardcore fanbase.
There's nothing wrong with that! I want to get rich off my videogames, and I love it when a Halo fan on the bus starts talking to me because my sweatshirt says "Bungie" on it. But you can't enjoy the stardom, enjoy the money, and then say that you aren't beholden to your audience. You're either writing for them, giving them what they want, and getting the glory for it, or you're writing for yourself, ignoring what people think, and ambivalent to the spotlight.
