As he writes, 'I do fear that a certain proportion of fans are so angry about how long WINDS has taken me that they are prepared to hate the book, unread. Martin does admit that he fears readers will hate the book-based only on how long it's taken him to complete. Yet, he specified that 'of late' his writing is taking him 'further and further away from the television series.' Though there may be some elements from the final seasons in the books, Martin writes, it will be 'quite different.' Things twist, things change, new ideas come to me (thank you, muse), old ideas prove unworkable, I write, I rewrite, I restructure, I rip everything apart and rewrite again, I go through doors that lead nowhere, and doors that open on marvels. Things are growing… and changing, as does happen with us gardeners.

So while he didn't want to prove a 'detailed report' on Winds of Winter, Martin did write: 'I will say this. ' I love nothing more than to surprise my readers with twists and turns they did not see coming, and I risk losing those moments if I go into too much detail. (Yes, I work on other things as well),' he shared in August 2022 in a blog post. I am working on it, I have been working on it, I will continue to work on it. 'Most of you know by now that I do not like to give detailed updates on WINDS. This is not his first status update of 2022. The characters all interweave and I’m actually finished with a couple of the characters, but not others. In October 2022, he told Stephen Colbert, 'I think it’s going to be a very big book and I think I’m about three-quarters of the way done. In the ensuing decade, Martin has provided updates on his blog about the status of the sixth novel and updates in various interviews and panels. A Dance with Dragons, Martin's fifth Game of Thrones novel, came out in July 2011.

The winds of winter