There’s a famous quote from world renowned author, George R R Martin, that reads,
“Those who read books live a thousand lives. Those who don’t only live one.”

Upon careful reflection, I’ve come to realise that this particular quote might not have originated entirely from him, but rather from a long line of authors and storytellers.

And as a storyteller, I believe it’s George R R Martin’s goal to imprint the impact such stories and books have had on him to all those future generations who want to become storytellers themselves.

In my books, it’s certainly no word of a lie to claim that stories are contagious.
For dedicated readers, some are even addictive.

But for me, no story has ever been truly told until it’s been translated to the screen.

And this is why movies and TV shows hold a certain power over their audiences that can’t be easily woven into some other mediums –
That is the power of unity.

It takes only one person to write a book. With a movie or a TV show, a collaboration between a group of like-minded people is needed to perfect the craft.

When a team of creatives are there to bounce off each other – and bounce off each other well – unity becomes the key ingredient for success.

Sure, George R R Martin is a great author, no doubt about that, but when he’s sat at home all by his lonesome, spending nearly a decade trying to complete The Winds of Winter, you’ve got to wonder whether a bit of mutual collaboration would have helped.

Now I could say the same thing about the mother TV show somewhat, in which the showrunners, D & D, have decided to go down their own path in creating an ending for Game of Thrones without the authors support.

He may have told them the ending well in advance, but his dedication to the books has meant that no collaboration currently exists between author and showrunner in regards to ‘how’ the story reaches its grand conclusion.

Some collaboration here might have been helpful!

To recap my previous point, when a group of like-minded people bounce off each other and ‘bounce off each other well’, the key ingredients for success are placed at your fingertips.

Where the TV show succeeds, despite not being held in the same regards as the books, is with its enormously dedicated and hard working cast and crew –
The unity of like-minded creatives, carrying forward a shared vision.

Unlike George, D & D have managed to deliver a new installment every year.
By comparison, George has taken longer than the time it’s taken for the entire show to broadcast to complete his next book.

Say what you want about the writing in the show, the dedication of the cast and crew as a collective unit can’t be denied.
That’s the power of unity!

And just to harken back to that grandiose quote of George’s – and previous storytellers of the ages – I’d like to alter the quote and change the word ‘books’ to ‘stories’.
“Those who consume stories live a thousand lives…”

Stories are what are passed through the ages, generation after generation.
They’re the catalysts that have inspired the different mediums of comic books, movies, TV shows and video games as time and technology has moved on.

Photo by Naomi Hutchinson on Unsplash.

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