It wasn’t until 2011 and the release of the “fifth” book that the fourth book was really finished, adding in what the other half of the cast were doing. Under pressure from his publisher, he divided the book in two, releasing a tome after five years that only starred half of the series characters. When he wrote that fourth book for the second time, Martin’s process was starting to drag. The issue was that certain aspects of the plot simply did not work with that five year jump, and certain aspects of the plot needed it to work. He wrote a fourth book - inserting a five year gap into the story - then scrapped it completely and started over. After Martin finished the third book, A Storm of Swords, his narrative plan broke down.
