Editing A Song of Ice and Fire (section)

===Narrative structure===
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="text-align:center; float:right;"
|+Number of chapters per point-of-view character<!--in order of first POV chapter-->
|-
! POV character !! ''[[A Game of Thrones|Game]]'' !! ''[[A Clash of Kings|Clash]]'' !! ''[[A Storm of Swords|Storm]]'' !! ''[[A Feast for Crows|Feast]]'' !! ''[[A Dance with Dragons|Dance]]'' !! ''[[The Winds of Winter|Winds]]'' !! style="border-left:2px solid gray;"|'''Sum'''
|-
! [[Bran Stark]]
| 7 || 7 || 4 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 3 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 21
|-
! [[Catelyn Stark]]
| 11 || 7 || 7 || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 25
|-
! [[Daenerys Targaryen]]
| 10 || 5 || 6 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 10 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 31
|-
! [[Eddard Stark]]
| 15 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 15
|-
! [[Jon Snow (character)|Jon Snow]]
| 9 || 8 || 12 || style="background:pink;"| || 13 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 42
|-
! [[Arya Stark]]
| 5 || 10 || 13 || 3 || 2 || {{sort|01|≥1<ref name=dancingincircles/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|34|≥34}}
|-
! [[Tyrion Lannister]]
| 9 || 15 || 11 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 12 || {{sort|02|≥2<ref name=harpvoy_eastercon/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|049|≥49}}
|-
! [[Sansa Stark]]
| 6 || 8 || 7 || 3 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || {{sort|01|≥1<ref name=dancingincircles/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|025|≥25}}
|-
! [[Davos Seaworth]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || 3 || 6 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 4 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 13
|-
! [[Theon Greyjoy]]
| style="background:pink;"| || 6 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 7 || {{sort|01|≥1<ref name=nydailynews_sample_chapter/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|014|≥14}}
|-
! [[Jaime Lannister]]
| style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || 9 || 7 || 1 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 17
|-
! [[Samwell Tarly]]
| style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || 5 || 5 || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 10
|-
! [[Aeron Greyjoy]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 2 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || {{sort|01|≥1<ref name=grrm_blog_200721/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|003|≥3}}
|-
! [[Areo Hotah]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 1 || 1 || {{sort|01|≥1<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grrm.livejournal.com/487298.html?thread=24441730#t24441730|title=A Taste of This, A Taste of That|first=George R. R.|last=Martin|date=May 10, 2016|author-link=George R. R. Martin|publisher=[[Not a Blog]]|access-date=November 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114074311/http://grrm.livejournal.com/487298.html?thread=24441730#t24441730|archive-date=January 14, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|003|≥3}}
|-
! [[Cersei Lannister]]
| style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || 10 || 2 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 12
|-
! [[Brienne of Tarth]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || 8 || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 8
|-
! [[Asha Greyjoy]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 1 || 3 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 4
|-
! [[Arys Oakheart]]
| style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 1 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 1
|-
! [[Victarion Greyjoy]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 2 || 2 || {{sort|01|≥1<ref name=harpvoy_eastercon/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|005|≥5}}
|-
! [[Arianne Martell]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 2 || style="background:pink;"| || {{sort|02|≥2<ref name=dancingincircles/>}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|004|≥4}}
|-
! [[Quentyn Martell]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 4 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 4
|-
! [[Jon Connington]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 2 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 2
|-
! [[Melisandre]]
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 1 || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| 1
|-
! [[Barristan Selmy]]
| style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:pink;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || 4 || <ref name=grrm_blog_131029/>
{{better source needed|date=December 2016}}
|-
! Prologue/Epilogue
| {{sort|1|1/–}} || {{sort|1|1/–}} || {{sort|2|1/1}} || {{sort|1|1/–}} || {{sort|2|1/1}} || {{sort|01|1/TBD}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"| {{sort|008|≥8}}
|- style="border-top:2px solid gray;"
! Total (characters)
| 73 (9) || 70 (10) || 82 (12) || 46 (13) || 73 (18) || {{sort|13 (9)|≥13 (≥9)}} || style="border-left:2px solid gray;"|{{sort|357 (32)|≥357 (≥24)}}
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; float:right; margin: 0em 1em 0em 0em;"
|-
| style="background: white" | &nbsp;
| Appears as a POV character
|-
| style="background: pink" | &nbsp;
| Appears as a non-POV character
|-
| style="background: lightgrey" | &nbsp;
| No appearance
|}

The books are divided into chapters, each one narrated in the [[third person limited]] through the eyes of a [[point of view (literature)|point of view]] character,<ref name=newyorker/> an approach Martin learned himself as a young journalism student.<ref name=indiewire_10things/> Beginning with nine POV characters in ''A Game of Thrones'', the number of POV characters grows to a total of 31 in ''A Dance with Dragons'' (see table). The short-lived one-time POV characters are mostly restricted to the [[prologue]]s and [[epilogue]]s.<ref name=scifi_magical_tale/> [[David Orr (journalist)|David Orr]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted the importance of "the [[House Stark|Starks]] (good guys), the [[House Targaryen|Targaryens]] (at least one good guy, or girl), the [[House Lannister|Lannisters]] (conniving), the [[House Greyjoy|Greyjoys]] (mostly conniving), the [[House Baratheon|Baratheons]] (mixed bag), the [[House Tyrell|Tyrells]] (unclear), and the [[House Martell|Martells]] (ditto), most of whom are feverishly endeavoring to advance their ambitions and ruin their enemies, preferably unto death".<ref name=nytimes_rise_fantasy/> However, as ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'s}} [[Lev Grossman]] noted, readers "experience the struggle for Westeros from all sides at once", such that "every fight is both triumph and tragedy [...] and everybody is both hero and villain at the same time".<ref name=time_masterpiece_tolkien/>

Modeled on ''The Lord of the Rings'', the story of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' begins with a tight focus on a small group (with everyone in [[Winterfell]], except Daenerys) and then splits into separate stories. The storylines are to converge again, but finding the turning point in this complex series has been difficult for Martin and has slowed down his writing. Depending on the interview, Martin is said to have reached the turning point in ''A Dance with Dragons'',<ref name=atlantic_sex_fantasy/> or to not quite have reached it yet in the books.<ref name=io9_gods/> The series' structure of multiple POVs and interwoven storylines was inspired by ''[[Wild Cards]]'', a multi-authored shared universe book series edited by Martin since 1985.<ref name=grrm_iv_boomtron/> As the sole author, Martin begins each new book with an outline of the chapter order and may write a few successive chapters from a single character's viewpoint instead of working chronologically. The chapters are later rearranged to optimize character intercutting, chronology, and suspense.<ref name=scifi_magical_tale/>

Influenced by his television and film scripting background, Martin tries to keep readers engrossed by ending each ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' chapter with a tense or revelational moment, a twist or a [[cliffhanger]], similar to a TV [[act structure|act break]].<ref name=time_grrm_ivp1/> Scriptwriting has also taught him the technique of "cutting out the fat and leaving the muscle", which is the final stage of completing a book, a technique that brought the page count in ''A Dance with Dragons'' down almost eighty pages.<ref name=grrm_blog_110519/> Dividing the continuous ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' story into books is much harder for Martin. Each book shall represent a phase of the journey that ends in closure for most characters. A smaller portion of characters is left with clear-cut cliffhangers to make sure readers come back for the next installment, although ''A Dance with Dragons'' had more cliffhangers than Martin originally intended.<ref name=grmm_iv_ew/><ref name=scifi_magical_tale/> Both one-time and regular POV characters are designed to have full character arcs ending in tragedy or triumph,<ref name=scifi_magical_tale/> and are written to hold the readers' interest and not be skipped in reading.<ref name=grrm_iv_sfsite2/> Main characters are killed off so that the reader will not rely on the hero to come through unscathed and will instead feel the character's fear with each page turn.<ref name=ew_by_george/>

The unresolved larger narrative arc encourages speculation about future story events.<ref name=newyorker/> According to Martin, much of the key to ''A Song of Ice and Fire''{{'s}} future lies over a dozen<!--the source's "sixteen" refers only to ADOS--> years in the fictional past, of which each volume reveals more.<ref name=grrm_iv_januarymagazine/> Events planned from the beginning are foreshadowed, although Martin is careful not to make the story predictable.<ref name=io9_gods/> The viewpoint characters, who serve as [[unreliable narrator]]s,<ref name=atlantic_sex_fantasy/> may clarify or provide different perspectives on past events.<ref name=atlantic_true_blood/> Therefore, what the readers believe to be true may not necessarily be true.<ref name=grrm_iv_januarymagazine/>