'Game of Thrones' Was Written on a DOS MachineAuthor George R.R. Martin explains why he likes to kick it old school when it comes to writing his fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire.'

ByLaura Entis

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George R.R. Martin's seriesA Song of Ice and Firemay have inspired one of the most high-tech and expensive shows currently on television (HBO'sGame of Thrones, for which Martin also occasionally writes) but the books have a rather primitive origin.

“我有一台电脑和浏览互联网I get my email on and I do my taxes on," Martin told Conan last night. "And then I have my writing computer, which is a DOS machine not connected to the Internet...I use WordStar 4.0 as my word processing system."

An unconventional approach, perhaps -- "did you make this computer out of wood"?" Conan asks -- but Martin has his reasons.

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"It does everything I want a word-processing program to do, and it doesn't do anything else," he said. "I don't want any help. I don't like some of these modern systems where you type a lowercase letter and it becomes a capital. I don't want a capital. If I had wanted a capital, I would have typed a capital. I know how to work the shift key."

Apparently spellcheck can be a headache when writing about a made-up realm full of made-up places and people. "I hate spellcheck," Martin confirmed to Conan.

While he didn't go into the benefits of writing on a device not connected to the internet,it must boost his productivity, right? Think about it: How much time do you waste on the internet?

So to all thegreedy fans pressuring Martin to write faster, thank his DOS machine. Without it, we'd probably be even further away from the release ofThe Winds of Winter.

Related:Quiznos Is Bankrupt, But It Made an Awesome 'House of Thrones' Mashup

Wavy Line
Laura Entis is a reporter for Fortune.com's Venture section.

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