Martin’s fans are mostly used to the idea of his slow writing at this point, but the situation with “Winds of Winter” has been particularly serious, even for him. Some are even worried that the book might not even be finished at all at this point.
It’s not just about Martin’s willingness to push forward with his writing – there’s an actual risk that he will simply not be able to finish his work. It’s no secret that Martin has been getting older, and his health is likely deteriorating as well, so hopefully he’s considering that.
It’s hard to tell what’s on the author’s mind, as he tends to be quite secretive and keeps his work mostly to himself, so maybe he is aware of this potential problem.
At one point, the production crew of “Game of Thrones” had to have a special meeting with Martin to discuss his plans for the future plot developments in the books. Otherwise, the show itself may have been delayed significantly, or its plot might have deviated from that of the books. In both cases, we would have seen lots of disappointed fans, so it’s good that Martin at least took up this offer. Sadly, his regular fans probably won’t have such a luxurious option available, and they’ll have to wait for the next book to be finished to find out how the story continues.