Game of Thrones is penned on a DOS PC

Technology is the antithesis to writers' productivity, and has spawned various ridiculous or seemingly odd attempts to avoid the inevitable Facebook or email distraction. Writing apps that disable connectivity for certain times of the day are one common method employed, but as it turns out George R.R. Martin has optioned a more novel approach to penning his series Game of Thrones.

The information came to light during his recent appearance on Conan, where he was asked about whether he is concerned with losing his thousand-page tome to a wayward virus (a good reason to use cloud backups if there ever was one). Martin responded that no, he isn't concerned.

"I have a secret weapon. I have two computers. I have the computer I browse the Internet with, that I get my email on, that I do my taxes on, and that computer. Then I have my writing computer, which is a DOS machine not connected to the Internet."

He went on to say that he composes in WordStar 4.0, and that he uses it because likes it. "It does everything I want," he said, "and it doesn't do anything else." As it turns out, the autocorrect found in modern word processors gets on his nerves, as does spellcheck, which constantly harps at the odd spelling of his fantasty world.