GRRM about the creation of Sansa - NOVEMBER 11, 2000
Arya was one of the first characters created. Sansa came about as a total opposite b/c too many of the Stark family members were getting along and families aren't like that. Thus, Sansa was created; he ended by saying they have deep issues to work out.
This line: “too many of the Stark family members were getting along and families aren’t like that” reminds me of George saying that “happy families are boring”:
ST. PETERSBURG INTERVIEW - AUGUST 19, 2017
An interesting question was “Why are there so many sons who are unloved by their fathers, like Sam, Jon, Tyrion and Theon?” I watched George’s reaction carefully (I was sitting close to him) and he did not take issue with the assumption that Jon Snow is part of the “unloved sons” (obviously the dynamic talked about is Jon/Eddard, not Rhaegar). He nodded at the question and said that he does not have the full quote with him, but the great Russian writer Tolstoy once said that happy families are boring - this was followed by a big round of applause cause every Russian knows this quote very well (the quote by Tolstoy is: All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.)
Make of this what you will.