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JK Rowling - an average writer, that had one good idea, and got lucky?

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I happen to think JK Rowling is a miserable old cow. She's a billionairess and its all "Whinge, moan, complain, I'm never writing another book again/I wish I had never written Harry Potter, blah blah blah..." Gets on my bloody nerves.

Dont publish your books then.

Reply 61

punktopia

She is a distinctly average author, and most of her ideas are ripped off other children's novels - The Worst Witch for example.

Reply 62

Misogynist

I think the entire appeal of the Harry Potter books boils down to people wanting to live in the world of wizards and witches, Children would like to go to Hogwarts and play Quidditch, hang around at Hogsmeade. They wish they could be there. The books allow them to do that and temporarily give them the feeling that they are there.

I personally absolutely loved them til' Book 5. I didn't manage to read the last two books due to the aforementioned, I don't think I ever will.

As far as J.K's writing goes.. Is she a bad writer? No! Is she an amazing writer, No aswell. She's pretty average when it comes to the writing aspect, but she's got an amazing sense of creativity and that's what's given her the success she got.

Reply 63

curiouslyorange1989

the later books where she tried to reach out beyond 12-15 year olds werent as good as the starting ones.

the books got progressivly weaker after the third one. The rest lived of the series reputation.

Reply 64

curiouslyorange1989

SarahhhD

Is it that mind Numbingly boring?
I tried to read it a few years ago, and couldn't get past the first...40? pages.

lol same as me! my dad was all like "This is the bestest book eveeeeeeeer!" and i was like its soooooooo boring.

but if you persevere it does get much MUCH better once your out of the blasted shire!

Reply 65

Sorani

punktopia

She is a distinctly average author, and most of her ideas are ripped off other children's novels - The Worst Witch for example.

Thank you, I always thought The Worst Witch was a really obvious example but none of my friends believed me about how similar some of the ideas in them were.

Reply 66

dementedbunny

i agree with the OP. her prose is about as plain as you can get and she uses the same formula for each of her books. however i don't think she 'got lucky' because the world she creates is something that greatly appeals to people, which i think is the main reason why she is able to draw in so many. this world is comprised of many things that her readers would want to experience in this present day. most of them are little intricacies like those beans that taste like charcoal or wtv that are pretty much irrelevant to the plot and used as devices to 'charm' people into liking the book better. and although it coerced many people to start reading, i doubt that many of them branched out beyond the confines of harry potter.

but then again, maybe she did get lucky. why aren't the narnia chronicles even close to being as popular as harry potter when they are of a much higher literary caliber?

anyway, if people enjoy it then what's the harm.

Reply 67

harr

SarahhhD

I was reading like a page a night.

I've done that with a book before, but it just doesn't work. You can't really get involved in a book unless you read a reasonable amount in one go.

Reply 68

Phantom Phoenix

Sorani

Thank you, I always thought The Worst Witch was a really obvious example but none of my friends believed me about how similar some of the ideas in them were.

I've been saying that for years too :yes:

Rowling did get lucky in the sense that slush piles in literary agents' offices are filled with more talented and more original material...she was lucky that her script was read by someone in the right mood, at the right time. But almost any published writer has had the same kind of luck at some point. If anyone has read Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, they'll know what I mean - he was very lucky that anyone bothered with it!

Reply 69

Phantom Phoenix

curiouslyorange1989

lol same as me! my dad was all like "This is the bestest book eveeeeeeeer!" and i was like its soooooooo boring.

but if you persevere it does get much MUCH better once your out of the blasted shire!

The Lord of the Rings could be two-thirds the length it is and lose absolutely nothing :no:

I love the story and the creativity involved, but Tolkien really overdid the descriptive element and that puts a lot of people off because it seriously drags in some parts.

Reply 70

PhyMath

Although Rowling did get children reading, we are now dealing with hordes of people ranting about Harry Potter being "Like...the best series evar!". There are far superior writers that kids won't even consider reading due to them not featuring wizards.

Reply 71

SarahhhD

harr

I've done that with a book before, but it just doesn't work. You can't really get involved in a book unless you read a reasonable amount in one go.

I'll do that with some books I've read loades over exam time though, so I'm not over taxing myself having to follow storylines, but I've got something to do when I've watched my news and can't get to sleep cause I'm Worring (sp?) about the exams.
Reading sends me to sleep. :smile:

Reply 72

SarahhhD

diamonddust

Don't talk about Twilight to me! :p:

I loved it and then I read the other 3 and hated them!I think JK Rowling got where she has by having an amazing imagination. I don't think her style is amazing but her idea was brilliant and she brought her characters alive. I was rooting for Voldy in Deathly Hallows though, Harry's way too annoying to exist (well...not exist... but yeah!) actually quite like Bella from Twilight! I hate stupid, whiny, undeveloped characters...(bella) but that's a whole other thread.

I'm doing that at the minuite.
I'm gutted. Dx

Reply 73

England Captain

The harry potter books really are amazing to read, they always draw you in for more! What more do you want from a book?

Reply 74

Phantom Phoenix

Harry annoys me because he snatches all the praise and attention while the people who really got him where he is sit in the background and get nothing :mad:

Should be the Hermione series in my opinion!

/end rant :woo:

Reply 75

d123

Red_Sky

Why so? I have read quite a lot of literature, and love most of it. But there is something about LOTR that drives me stark raving bonkers! I tried, I failed, I hate to admit that I couldn't even read more than a few pages! :no:

I agree!
I have read the whole series of LOTR but they aren't that great, theres something about them thats really annoying, not sure what. Same with the films

Harry Potter on the other hand is amazing! Not the best written of books but in terms of the numbers of people JK Rowling inspired to read its brilliant. Also, one of the reasons I made friends with my best friend is a shared love of HP from when we were 7

Reply 76

Kesser

J K Rowling did not simply 'get lucky' with one good idea - it's true that she is not a literary genius but she does create a wonderful world with her books - almost all ideas are plagerised to some degree, it's not the idea that makes the book, it's the way it's written. Whilst in the first book her style was clumsy and not technically great, it does improve over the course of the rest of her books as she learns her craft, something that EVERY writer has to do. J K deserves the respect and admiration she is given (by some) as she took a generation of children who were glued to playstations, PCs and televisions and made them WANT to read - a real achievement if you ask me. I tend to think there are a lot of 'book snobs' around who like to dismiss the likes of JK and even writers such as Stephen King, just because they are not Shakespear - JK has made an awful lot of money off the back of her supposed lack of talent so let's face it, she got something..... She is a superb storyteller, her books really capture the imagination and she knows how to keep the reader turning the page - therefore, she deserves her fame. There may be better contemperary writers out there but they haven't had the right publishing house marketing their material well enough or their ideas aren't as good - or they would be in JK's position now wouldn't they?

LOTR is a completely different style - only The Hobbit was written for children - the rest are heavy duty literature, not really a great comparison.

Reply 77

glassheart

Valkyrja

Do you know what? I think a lot of you are missing the point of JK Rowlings writing.

What she did was make literature accessible to people again, the billions of people who have bought her books come from all levels of society. Not since Enid Blyton has an author united so many people and encouraged reading in those who are not actively encouraged to read at home. I had my own library of books growing up, I was not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I loved books and stories, unfortunately I have to say I am the exception to the rule, growing up in working class wales there were definitely a lot of people at my school who had never read a book at home even at the age of 16. In my opinion although JK rowling is not an amazing 'writer' in the technical snobbery sense, she is a fantastic story teller....and I would rather read a 'badly' written fantastic story than an excellently constructed literary masterpiece that wasn't too wonderful on the story telling front.

I concur.

Rowling never claimed to be a literary genius, that wasn’t what it was ever about. Her writing was not pretentious, neither clouded nor riddled with overtly complicated words; it was terribly scenic, and inclusive of the reader, something other children’s writers often forget.

She revolutionised and shook up the world of literature, that might sound like an exaggeration or overly zealous, but her words have been read, or heard by so many children all over the world, who before this story, her story, treated books as a chore, or something to be endured not enjoyed.

Reply 78

mancsmithsfan

why people over 15 care about Harry Potter is beyond me..... a good creation, but wwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyy it almost makes me burst into tears when TSR people note HP as one of their favourites! Come on!

Reply 79

Sorani

Phantom Phoenix

The Lord of the Rings could be two-thirds the length it is and lose absolutely nothing :no:

I love the story and the creativity involved, but Tolkien really overdid the descriptive element and that puts a lot of people off because it seriously drags in some parts.

I think it's mostly the creativity that has kept it as famous as it is. Granted, I'm one of those people who can easily read through the books, and I love them, but I think it's the fact that he brought a lot of new things to the fantasy genre, which people still use now, that has kept those books famous as well as the basic story being good. The writing isn't the best there is, by any means.

I suppose that makes it a big contrast to Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a lot easier to read but I don't honestly think it brought anything that hadn't been done before.

I think most of Harry Potter's success, honestly, is because of the sheer amount of great publicity it got. People were constantly going on and on about how great it was, and then it had the huge budget films as well, and people saying about how it was getting all the kids reading. I think if it weren't for any of that, it would have done well but nowhere near as good as it did.
I don't think it's a bad book, though. Although I am disappointed that it's the book that kids latched onto and that only, I think there's loads of books that kids would love, but until a new book comes out where everyone starts screaming "THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!" that won't happen. Essentially, kids just follow what's popular.