People spend a lot of time on blogs trying to come up with something clever. With something inspiring. We all try to post something that will help our fellow writers and hopefully make them want to come back. The same thing goes with our job as writers. We want to write something that changes the world; or at least, write something that people will love, such as J. K. Rowling did when she wrote Harry Potter. And one of the ways we learn to be a more compelling writer is by studying what other succesful writers have done.
The Harry Potter series is probably not my favorite set of books, but like so many others, I went to Borders on midnight when the last one came out. So what brings a book/series to the point of that kind of devotion? For me, I loved Harry Potter because of the likable characters, witty writing, and the amazing world she created. She invented a virtual buffet of imagination for my mind.
Now that you know my thoughts, I'd like to open it up to you. I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts and YOUR opinions by responding about the Harry Potter books, more than the movies (though I've enjoyed those as well). Instead of just hearing from one person, I believe we can learn a lot more from the collective opinion of many.
I love Harry Potter because...
I love Harry Potter because I'm pretty sure it's what made me want to write. It was the first book series I think I ever really enjoyed reading, and it was the only one I wasn't reading because my mom wanted me to.
ReplyDeleteI love it for all the reasons you said, too, but I think I love it because it was the first kick that said, "Hey, you can do this, too."
I love HP because of the wonderful, sympathetic characters, the emphasis on the power of friendship and family, and the fact that JKR wasn't afraid to break our hears every once in a while.
ReplyDelete*hearts
ReplyDeleteThe world building and character development. She had a little something for everyone and that's what made her books cross genres and age groups.
ReplyDeleteI love Harry Potter because no detail was unimportant. Her world came to life because of this. In real life, too, details come together to make up our world. When Sirius Black is introduced, we're like, hmm, that's a familiar name... back to Book 1: Holy cow! Hagrid was riding Sirius's flying motorcycle! I geek out about that stuff through the whole series.
ReplyDeleteI love Harry Potter because I understand each character, including the antagonists. Being able to understand, and relate to, each and every character in the books makes it more real.
ReplyDeleteJK created a whole world that *could* exist within the structure of ours. Pretty amazing. And those spells?! Wouldn't I love to try out one or two? :)
ReplyDeleteI love Harry Potter because it is so whimsical. It's what a reading adventure is all about!
ReplyDeleteAt first, it was her world-building did it for me. To be able to create such a crazy, one-of-a-kind world that I could totally believe, and with all those details! But after reading the series multiple times, I've also fallen in love with her storytelling. I'm having the worst time plotting my wip. I'm completely in awe of someone who can plot out 7 books that all build upon each other and end in a totally satisfying way. She's the bomb.
ReplyDeleteBecca @ The Bookshelf Muse
One reason I love Harry Potter is because the names, places, and made-up words have such strong sounds that seem to match their intent. Severus Snape could be no one other than a slippery double agent. The sound of his name just FITS. And what could sound more evil than Voldemort? Rowling had a real ear for sound in her writing.
ReplyDeleteI loved Harry Potter because of the imagination needed to put it all together. And because of the humor.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it was while thinking about how an eighth book might be written that got me into writing fiction myself. It's so addicting! So now I'm teaching myself how to write fiction by writing a story based on Rowling's universe.