in the HP world

[somedaybitch]

must be tough being [perfect]

the comments are almost worth more than the rant. i'm particularly fond of this one.

She's a lousy writer, she just lucked out with the HP universe.

i love fans that are so possessive and self-absorbed of their fandom that they believe, with no commensurate experience whatsoever, that they can do a better job than the creators of whatever thing they are fans of....oh wait.

this commentor, otoh, is my hero.

...The larger point is simply that any literary work - even the greatest, most lucid, and most compellingly told (and quite frankly I think Harry Potter is much better as a story than some "classics") - once checked thoroughly, will normally reveal a wealth of mistakes, errors, and inconsistencies that could potentially alter the book's intended meaning almost beyond recognition. And none of these authors were required to write a series of books (i.e. Jane Eyre ends with Jane Eyre) through which the probability of mistakes understandably multiplies. The bigger and more complex the universe, the more it's gonna happen. Nor did many of these writers have to write with the world breathing down their necks for the next book. Rowling's also mentioned a desire to go back and rewrite portions of the books and correct things once all's said and done, so she's well aware of the fact that there are inconsistencies that need to be addressed.

I don't think you're wrong at all - certainly there are problems - but I just think you're characterizing a fact of life in the book business as being a terrible flaw on Rowling's part. I think you're also inadvertently basing a portion of your criticism on the fact that she simply elects a writing style that is different from your own. Most writers who elect to create based on story arcs (Diana Gabaldon and our beloved Joss Whedon in Buffy, Angel, and Firefly among many) usually have a pretty good idea of where they're going but will not necessarily know all of the details along the way (it's incredibly boring to write that way, Whedon once observed, and moreover leaves little room for a character's personal initiative).

So I don't think you're wrong. I just think you're mischaracterizing something that is in fact a pretty routine matter, and it looks a little self-serving for a fanfic writer to look down on a wildly successful author for not managing to be as accurate as she when the circumstances under which you are writing could be charitably described as completely different (it looks that way, though I don't think it was ever meant that way). And I'm always glad to see another Buffy fan. :o)

Comments

[bexxa.livejournal.com]

OMG. What insufferably smug self-appointed arbiters of what and how someone else should write.

If they're so brilliant at this, why aren't *they* uber-successful hugely-popular and raking-in-money authors?

[spoonishly.livejournal.com]

Ah, it seems like a lot of people think, since JKR doesn't plan on giving canon Draco (or Snape) a bigger part, than she sucks. Or that she cares about the big A plot as opposed to birthdays and what Percy was wearing on the first day of school.

So, I shall in conclusion: twits.

*g*

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

somebody had a great reply about how fic writers will focus on the smaller stuff because it's where they get the room to write in the universe, which i thought was a great point. i was just amazed at how disconnected he/she/it was. how is an author supposed to keep track of every single detail that every single fan decides to obsess on? JKR is busy creating a universe and i don't know how she doesn't get totally lost along the way. after the fact, it would be interesting if she went back and did a detailed encyclopedic kinda deal, like actually writing Hogwarts: A history.

that person might be better off not channelling Percy. oy.