Characterizations: Rowling vs. Steele

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 8035

Hi --

Ebony wrote:

> Oh, no!  Poor Jim!  Word of advice:  never, ever venture to the HP
> ff.net corner without a specific author/title in mind.

I'll second that!  It sounds as though, from the phrase that you quoted
to us in a fanfic you'd read, you've been reading fanfic written by an
inexperienced writer, probably a teenage girl if I had to guess (NOT
that I'm saying that *all* teenage girls are inexperienced writers who
only write mindless drivel).  Anyway .... Ebony's point is well-taken.
The better fanfics are "found" by word-of-mouth recommendations (much
like in the pre-HP-craze days over in the UK, when PS was propelled onto
the bestseller lists by word of mouth recommendations).  There are
certain authors that are well-established as good fanfic writers -- the
Fanfic FAQ will have rather a nice listing for everyone.  In the
meantime, ask around & you can find the better quality stuff.  Sifting
through 14,000 fanfics randomly is not a good way to find the good
stuff.

As Ebony mentioned, Blaise writes great MWPP stuff (and can probably
point you in the direction of other good MWPP fics).

PoU is, IMHO, the *best* HP fanfic out there, and like Ebony I don't
think it's even remotely a Danielle Steele romance.

>From your comments, I'd gather you've read Cassie's Draco series --
another fic I'd recommend highly.  Ebony might have neglected to mention
her own ongoing fic, but I can assure you it's well-worth a trip over to
fanfiction.net to give it a whirl.  We have several other wonderful
fanfic writers in our midst, depending on your taste.

> Soapbox unrelated to Jim's post:  A common misconception is that
> Paradigm of Uncertainty (as one R/H shipper termed it, "the H/H
> Bible") is purely or primarily romance.  But it, its prequel ASA,
> and  its sequel STNE are classified as *mysteries*!  If these stories
> were made into movies, they wouldn't be shelved between the Jane
> Austen movies and the Meg Ryan flicks.  They would go into the
> action/adventure or drama category.

Bravo, Ebony!  Thanks.  Carole & I did classify ASA as a romance, simply
because we perceived our action plot wasn't nearly as central to the fic
we were planning as it is in PoU.  PoU is correctly classified as
mystery (could also go under action or drama easily enough).  It has a
strong romance subplot, no question about that.  But, it is primarily a
mystery in my mind.

> Cassie classified her Draco Dormiens series as romance... but it's
> more romantic comedy, and DS would be action/adventure also IMO.

I would agree with that as well.

> I've seen a few knock these ladies and other popular writers in
> the fandom for the "shippiness" (I tend to think it's sour
> grapes... if I don't like something I just don't recommend it, instead
> of
> going around ranting).

Again -- thanks!  <g>  I'd hate to think that ASA is a Danielle Steele
sort of story.  Haven't read any Steele since I was 17 or so but ... I
think I remember the gist of it all enough that I'd take offense if ASA
were lumped into that genre.

> It's probably a lot easier to write Danielle Steele (who I've never
> read) than JKR.   But a common misconception is that most romantic
> fiction has no plot.  This is simply untrue and quite unfair.  Yes,
> the market is flooded with cheap dime-store romances.  Might I point
> out that the market is also flooded with poorly written thrillers,
> mysteries, Westerns, etc.?

Yeah .... Zane Grey comes to mind.  There must be at least as many of
those type books churned out as Harlequin romances.

> According to my older students (the eighth graders), they think it's
> extremely unrealistic that the HP characters are still in the "latent
> stage" at 14-15.  I did counter with the arguments that have been
> batted around here (wizards live longer, they have to control their
> emotions/magical powers, etc.).  But one of my students summed up
> their attitude about it this summer. "Yeah, well, they're not space
> aliens, Miss Thomas."

ROFL!  That's great!  I think I do have to agree with them that the
issue should be expanded more in Book 5 when the characters are 15 to
stay within JKR's promise to age the characters believably.

> I agree with this totally.  Harry to me was mainly a POV narrator in
> PS/SS and CoS.  I didn't really start to feel as if he was a hero
> in the conventional sense until reading PoA.

I thought he was a conventional hero for the most part in CoS, but I do
see the point that his character takes a dramatic turn in PoA.

> But GoF—I read the last four chapters on July 8 standing up and pacing
> around the room.

I did too -- how funny!  I was also muttering "No .... no ..... not
Sirius ... dementor in the castle ... no.... not Sirius ... do I dare
turn the page, there's a dementor in the castle .... no..."  for a good
20 pages.  My husband wandered into the room, already thinking I'd taken
complete leave of my senses since I did *nothing* on July 8th except
read GoF, and he really thought I'd lost it.  <g>

> I'll leave your idea of Hermione alone, as she is my favorite
> character.  I think the way JKR has "drawn" her is just fine... I can
> totally relate to her.  ;)

She's my favorite character as well ... and I'll echo Ebony -- I
wouldn't change a thing about her character.  I *love* her just the way
she is.

> > Dumbledore, for me, remains one-dimensional in his role of
> providing > the polar "good" in the story, just as Voldemort provides
> the > polar "evil." Dumbledore is quirky and he makes mistakes, but
> he has > *no* vices. Even the charge of moral relativism for allowing
> Harry et > al to violate school rules can be dismissed because "it's
> for the > good," an old fairy tale standby. Maybe a mild dose of
> Danielle would > pep him up a little.

Well, Neil & I are both expecting that Dumbledore will be shown to be
less one-dimensional in the next book.  I think there must be more there
(and no, it has nothing to do with that "gleam" in his eye).  I just
don't think he's completely white.

Nice topic Jim ...

Penny


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