[HPforGrownups] Re: I have a problem

[lrcjestes]

No: HPFGUIDX 5092

> > > Hi, my name is Voicelady, and I'm a Harryaholic.
> >
> > Hi, my name is Penny, and I'm also a Harryaholic.
> >
> > > I am obsessed.  It started with the books.  <snip> Harry Potter became
> > > a daily topic of conversation for me.  I thought about him.  I
> > > theorized about him.  I joined *clubs* about him!
> >
> > And, I began to read 50-100+ messages a day about him and his world.  I
> > became obsessed with all the little details of his world.
>
> I'm a Harryaholic, too, I'm afraid.
>
> This turned out to be rather a more serious post than I intended when I
> started it because, all kidding aside, this obsession might be edging
close
> to being a real problem for me.  Yeah, I'm obsessed; I read, I analyze, I
> discuss.  Harry and his friends have given me a tremendous lot of pleasure
> (as has the better fanfiction I've read).

Well I may as well stand up and admit it as well...I'm carole and I am a
Harryaholic,


> But what Harry has really sucked away for me is time, as well as a certain
> creative energy that I need to devote to my own writing, and that's rather
a
> more serious issue for me, since I have so little of both to spare.  I
have
> a full time job and a young family to raise, and the time I've given over
to
> Harry I've robbed from my own sleep and my fiction writing time.  In fact,
> I've entirely stopped writing my fiction for the time being, a fact which
> bothers me a great deal, but not enough to figure out a way to break the
> block.  I'm obsessed with JK Rowling's world rather than one of my own
> creation.  (Well, it's not entirely her fault.  LAST year I was obsessed
> with Jane Austen and spent all my free time at www.pemberley.com).

I have a lot of the same thoughts as Peg, in terms of it sucking time away
from my job, and my family.  Randy gives me a bit of a hard time about this
(he's a recovering Harryaholic). But I guess instead of Harry sucking
creative energy from original writing (of which I have never even tried) it
has given me a creative voice that I don't think I ever would have tried on
my own.  Writing fanfic in JKR's universe (and Lori's for that matter)
provided the constraints for me to begin to stick my little toe into the
world of creative writing.  It wasn't so scary to fill in the holes between
JKR and Lori's stories, as it would be to start from scratch.

I've tried a lot of hobbies.  Most I find rather useless (no offense to the
craftspeople of the world..I'm just so lousy at them they are useless to me
as a form of creative expression).  I was very involved in stain glass work
until the kids came along (not a very kid friendly hobby...you know sharp
glass, hot lead...lead fumes...hmmmmmm).  And there are so many things you
can't do while supervising little kiddos.  When Penny and I started to kick
around the idea for ASA I finally found an outlet I can do while watching
the kids.  Just drag my notebook with me and suddenly a 2 hour trip to the
park is something I look forward to.  It gives my brain something to chew on
while I watch them play.

I have never had as much fun writing as I am now.  I have always hated to
write.  I went to a science and engineering school so I wouldn't have to
write. I have however done a tremendous anount of technical writing over the
years (no one told me scientists spend 70% of their time writing reports)
Anyway, this HP addiction of mine has opened a whole new universe for me in
terms of a skill I never thought I'd enjoy...and now its become an
obsession...just ask Penny how often I bug her about various plot lines and
scenes...Its ridiculous, but I am having such fun doing it I refuse to even
consider becoming a recovering Harryaholic.

>
> I have to think I'm doing SOMETHING by immersing myself in Harry's world,
> something that feeds that mysterious part of my back brain that creates
> fiction.  I'm chewing over big themes: morality, heroism, betrayal, trust,
> the nature of friendship, etc, esp. by working on my 7 deadly
sins/heavenly
> virtues essays.  I can only trust that all the analysis I'm putting into
> that hopper (or as Tolkien called it, that story stewpot) in my
unconscious
> mind will brew and bubble and stew and ferment . . . and something good
will
> emerge out of it someday when I get back to creating my own fictional
worlds
> again.
>
> Until then, I guess I'll just have to sit back and enjoy the ride

I can only say that if its lit the kind of inspirational fire in my brain
that has led me to try creative writing I can only imagine what these books
are feeding into an already creative brain like yours, Peg.  I will be
REALLY interested in seeing what form your next novel takes after all this
rumination.

Keep it brewing.

carole