JKR's writing as craft (Was FAQF)

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 23852

Prefectmarcus:"  'That's not a Quick Quotes Quill, is 
it?' 'No sir. Those things are garbage.' Does anybody reading this 
recognize the reference?"

Actually, we probably all do. There's a lot of people on this list who 
know this tale as well as anyone anywhere.
 
Prefectmarcus:"The rest [fanfic] were very forgettable.  So I suspect, 
at least for me, there is more to it that just good characters.  True, 
they are an essential ingredient, but certainly not the only or the 
most important one."

Most fanfics don't give us anything good in characterization, and the 
writing is usually execrable. The writing is important.

J.K Rowling is a fine writer. I've always thought so. Her stories 
wouldn't be what they are if the ideas didn't make it to the page so 
clearly.  But the language she uses isn't art by itself, as it can be 
with writers like Tolkien, Twain, or Patrick O'Brian. And that's OK. 
Part of it is that she's writing for a younger audience, and keeps her 
writing as accessible as she can.

What do we spend our time talking about so much? The characters. The 
Trio. Malfoy. Snape. Dumbledore. People a hundred years from now will 
know who they are, as they know who Hamlet, Macbeth, and Sherlock 
Holmes are.

There's been stories about apprentice wizards before, and about kids 
who had a target on their backs before. There's books about 
combinations of all these elements, and many of them are well written. 
But they don't have Harry Potter in them, do they?