JKR changing story (was:Gender balance/strong women/victims

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 15094

love2write_11098 at y... wrote:
> 
> > I disagree with that. JKR has said on numerous occasions that she 
> > WON'T change the books to suit her fans. She's had this story (and 
> > the characters) planned for some time.
> 
Rita wrote:

> That is what JKR has said, but she has also admitted to changing the 
> books to suit herself or her publisher: 
> 
> that HP and the Goblet of Fire had been supposed to be titled HP and 
> the Doomspell Tournament 

I didn't know the one about Davey Gudgeon!  Maybe he'll show up in 
time.  I'm glad we had Mad-Eye, though--we don't see as much of that 
generation, and he was fascinating.  I hope we'll see the real Moody 
in 5-6-7.

I'm not sure Doomspell qualifies as the kind of change JKR was 
swearing she wouldn't make--it might've just been the working title.  
CoS had the working title of HP and the Half-Blood Prince, so you 
can't put too much stock in working titles (and you can also thank 
your stars she's willing to change titles)!  We keep calling Book 5 
OoP, but it might be something else by the time it's released.  I 
actually think Doomspell Tournament is a more interesting title than 
Triwizard Tournament; I wonder why she changed it?

But to get back to your point:  JKR may, and no doubt has, changed her 
mind because of things that have happened to her since she first 
worked out the overall story several years ago, including things 
people have said to her about the books.  I definitely want her to be 
firm in her vision and not bend to what is perceived as more popular, 
sellable (as if she has to worry), age-appropriate, etc.  This doesn't 
mean she can't think, "geez, I really do write male characters more 
often than female--wonder what that's all about?" and change the way 
she writes, or make other shifts.  She was only about 25 when she 
started on this journey and she may be 40 by the time she's done; one 
would hope that she would grow as a person in those 15 years and that 
the books would reflect that.  We probably won't know how unless she 
says, or until a biographer digs through the notebooks and writes 
about how things changed from their initial conception to the final 
version.

There's a difference between sacrificing your artistic integrity and 
being open to change.  Changing in ways I don't like is the former, 
changing in ways that I like is the latter <bg>.  Just kidding.  She 
will have to remain true to her own vision, and I'm sure that I'll 
love most of it to death and quibble with the rest, but that vision 
may change as she goes along, and that's nothing to be sorry about.

Amy Z

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 [Quidditch] is, of course, an entirely fictional 
 sport and nobody really plays it.  May I also take
 this opportunity to wish Puddlemere United the best
 of luck next season.
              -Foreword, Quidditch Through the Ages
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