On dates--maybe JK wasn't paying attention?

[Ebony <selah_1977@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49925

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carolyn <summer2999 at a...>" 
<summer2999 at a...> wrote:
> Every time I've ever seen discussions about dates in the Harry 
> Potter world, or things not working out, the same thought has 
always 
> occured to me... what if JK just wasn't planning it out?


We've mentioned here before that JKR very likely just isn't a "maths 
person".  I think that she indeed meticulously planned things out, 
but without a real sense of the numbers the same way a numerically-
inclined person might have, there are inconsistencies with her 
dates.  (Consider the Hermione Age Debate, Marcus Flint Redux, etc.)


> I suppose this seems simple, but think about it.  Writing is 
> supposed to be an enjoyable experience, and hopefully the writing 
of 
> the Harry Potter books is for JKR.  Having to write with a whole 
> bunch of calendars nearby would be quite annoying, and having to 
> constantly figure out what happens at what date.


Perhaps she did have a timeline, but as a writer myself, I know you 
can't put absolutely everything on one of those--the timeline I made 
up for my first fic ran to 25 pages.  I think she's likely got major 
events mapped out, and all of Harry's significant "milestones" as 
well as those for the major characters, but The Life and Times of 
Marcus Flint?  Nah.

> Also, about the whole flowerbed thing, have people noticed that 
it's 
> late in the day?  That is specified.  So a bunch of stuff probably 
> already happened that day.  I bet the boy is Harry though... that 
> seems like a predictable way for JKR to open the book.


I don't know why, but I think it's Harry too.  

Perhaps it's his birthday?  Important things happen on July 31 every 
year, so...

 
> One more thing... how funny would it be if all of the predictions 
> you guys made were real?  I don't think that will happen, but it 
> would be quite amusing.


Well, actually, I do think it's going to be quite difficult for JKR 
to throw a curve ball for those of us who dabble in fanon as well as 
canon discussion.  Between the thoughtful discussions here and being 
a fanfic reader/writer for years, every morsel of books 1-4 have been 
examined and picked over, and just about every outcome we as a fandom 
could have ever thought of has been aired.

What some of my friends who used to post more here think is that 
reading OotP will ring certain fanon bells.

But to me, a writer's style is so much more than her ability to plot 
or to characterize or to handle themes.  It's all about their ability 
to blend all of these elements effectively.  No fan writer comes 
close to JKR to me... no essayist can make things make sense in her 
universe the way that she can... and so even after all this time 
reading fic and rereading canon, writing fic, planning, after all is 
said and done I cannot wait to have something new to say.

Because when all is said and done, it's all about her.

--Ebony AKA AngieJ