JKR writing YA lit (was: Most burning Snape question?)

[desastreuse]

No: HPFGUIDX 107690

SSSusan again:
> Do you think, Cynthia (or others), that JKR set out from the get-go 
> with the idea of having her texts mature & deepen with each "year" 
> of the series or that she made the decision to do so in response to 
> her readership?  I'm inclined towards the first view, but I'm 
> curious if that's what you meant.


Cynthia responds:

I tend to suspect she set out from the beginning with the idea of 
maturation and complexity in general.  A writer who decides early on 
that s/he wishes to write a multi-volume arc over a specific period 
of time during which the YA protagonist will move from childhood to 
adulthood must make a conscious decision to acknowledge that the 
first YA reader ages as well--and that fact demands to be dealt with 
respectfully and realistically.  Otherwise, the arc will fail.  JKR 
realizes that Harry's world, his role  and interactions within the 
emotional landscape she creates, must simultaneously challenge Harry 
as he ages as well as JKR's first crop of YA aging readers in real 
time.  

That said, there will be a natural shift in her readership as this 
change occurs (e.g., the first readers of PS/SS who have been along 
for the ride right along).  New readers who come to the story after 
the arc is finished and published will find an entry point at roughly 
the same age; however, there is no corresponding aging of character 
and reader, so the pacing of readership ages is lost.  By the same 
token, however, she bears no responsibility for this; she is writing 
for the aging reader *now*, not the reader of the future.