More DH thoughts, and thoughts on the series as a whole (short, I promise)

[valis2]

I was just reading perverse_idyll's fantastic reaction entry, and it reminded me of something I've been discussing with gillieweed and subrosax for the past few days.

One of JKR's biggest strengths as a writer is how much information she could pare out of her stories and still have them work. You get the sense that she stripped lots of crucial details out of the books. She even mentions that she excised a major plot out of CoS (I think it involved explaining Horcruxes).

The HP fandom reminds me just a little of what I've heard of the Matrix fandom. We have a unique fanbase, just like the Matrix...all because of the mysterious nature of the original work. We have the typical fan writers and artists, but we have lots of essayists and theorists as well, people who puzzle over and attempt to explicate the work.

I just have this feeling that, had she included more information, the books might have actually been a bit better, more fully fleshed out; however, there would have been less theorizing, and I think her popularity might have suffered. HP fandom on the internet would have been diminished somewhat had the mysteries been illuminated earlier, I think. I also think that her writing, while very good, isn't the greatest, and without the mysteries it might not have captured quite as many imaginations. The end result of this secretive method is that she has to completely overwhelm the reader with everything in the last book. I'm still trying to grasp the Elder Wand stuff.

Comments

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

I wonder whether it would have been so end-loaded if the books hadn't amassed such a major following and she started to feel a need to keep the mystery going.

I feel for anyone writing such a large-scale, long project and trying to keep it consistent; although she's probably dead tired of it by now, sometimes people go back and rework the entire thing once they're done.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I really do think she was probably pretty stressed near the end, and pretty relieved to have finished it. I do wonder what it would have been like, though, had it not found such a wide audience...

[mariannelee.livejournal.com]

Secretive, yes! That is very important. It kept interest high. (I'm going to have to remember that.)

My impression of the last book is based upon my own experience as a writer: you start out with an outline that goes straight through to the end, but the front end is more fleshed out, clearer, and has more of the right kind of details that carry you forward to the next step. You have to work harder and harder the further you get into your story to keep things rolling because the front end ALWAYS starts to take on a life of its own, making the back end harder and harder to write according to your original plan. Rowling always said she wrote the ending first, which means that by book 5 or 6 she had this behemoth that she was trying to herd into a very tight pen. I had this feeling in reading DH that she was doing just that -- desperately trying to get herself to the place that had been her original destination. Hence, a lot of knew material to bring the plot in line.

And I could be completely wrong, of course. Contradictorily, I also felt throughout the series that JKR always knew exactly what she was doing. This is the thing that impressed me most about her writing -- her plotting was planned out so far in advance, and so intricate, that by the time the foreshadowing is revealed you've either forgotten the detail or it is so part of the story that you've taken it for granted as a background detail. And then she slaps you over the head with it.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

A fascinating comment, with lots to think about.

I think she plotted it all out, and then carefully pulled on this string and that until she knew which she could plant early, and which she could reserve. I have a feeling that she put it all together at first, and then pared away that which would have given anything away. Talk about holding your cards close to your chest!

But I really sympathize. Just my amateur efforts in tLS makes me appreciate what a nightmare having a lot of words to synch up can be. I am always amazed at how things grow as you're writing them...and how some things shrivel! *laughs* And to keep it all humming the same tune is pretty damned difficult.

[tsh9s.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the link to perverse_idyll's thoughts; really thought-provoking and eloquent stuff, there.

I'm still deciding precisely how I feel, but she hit the nail on the head on many issues for me.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Idyll is one of the most awesome people, IMO. She's so eloquent, and she writes it out better than I could ever dream of doing.

I'm still on the fence, too. Still divided. Deeply divided. But I think it's because I've invested so much into the books emotionally.