J.K.R's rise to success -
Summary: Article: Investor's Buisness Daily has this
article titled "Rowling's Success No Sorcery" :
Quote:
When an unknown emerges with an exciting idea, the phrase that often gets applied is "overnight success story." For Joanne Kathleen Rowling, "overnight" meant years of hard work and perseverance.
Quote:
"Her first draft may be like another writer's fifth draft," said Arthur A. Levine, vice president and editorial director of Arthur A. Levine Books, which publishes the Harry Potter series for Scholastic. "She puts so much hard work into it before it ever gets turned in."
Quote:
"What Rowling is able to do is synthesize all her influences really well," said Philip Nel, an assistant professor of English at Kansas State University who teaches Potter to students. "She's got the classics influences, like (C.S. Lewis') 'The Chronicles of Narnia' where there's a chosen one, a chosen child. Also mystery novels, where each book is a mystery, you get clues along the way and you want to know what's going to happen at the end.
"Then you've got the boarding school novel -- 'Tom Brown's School Days' is the most famous -- where a kid goes off to boarding school and has to negotiate life on his own. Harry Potter is the way she brings all of that together."
Quote:
"She's very aware that these books have a place in history," said Levine. "It would be sad if anything was rushed or less than we wanted it to be to meet a deadline. It's more important that it gets done right. The other side of having a book that's very popular is that it's read with great scrutiny. You have a responsibility to get the book out to an eager group of fans, but even more so to put out the best book possible."
Quote:
Rowling consistently thinks three or four moves ahead when sketching out a character or scene. Details that may seem innocuous or out of place in one book often become vital for a future installment, says Nel. An offhand remark about a room in Harry's castle-based school becomes a central meeting place for a secret order of students in a later book.
Quote:
"I do remember there was one character in particular who seemed to be coming across much more harshly than I thought Jo intended," Levine said. "I cited places where I felt that was coming across. In a situation like that she might say, 'That's a surprise to me. Let me take another look.' At the same time, she's very strong. She knows where things are and where she wants them to be."
To read the rest of the article headover to the link given above
TLC.
