J.K Rowling?

Christine N. said:

I also think the use of many adverbs is a British thing, perfectly acceptable for writers in the UK, where not so much here in the US.

Click to expand...

Hating adverbs is something that never came up among my English writing friends. It was only online that I found out that some people hate adverbs. I don't notice them in Harry Potter.

Adverbs in serious stories do stand out, but I like them in other stories. It's a lot more comical to say that the bells jingled happily. Adverbs have always been something I associate with funny or light-hearted books.

Christine N.:
I also think the use of many adverbs is a British thing, perfectly acceptable for writers in the UK, where not so much here in the US.

Click to expand...

I don't think it's any more acceptable for English authors than it is for American/Canadian/Australian/whatever authors. I've read US YA authors who have been just as adjective/adverb heavy as their Brit counterparts, which makes me think it's more a feature of the genre than a national style thing.

BlueLucario:
Why are a lot of people saying all this? That she's bad.

Click to expand...

Which "people" are saying this? Who are you referring to? What question is it that you're actually trying to ask?

If you actually read the posts on this thread, you'll see that people aren't saying Rowling is a "bad" writer, but they are pointing out where they think there are weaknesses in her writing style.

BarbJ:
I also wrote that she's a great or fantastic or whatever story-teller, and that's what I want to aim for.

Click to expand...

I agree. I'm not a fan of Rowling's writing style, but what she did do well (up until the final 2 books, IMHO) was weave in her backstory with her main plot, so you had a book that operated on a number of different levels. She also managed the neat 'trick' of writing a book that had something for everyone - there's Harry's journey for the MG/YA readers, then you have the political and social background to Harry's world for the adults.

MM

I have heard Rowling criticised re. her 'darkside' characters (specifically Draco, and his father) being two-dimensional (at least in the early books, don't know about the later ones). But this is not an uncommon characterisation of the 'bad guys' in fiction for Rowling's readership (the Lemony Snicket books are another popular example of one-dimensional bad guys), and does not make her a bad writer. It merely means she understands the conventions for the genre.

I did read the first book back in 1999 or 2000 on a friend's recommendation but it was not to my taste. Again, this does not mean that I think she's a bad writer. I thought she told a good tale and wrote appropriately for the age group and genre. I expect I would probably have loved her stuff if I'd been ten when I read it.

I applaud her success. She has gotten a lot of kids reading who might not have otherwise.

underthecity said:

We should all aspire to her success. I know I am.

Click to expand...

Not me. I couldn't handle the sort of scrutiny Rowling has undergone. I definitely couldn't write under that microscope. Much safer for my sanity to aim for mid-list.

loiterer said:

I did read the first book back in 1999 or 2000 on a friend's recommendation but it was not to my taste. Again, this does not mean that I think she's a bad writer. I thought she told a good tale and wrote appropriately for the age group and genre. I expect I would probably have loved her stuff if I'd been ten when I read it.

Click to expand...

The third book on take on an entirely different tone, but she adjusted the writing for the growing target age group.

I think that there are places she could have tightened her writing, but the stories she tells are captivating.

I really am looking forward to her next work. I want to see what she has in store after HP.

And you took that seriously?

BlueLucario said:

I can't remember the links to the site. I was web browsing on my cell phone. I google searched 'say no to j.k rowling'

I came across a forum where this one guy said.

"J.K Rowling is a bad writer who happens to write crap us retarded kids happen to like"

Click to expand...

Why didn't you just post on the forum where that moronic comment was made and ask the guy why he said it? Why drag it over here? And why are you Googling "say no to J.K. Rowling" in the first place?

BlueLucario said:

What am I supposed to say?




Same reason why I posted. Curiosity.

Click to expand...

What are you supposed to say? How about the exact same thing you said in your first post in this thread? Then you'd be actually asking the person who made the negative comment about Rowling, instead of asking us to speculate. It seems to me that if you're curious about why a person said something, the best person to ask is the person who said it.

BlueLucario said:

What am I supposed to say?

Click to expand...

I don't know, how about something like :

A lot of writers are saying that J.K Rowling is not a great writer, she's a good story teller though. Everyone ranting about her.

If she's so bad, how did she get published? How did she make so much money? How did she make kids read?

I'm not disagreeing, it's just that it doesn't make much sense to me.

Click to expand...

Blue, Devil and Queen of Swords are correct. If you want to know why someone on another forum said something, the best place to ask is on the forum where it was said. The best person to ask is the person who said it.

Also, if you are googling 'say no to J.K. Rowling,' of course you're going to find people saying bad things about her. If you google for negative things, you're going to find people negative things. If you google looking for the bad, you will not find people who say good things.

BlueLucario said:

I don't think I'll go there. That post was a long time ago. If you say something that disagrees or questions with the other posters, let's say a bad critique. you are asking to get flamed.

Click to expand...

If these forums are places which tolerate no disagreement and where people can say any thoughtless nonsense they like, don't read them. Most of all, don't take the stupidity on them seriously. Ignore them and focus on your own writing.

The time you spent or spend googling stuff about Rowling could have been spent reading fiction (and I don't mean the "Rowling is crap" kind of fiction), reading books on how to write fiction or working on your own novel. Still, your time is your own, and how you spend it is entirely up to you.

BlueLucario said:

I can't remember the links to the site. I was web browsing on my cell phone. I google searched 'say no to j.k rowling'

I came across a forum where this one guy said.

"J.K Rowling is a bad writer who happens to write crap us retarded kids happen to like"

Click to expand...

You're going to run into a lot of people like this. Some people can react very negatively to a book, to the point where it's rather hostile. It doesn't mean the book is good or bad; only that this person reacted badly to it and expressed it in a negative way. It's that person's opinion--nothing more, nothing less.

What's your opinion of the book? If you enjoyed reading them, then don't let other people's opinions spoil that for you.

Blue, if you have questions about why people on other forums have said or done something, you really need to ask the people who have said it in the forum where it was asked. Typically, we do not allow situations from other forums to be brought to AW.

You were told this when you brought crits from other places here. I'm telling you again. You've been given lots of leeway here, but you really must make an effort to respect the limits that AW and your fellow writers have to offer.

Closing thread.