Back in February, we told you Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was a guest at the James Joyce Awards in Dublin, Ireland. Thanks to La Gazetter du Sorcier there is a new report online containing a many of her remarks at this event. Answering a range of questions, Jo again says she intends to “write an Encyclopaedia which would hopefully incorporate a lot of back story I couldn’t… or flesh out back story that wasn’t in the books.” JKR was also asked if she thinks of the actors when she writes. Jo said “to be honest no, the only actor or actress who has ever, ever intruded while writing was Evanna Lynch, who is absolutely perfect as Luna. And I must admit I have heard her voice in my head when I wrote the book.”
Specifically on the topics of the books, J.K. Rowling reflected on the theories that she heard while writing the series and mentions several in particular, notably ” when Neville visits his parents in St Mungo’s and his mother presses sweets wrappers on him, which I always saw as a poignant moment… There was a theory that she’s passing secret messages on the sweet wrappers. There have been loads of them. But Dumbledore being Harry from the future is definitely my favourite of all the insane theories. But then you have people, I had people as early as Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book. I remember a woman saying to me : “I think Snape loves Lily”. I was “Oh my God what the hell did I give away ?”. But so people, people got stuff very unnervingly right. Often. Yeah.”
Jo also says she would like to go back and tighten up “Order of the Phoenix,” (“I must admit I was feeling the strength of the pressure a bit during that phase, and I think it shows in the book”) and mentions one hurdle she had to deal with when writing the series, stating : “The one thing, the difficulty I did sometimes have was I made a rule so tight it was sometimes hard to navigate around it myself. So not being able to Apparate in and out of Hogwarts was a pain in the back. Because it was necessary, I had to put that limit to make it a safe place. But finding a way to get in and out of Hogwarts was always a bit of a challenge. I was quite proud of Aberforth again, the tunnel. I like Aberforth. And his goat. [laughing] Yeah, Dumbledore pales into insignificance.”
Of interest are her comments regarding the plot lines and several of the characters. The Harry Potter author said some of the less crucial story lines were not always planned right from the begining and evolved as she went along, “But the big ones, the Dumbledore storyline, the Snape storyline were always there because you — the series is built around those.” Further comments on the importance of Snape and Dumbledore came from a question about the development of their story lines. Jo said:
“with Dumbledore quite deliberately, you find out little about Dumbledore’s own private life because his interactions with Harry are always about Harry, which sets up the fact that in the seventh book Harry thinks “but why did I never ask ?” He’s gone now and he’s never even thought of saying : “so how about you ?” you know, at the end of one of those conversations which I think is something that happens after the grief, the regret that he didn’t ask. And I think also that Dumbledore had always been such an almost god-like figure to Harry in some ways, that he felt he couldn’t ask him personal questions.
Snape, on the other hand, I had to drop clues all the way through because as you know in the seventh book when you have the revelation scene where everything shifts and you realize why Snape was… what Snape’s motivation was. I had to plot that through the books because at the point where you see what was really going on, it would have been an absolute cheat on the reader at that point just to show a bunch of stuff you’ve never seen before, you know… “Oh by the way, in the background this was happening.” So I did know. It was a complicated plotting process but by the time Philosopher’s Stone was finished, I definitely knew all the big things about Snape and Dumbledore because in many ways they’re the two most important characters in the seventh book… Well, other than the trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione.
OH i cant wait for the Scottich book to be published. I have so many questions and so my “ifs” in my head that i cant wait to be anwsered. I wonder if she will answer/include questions from fans if they are valid…........ hmmmmmmmmm….
after the 6th book when snape killed dumbledore, i was completly in shock. i have always known snape was good, but that kind of threw me off. i am glad i was right about snape to begin with. and what is all the crap about dumbledore being harry from the future? it is such a stupid rumor. it doesn’t fit into the story line at all. i wonder what she wants to tighten up in the OOTP. i think the movie needs more tightening than the book. i was so mad when i saw the movie. they almost completly cut out the parts with kreature. and copletly cut out dobby. anyway cant wait to hear more about the encyclapedia.
Posted by siriuslyluvinsirius on April 03, 2008, 07:53 PM
report to moderator
OotP was my least favourite for a while and I never could work out why… it’s got a special place in my heart though, what with me and my schoolfriends’ wild theorising after GoF that Snape loved Lily and that James was a git :D Snape and Dumbledore are two of my favourites, definitely. I may possibly love them more than the trio because they’re so fantastically flawed and I relate to that better… Haha, I guess Jo’s theories about people who love OotP best being a bit dark and odd don’t play out so well.
I love OOTP, it’s my favourite along with DH. I always thought it was so rich and fast-paced but ya Jo’s right I think when she says that only a minority prefer the fifth book over the others.
And about Luna and Evanna – it’s so true! Every time I read the books, she’s the only actor I picture as a character.
Can anyone figure out what question 2 is? JK seemed genuinely shocked at the question and despite her answer I cant figure out what she is answering. Help, its really aggravating me!!
I always felt OOTP was an enigma in that storywise it is my 2nd favourite book. but it is the weakest in terms of narrative (imho). The pacing was quite tedious and I think that is what JK is probably referring to when she says “tighten up”. i am sure she does not dislike her book but she just felt she could have told the story better. OOTP is still a fantastic book, it just happens to be the weakest for me.
i know get bashed for saying this, but even though snape was a hero, and in love with harry’s mom and all that, i still dont like him all that much. he’s just so…mean.
I’m a little sympathetic towards Snape. I mean, he had a hard life. And he made some bad decisions, but he got a raw deal in every aspect of his life. No one paid for their mistakes as much as Snape did. Snape made the ultimate contribution with absolutely NO reward and no one to thank him for it. He basically was a poor kid who got picked on by a bunch of rich kids at school, temporarily losing his temper and therefore losing the love of his life to those same rich kids who were picking on him. Um, yeah he was probably a little bitter. Snape made all the same sacrifices that James did (basically giving his life for Lily), only he did it all knowing she didn’t even care for him. He would have been much better off if he HADN’T loved Lily. A very tragic figure. That being said, I still rooted against him through most of the books just like most people probably did. But you can at least understand why he wasn’t the most happy-go-lucky individual.
Sue, OotP is my favourite after DH. None of the rest come close to those two. I literally couldn’t put it down when reading it (except for the Grawp chapter), I found it so intense. It also backed up everything I had been expecting Harry to feel and experience at that point in his life, so it just felt absolutely right to me. The two
About Evanna, it’s funny but I didn’t see or hear her at all throughout the fifth and sixth book at all. But after seeing her in the film I couldn’t help but picture and hear her in DH.
Love the interview, as always Jo shines. What I dont understand is why wont anyone ask her anything about Tales of Beedle the Bard? Even our Podcast trio failed to ask her anything last xmas.
And why IS James Graduin a funny name?
And what the heck is up with Jo’s continuously naughty insinuation of Aberforth and his goat?!? Good lord, girl, steady on!!
“I like Aberforth. And his goat. [laughing] Yeah, Dumbledore pales into insignificance.” – LMAO. Naughty woman!
I suppose it’s visible from PoA onwards, though I didn’t give it serious thought until OotP, but I’d suspected that Snape had loved Lily because his hatred for Harry seemed so irrational, it seemed to go beyond even taunting a former bully’s son. And then I forgot all about it while reading and was like wtf?
I agree on the DD and Snape thing. I had Snape pegged pretty much since the beginning….. the only thing that gets me is in the movies ” Snape should never be comic relief,,,smacking books over heads, etc. He is a mean person, faithfull to Dumbledore but mean…... shouldnt take liberties with him…...........i look forward to the sixth movie, should have more Snape.
No matter what Jo says, I don’t think she had the majority of the plot planned out beforehand. You can definitely tell that she had some things planned, but most things were clearly not (or she just never hinted at them before, which just seems stupid). Snape and Dumbledore are only two characters/plotlines in a very long series. They, along with small things here and there, don’t justify Jo’s claim that she planned.
If you have SEVENTEEN YEARS to plan something, I expect something a little more elaborate and interconnected than what she ended up giving us.
Great interview! I love how there’s still so much interesting stuff for her us to tell even 9 months after the book has come out. I wasn’t surprised at all at hearing that Evanna is the only actor she has thought about while writing the books because my Luna looked like Evanna before I had even seen the OOTP. It’s crazy! I mean she IS Luna. I don’t think she’s ever not Luna. She acts like that even when they’re not filming and absolutely love it. It’s like one of JKR’s character’s got up and walked out of the book.
And I don’t see Alan Rickman when I read either, my Snape is alot more nastier and meaner. But Alan Rickman’s voice is what I hear when I read Snape. I do sort of see Dan, Rupert and Emma though. Cause I kind of started reading the books after I saw the first movie. But my Harry and Ron are taller and my Ron is skinnier.
I always knew my man had alot to do with the main story- now they know who to focus on more for the 7th and 8th movies. OOTP is my favorite book as well, the one I cant stand is the 4th, I dont like all that boring triwizard tournament stuff, that is all the book is about. I respect them all though, you cant have a series with one of them missing. Snape is NOT Bad!!!
"Jus' thought [Maxime'd] like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.[br]"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.
OH i cant wait for the Scottich book to be published. I have so many questions and so my “ifs” in my head that i cant wait to be anwsered. I wonder if she will answer/include questions from fans if they are valid…........ hmmmmmmmmm….
Live, Love, Harry Potter!! (and Jo)