I've been meaning to write this for a while but I have been hesitant due to the usual response. But I decided to go ahead with it anyway because I think it is important. Here is the thing: I don't think J.K. Rowling is a great writer, that doesn't mean I think she is bad but I don't think she deserve all the praise she get. I will explain why I think so later. First there are two things I'd like to address.
Whenever anyone dares to utter this opinion, two things happen. First, they are accused of being jealous of her success. Secondly, they are told they need to prove their own accomplishments in the field in order for their opinion to be valid.
The problem with the first thing is that it assume that critique is only uttered because someone else feel slighted. That their opinion holds no bearing because they wishes that their work had the same status. However, people are able to have an opinion about something without wanting the something as what they have an opinion about. Not liking the food in a restaurant doesn't mean you wish you were a chef, it just means you didn't like the food. Having opinions about the making suggest you should have some knowledge of the process but that still doesn't mean you wish you had the same position.
The other thing isn't a problem isolated to the creation of books but is rather a problem in our current society. It is the idea that you need credentials, experience, accomplishments in an area in order for you opinion to be consider valid. It is a common comment, if you have any complaints - create it yourself. But as with the food, you don't need to be an accomplished chef in order to think that the food you ate at the restaurant isn't any good. And accomplishments doesn't mean you have a broader knowledge of a subject either. This is true especially when it comes to writing. You are allowed to have opinions about books and writing without writing yourself. You are allowed to express those opinions without having published a single book. That doesn't make your opinion less valid nor does it mean are you wrong.
When it comes to Harry Potter and Rowlings writing these two things is a great problem. The fandom is so unwilling to accept any possible critique towards their favourite books that they instead attack anyone who isn't 100% positive. No one will deny that Rowling have seen success. But success and skill is not always correlated. Often, it is all about being lucky. There are many good and bad books that never have seen success beyond the closest fans.
So why don't I think that Rowling is a good writer? It boils down two fundamental things, the difference between writing and telling a story.
One might think that writing and storytelling is connected. And they are, no doubt. That doesn't mean that they are always in tandem. You can be a good writer without being a good storyteller, you can be a good storyteller without being a good writer. People often mistakes these two for being the same but the truth is that they rely on completely different things in order to be good. I will make a post on a later date where I go into more detail about these differences. For now I will explain how they correlate to my opinion about Rowling's writing.
J.K. Rowling is a decent storyteller but a poor writer. If you are being honest, you can't say that the story of Harry Potter is original. That in itself is not a problem, there are many writers who uses existing mythology and takes inspiration from existing stories. However, there is no point in denying that it lacks in originality. And it serves as a short-cut in creating the world of your story. That said, Rowling does a decent job in making her world feel real. When creating a story, it is far more important to make your world feel real than it being realistic.
So in that regard, Rowling isn't bad. And her world do serve her purposes in conveying the story. As for the story itself, no one can say it isn't compelling. That is what have given her the enormous success. She uses archetypes and character-types that a reader can easily identify with while telling her story. So as a storyteller, she is pretty good.
But how do that correspond with her writing? Well. Not at all. A good written story uses certain elements that not only tells the story but also breath life into it. This is were Rowling fails. All throughout the seven books of Harry Potter, she does this. She tells the story. Which might seem as an obvious thing but a good writer do not tell a story, they show it. Which is far more difficult and requires that you can trust your readers to think for themselves. If you only keep telling the story without showing it, you don't let go of the reader - you don't trust them. To much showing can tire the reader so you need to learn how to balance your story between these two.
So how do you know if a story is told or showed. Let's go with two examples.
Example of tell: A tall man walked through the room. His head nearly touched the roof. When he knocked his head against a low beam, he became angry.
Example of show: As he walked through he could feel his head brushing against the roof. Any other man would've had at least a feet left before he even came close to the ceiling. With a low smack the man banged his head against a low beam. Grumbling he rubbed his forehead.
This is a very simple example on the difference between tell and show. Using show requires more in a text. It is quicker using tell and more efficient but if you want to make the text come alive show is a must. Something that also determine a text is the context of which it is written and to what purpose. But if you are writing a story and intend for it to be a book. Then you have to take this kinds of things into consideration. And unfortunately, Rowling fails at this. Her books is not well written, they are well told. The story itself is the only thing with substance. With that being said, if she choose another platform for her writing, one that didn't require her to breath life into her words, her skills as a storyteller would probably fare her quite well. With the upcoming movie and theatre piece in London, perhaps she have found a better place for her writing.
