Reading the seven books in the Harry Potter series is like taking a master class on plot and character development and world building and pacing, and, well, pretty much everything else that goes into writing one of the most beloved series of all time. It would take an entire book to delve into all of the way the series succeeds, but I thought I’d hone in on a few elements that really stood out to me and what writers can take away from them.
You can accomplish amazing things with a third person limited perspective
In case you aren’t familiar with the definition, third person limited means that the novel is told through one character’s perspective and only that character’s perspective (in this case: Harry’s). We only know that one character’s thoughts and don’t otherwise jump into another character’s head. Other than the very beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone and a few other scattered moments throughout the series, we only know what Harry knows and only see what Harry sees.
This very constrained perspective is a big part of what makes the story great. We really feel close to Harry and his struggle, as the rest of the world of Harry Potter is literally on the outside. Like Harry, we’re gradually getting to know this magical world, we learn the answer to the mysteries at the same time that Harry learns them, and feel anchored to Harry throughout the series.
But this limitation isn’t without its immense narrative challenges. At some point the characters need to know what’s going on in the broader world. And Rowling is remarkably adept at finding creative and suspenseful ways to let Harry learn what he needs to know: he overhears things while using the invisibility cloak, he sees things through the pensieve, he sees things in newspapers, and he develops a tenuous connection with Voldemort so he can see some of what is going on with him as well.
Yes, all of these things are amazingly clever as elements of Harry’s world, but they also solve sticky narrative moments: they turn info dumps into fully-realized scenes, they let Harry see things he wouldn’t be able to otherwise, and they get around the challenges posed by constraining the narrative to what the protagonist knows.
So if you’re going to write in first person or third person limited, try to think of creative ways to let your characters in on the things they need to know.
Don’t be afraid to show your characters’ flaws
Part of what makes Rowling’s characters so amazing is that they aren’t perfect people.
When we fall in love with our own characters we have a tendency to be too good to them. We can’t bear to see them do something bad or do something that might make the reader love them less than we love them. Rowling does not possess this fear.
Harry, let’s be honest, can be kind of a jerk sometimes, particularly in Order of the Phoenix. And this is amazing! He is not perfect. He’s growing up. He’s going through a really dark time. And the fact that he’s feeling sorry for himself before moving on and embracing what he has to do is part of what makes the second half of the series so powerful.
Even Dumbledore can be imperious and careless sometimes. Rowling knows her characters’ flaws just as well as she knows their strengths. And that’s what makes them so great.
Making it look easy is really, really hard
One of the greatest achievements of the series is just how unputdownable it is. In terms of flow and rhythm and scene to scene and book to book construction, reading Harry Potter is just. so. easy.
And when it’s so darn easy to read, it’s tempting to feel like it sprung forth fully formed from Rowling’s pen and was correspondingly easy to write.
Nuh uh. As anyone who has written a book knows, building a compulsively readable 700 page book with intricate plotting and incredible polish is not just something that happened.
I don’t know Rowling, nor have I read much about her writing habits, but she has to be one of the hardest working writers in the business. These books didn”t just happen. Yes, she’s obviously phenomenally talented, but don’t for a moment forget the rule of ducks: look pretty on the surface and paddle like heck under water.
Rowling was paddling like heck to write these books.
“You might try and go easy on the adverbs when the emotion is apparent from the dialogue,”
Nathan said apologetically.
Here are some more tips on writing good dialogue.
Have fun with your world
To be sure, Rowling is not afraid to go dark or kill off beloved characters like it’s the end of a Shakespeare play. But while so much of the Harry Potter series is chilling and thrilling, the reason we care so much is that the world Rowling created and want to spend so much time there is that it’s just so darn charming.
Peeves and the Bloody Baron and the Weasley twins and Hagrid’s antics and Arthur Weasley’s fascination with Muggles and Luna Lovegood. There is so much of Harry Potter’s world that’s charming and funny and endearing.
The grimmer things get in Harry Potter, the more we crave those innocent and hilarious moments and want the characters to set things right. The charming-ness of the world is the foundation for the depth of the danger and suspense to come.
And there’s only one way to make a world charming: by loving the world you’re creating, spending time with it, and infusing it with personality, humor, and spirit.
Here are some more tips for crafting a great setting.
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I think they offer PhDs on the Potterverse. I cut my writing teeth on this world and think Jo has SO MUCH to teach us all.
I particularly love that third person limited for its ability to MISlead the reader–if Harry perceives it wrong, so do we, and I think it makes for a more sincere journey–we FEEL IT.
The lesson Rowling taught ME though, is true mastery can be read on many levels. My kids were perfect ages… they got the early ones at kindergarten and first grade… at that age, you understand the magic and the plot at its most basic level. At late elementary you get the romantic tension and 'that authority isn't always right'. In high school you notice some of the simple foreshadowing. but seriously–a PhD can look into her mythology research and see how carefully she used existing mythos and established symbolisms–the NAMES she gives characters–I honestly spent 4 years HAPPILY discussing what might come next based on the logic she wove under it all.
I feel honored to have been part of these books coming out in real time.
"don't for a moment forget the rule of ducks: look pretty on the surface and paddle like heck under water."
Yeah, that's exactly what it's like to write a book!
Excellent post, thank you.
I think what made her books so good was her unique characters. Each character had their own set of quirks that made them memorable. This is something I can definitely do better in my own fiction.
However, I did struggle to Order of the Phoenix. The rest of the books I flew through, so I need to go back to see what made that book so difficult to get through.
Not sure if someone else mentioned this yet, but you should so write a book on this. I'd love to learn writing technique through a guide that specifically dives into Harry Potter. It would be that much more fun. Actually: Please, please, please write it!!!
Oh, c'mon now… Harry Potter couldn't land Huck Finn's smallest catfish!
Without the aid of unexplainable magic and deus ex machina gadgets, Potter better stick to cutting bait.
Haste yee back š
But someone had to create that entire world where the magic could exist, and that is just one reason why I'll forever be in awe of J.K. as a writer. She's inspiring, no matter what genre you work in.
And that advice about adverbs … that's like the writer's golden rule.
I adored Harry Potter from the instant I opened the first book back when I was, like, ten. Before Harry Potter, I was an advanced read but didn't bother reading because I never found something I liked. Harry Potter single-handedly incited my love of reading and inspired me to write my own stories.
In fact, if it hadn't been for Harry Potter, I wouldn't started writing my novel because one of the pivotal characters was invented as an original character to insert into a Harry Potter fanfic (that I never finished, sadly).
In a series of seven very thick books, J K did an amazing job of interlinking and foreshadowing. Inventive post, Nathan.
There's so much to think about while writing and editing. Thanks again, Nathan, for a useful and timely (for me, anyway!) post.
Great post!
JKR has created a magic world, complete with all the minute details. Very much like Alice in Wonderland, but on a such a grandeur scale that it takes your breath away.
Enjoyable post.
But I disagree about the adverbs – I think they're essential for the humour!
I think they add flavour to writing, used well, in the appropriate context. For children, I think they provide a richer experience of language, and I find leaving them out often makes writing too dry for me.
I know I'm not 'supposed' to think this way – but I do!
I'd like to chime in, from a non-fan's point of view, something that you can admire about JKR whether you like the books or not.
It's pitched perfectly for it's audience. From plot, to character, to pacing (especialy in the early novels), to world: it clips the sweet spot of each for a YA audience.
Someone commented earlier about teenagers and adjective and how they aren't as noticable when you are that age, especially if there's magic and wizards and what not to be getting on with. The same goes for plot (Conveniant Deus Ex Machina arrivals and discoveries), World building (James Bond gadgets: namely everything performs one specific function and it just so happens to come up), character and aso on.
Fans of the YA genre, and young readers themselves, will let these things slide more in exchange for thrills and wonder. That's JKR's magic right there. The rest is lots and lots of hard, hard work!
I've got to agree with 'haste ye back' here. Although I love the characters and am in complete awe of JK's endurance, I didn't love the writing. The concept of the world is pretty creative, mixing in old boarding school Britishism and alchemy. But it's littered with 'conveniences'; deus ex machina. In some cases, it feels as though she made some of it up along the way, with no reason except that she needed it to resolve plot problems.
The first book was so over the top, formulaic, I was groaning internally the whole time I read it to my kids. Seriously? Abused orphan kept in a closet? Come on! You expect me to believe that people as status-seeking and concerned with appearances as the Dursleys are going to keep their orphan in a closet and show any outward signs of neglect? In the 20th century? No way. The school of wizarding is the most credible part of the whole book.
But it IS bloody charming and it does hit every kids button and it is rich and it does have wonderful characters. JK is heartless with them, but fine plotting and seamless narrative? Not so much.
Great post! I'm with treeoflife – if anyone writes a book on all the ways the Harry Potter books succeed, I'll definitely buy it. (I'd write it, but who am I to say? What do I know?)
Love the "rule of ducks" – I'll have to remember that one!
Have fun with your world is my fav bit of advice, because it's important for creativity and drowingin ouot the internal editor which often prevents that kind of thing :O)
I agree on all points – including the adverbs. I think Rowling even created adverbs that didn't exist before HP.
That said, if you can write a whopping great story, I suppose you can throw all the adverbs in you want.
I agree. Harry Potter and JK are brilliant. I'm sure if you really sat down and picked apart the creation of this series and then tried to do the same with your own work (in your own way, of course) you might just have your own bestsellers! There's so much to be learned from Harry Potter.
And I do love his world. I keep hoping they'll all realize I'm not really a muggle and let me in! š
#3 "Easy reading is damn hard writing."
– Nathaniel Hawthorne
#4 made me laugh. I reread the series this summer, and my first thoughts were:
Dialogue tags much? Is there an adverb she doesn't like?
And I say this respectfully.
Good tips (and I'm with you on the adverbs!). I like how what happens on the first page of her books is integrally connected with the conclusions.
Great advice. I need to work on showing more of my mc's flaws.
Can I just say I love the screencap you used to illustrate this post? Ahh, Snape, how I adore you…
I mean, I love all seven books and think JK Rowling is amazing, but everyone (nearly) already said that.
Great post, and spot-on.
I am enjoying all the Rowling love here. I too believe that her storytelling abilities are sublime – deus ex machina or not, if you can captivate that many children (and adults) with your books you are doing something right.
And I never realized until now that my own propensity for adverb use was likely influenced directly by hers.
Brilliantly said, Nathan! My husband and I have read all the Harry Potter books and find them completely enchanting!
I'm soon going to embark on writing my own novel; third person limited is an interesting approach for my amateur sleuth MC.
Thanks!
Excellent post! These books certainly are great ones to read to learn how to craft novels and series. I'd buy a "how-to write" book from Ms. Rowling.
Brilliant perspective! Personally,I think writers can learn alot from the Harry Potters series if they can get past the jealousy of it's success.
I love this. So much is written about JK and her writing that the sheer *achievement* of it can be overlooked. She tells a rocking story. We can all learn from that.
I love this post.
Thanks for the tips! I'm a young author just trying to achieve her dreams eventually, so this is really helpful. š The third person limited part- genius. And the part with, 'Nathan said apologetically' made me laugh 8D
You really know your stuff man! Insightful post!
Thanks a million for writing this – Who wouldn't want to get an insight to JK Rowlings success!!!
With so many NOW behind J.K. Rowling why did so many in the literary industry, agents and publishers, reject her writing at the start as she has stated in so many interviews? This puzzled me greatly as a new writer.
As a big fan of Harry Potter series, I couldn't skip reading your article! Just an amazing content to read! I love that you've found so many handy tips for writers. What I liked the most is your attitude toward the adverbs ā this topic is contradictory, and many writers pay attention to it. I think that the main idea is to use them right, and it's not so hard to learn how to do it: https://adverbless.com/adverbs-good-or-bad.html
Well, thanks again for sharing this piece!