Happy Potter Day!

July 31. Since 1997, it is the day that many fans worldwide have celebrated the birthday of a very special character and story. JK Rowling’s imagination has touched thousands of lives and inspired millions to read.

But she also inspired writers. And it seems appropriate to us at Adventures in YA Publishing to celebrate on this day, which is also JK Rowling’s 50th birthday, the influence she had on so many to create their own characters and envision their own worlds. We’ve gathered stories from many authors sharing how Harry and Jo influenced them. We hope you will enjoy these treasured inspirations and share your own in the comments.

But as it’s Jo’s birthday, let us also not forget the many charities she’s sponsored. To give a present to a women who has given us so much would mean remembering Lumos (seeks to end institutionalized orphanages and place children in homes), or Gingerbread (provides help to one-parent families), or Book Aid International (works to provide libraries and books in Africa). Indeed, Jo gave so generously, that she was knocked off Forbes’ billionaire list.

Happy Birthday Jo! May you have many more, and may we enjoy more fruits of your imagination.

How Harry Potter Influenced Me. A Birthday Celebration of JK Rowling’s Influence on Writers!

— Donna Hosie, author of The Devil’s Intern, Website, Twitter

Like many authors, I started writing because of Harry Potter. During the years of release mania, I was lucky enough to be working on The Leaky Cauldron website, a fan site that J.K. Rowling actually named as her favourite. Warner Bros and EA Games asked me to be a fan consultant on some of their movie tie-in products and I would go along to the studios, interview the creative masterminds, see stills, props and conceptual artwork before anyone else, and generally geek out and yell “Expelliarmus” at unsuspecting Muggles!

I went from writing reports of my visits to writing fan fiction to writing my own time-travel novels. Eight years after ‘The End’, I’m an award-winning author. None of that would have happened without The Boy Who Lived. So Harry Potter literally changed my life.

And I’m still yelling “Expelliarmus”!

— Claire M. Caterer, author of The Wand & The Sea, Website, Twitter

I can’t say I’ve grown up with Harry Potter, because I was already grown when I started reading about him. But I will say my writing grew up–quite a lot. What I’ve taken from J.K. Rowling’s example are two crucial points: complexity of character and complexity of plot.

Few things have moved me in literature more than the struggle of Severus Snape as the good and bad within him dueled for supremacy. When I sat down to write my first children’s book, I knew I needed some characters who struggled within themselves the way Snape does, the way Harry does (forever wondering if he’s somehow part Voldemort), the way Dumbledore does. “The world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters,” as Sirius Black says.

And how could anyone not be awed and influenced by the intricacy of the Harry Potter plots? The gentle placement of symbols, especially those relating to alchemy and the elements, had a huge impact on me as I was planning THE KEY & THE FLAME series. JKR taught me to go back through the manuscript, deepen the work a little bit more, and then again, and yet again. I haven’t mastered her methods yet, but I keep trying.

— Lisa Gail Green, author of Soul Crossed, Website, Twitter

Harry Potter was so amazing that it actually delayed me from pursuing writing! I felt like nothing less was worthwhile, and that at the same time there was no way to reach that level of accomplishment. What cured me? I read Twilight. LOL!!! *ducks tomatoes*

Seriously though, HP is mastery at work. JK Rowling invited us into a world, as readers, that was as real as the one we live in, yet full of magic. Every detail, every character, a well-rounded masterpiece that fit together as a perfect puzzle. Not just that – but as a person she is an absolute inspiration. When I have trouble writing because of my toddler I think of her with the stroller in a cafe scribbling in a notebook and I have renewed determination.

 — Gwynne Jackson, author of “Hans & the Best Day Ever” in Happily Ever Afterlife, Website, Twitter

Three points come to mind when I think of the influence JK Rowling and her Harry Potter books have had on my writing. The first is that being a visual writer is a very good thing. JKR has the ability to describe things just enough so that we can see them, but can still put our own spin on them. The most beautiful part of this is that she rarely overdoes it. Point #2 is in the way she buries clues deep inside her narrative. Sometimes these clues might not even be recognized as clues until four or five books later, but her consistency with them is outstanding. A name here, an attribute there, and three books later it’s a major plot point. Some of these might have been planted in advance and others serendipitous, but in either case they’re brilliant.

The biggest influence JKR’s had on my writing is in the way she treats minor characters. I doubt there’s a single character in any of the HP books where she doesn’t know their story, their background, their motivations, their desires. This is what’s fueled so much fanfiction based on her work: everyone loves a hero, but she makes the other characters so real and so multi-layered that as readers we can’t help but want to make each of them the star. In real life we’re all the center of our own universe. JK Rowling has created a world where that’s also true for every one of her characters. It’s my favorite thing about her writing, and something I always try to emulate.

— Gwen Katz, represented by Thao Le, Website, Twitter

Hogwarts felt the size of a real school: Harry has a lot of acquaintances beyond his close friends, he isn’t always in the same classes with his friends, and even in the later books, he sometimes runs into kids he doesn’t know because they’re in other houses and grades. Important roles like Quidditch team captain often fall to people outside the main characters, making them feel like real people with actual lives who don’t cease to exist when Harry isn’t around. Harry Potter encouraged me to set my books in large worlds where even minor characters feel like they are living real lives.

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  — Susan Sipal, author of A Writer’s Guide to Harry Potter, Website, Twitter

I was already a writer when I first started reading Harry Potter to my son, but my writing took a turn after meeting The Boy Who Lived.  My son and I spent many hours together ferreting out JK Rowling’s clues and trying to guess what would happen next. While he loved figuring out the meanings behind her mythical names, I got sucked into the many layers of subtext JKR wove into each adventure.

Rowling knew how to deeply engage her reader. She always gave the reader more…more delightful characters, more fantastic world building, and more deeply hidden mysteries and secrets. This depth and reader engagement is why Harry Potter spawned fanfiction, fanart, Wizard Rock, movies, and even theme parks. Seeking to understand her secrets, I developed a workshop analyzing Rowling’s techniques for writers, and have enjoyed presenting it to fans who love Rowling’s creations as much as I do. She has inspired me to, in any genre I write, always write below the surface and to seek the reader’s engagement like Harry seeking the Snitch.

The love of a very powerful story can influence writers in the stories they tell for years to come. We thank all the authors for sharing their own encounter with The Boy who Lived.

Please, everyone, feel free to add in the comments your experience of how Harry Potter or JK Rowling influenced your writing. We’d LOVE to hear more stories!