Who am I to make comments about someone else? I don’t know J
K Rowling or how she feels about anything, anymore than I know about you who
are reading this. So this is not personal. I’m not even going to pass an
opinion on her children’s novels. I am not a child so what would I know anyway?
I have read the first four Harry Potter books and enjoyed them. As some point I
shall read The Cuckoo’s Calling, but probably
won’t get round to The Casual Vacancy,
because that’s not my cup of tea.
It is not J K Rowling, or her books I am really interested
in, it is what her productivity tells us about what it is to be a writer. J K
Rowling wrote before she had money (maybe in a dream of making a living). She
could have cut and run after the first three Harry Potter books. When the films
were done she could have rested on the money & devoted herself to good causes.
(She has certainly done her share of that.) But at no stage it appears did J K
Rowling stop writing, nor has she shown any desire to churn out more of the
same.
Whatever the quality of her work, whether it stands the test
of time, or whether she goes out of fashion, she will always be a writer
because I imagine she is compelled to do it… and not for the money or fame.
Why do any of us do it? Writing is hard work (though no one
makes me do it so I can’t complain) and I doubt that it is any easier if you become
wealthy through your writing; you just have more to lose in terms of
self-confidence and the self-esteem if your gift deserts you for a while. Best
selling novelists are like the rest of us. We all need to have our books recognised
for what they are and not because our name is on the cover.
Writing is a compulsion, but not an addiction; a writer
always has control. Writing is compelling - you can take a break from it - but return to
it you always will. Being a writer has nothing to do with money or fame. It has
everything to do with writing. It is simple.
A writer is a writer is a writer.
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