how to write books like harry potter

How to Write a Book Like Harry Potter: 8 Enchanting Steps to Craft Your Own Magical World

Writing a book like Harry Potter may seem daunting, but with the right tools and mindset, it is achievable. It requires a lot of creativity, planning, and hard work. In this blog post, we will explore eight enchanting steps to craft your own magical world .

Before we delve into the steps involved in writing a book like Harry Potter, let's define what it means.

Writing a book like Harry Potter involves creating an immersive and captivating magical world that draws readers in from the very beginning. The story should be relatable yet different from everyday life with unique characters facing challenges against all odds.

1. Read and Study Other Successful Book Series:

2. check out resources, 3. learn from j.k rowling's writing tips, 4. plan out your book series carefully, 5. develop your characters and plot details thoroughly, 6. create unique magical world, 7. write in a style that is engaging and immersive, 8. edit and revise your work thoroughly.

One of the first steps in writing your own book series is to read other successful book series such as The Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda. Studying these books can help you understand what makes them popular and how their authors crafted their worlds.

Resources are available for writers looking to write books like Harry Potter; one such resource is "How To Write A Book Like Harry Potter" by Molly Elodie Rose .

This resource offers valuable tips on crafting your plot development, characterization structure building for young adult literature’s fantasy genre.

J.K.Rowling has become synonymous with great fantasy fiction storytelling due to her success with the Harry Potter franchise.

Her writing techniques have been widely shared across various platforms; some of her key tips include writing whenever possible no matter where or when inspiration strikes.

She also emphasizes planning out plots extensively before beginning any actual composition work and revising thoroughly once done while keeping an eye on pacing throughout each stage of creation.

Planning out your story thoroughly beforehand can save you much hardship later on regarding continuity errors or plot holes.

It's essential to develop characters and settings that add depth and richness to the story while also ensuring you have enough material to cover multiple books.

A checklist before undertaking book writing includes identifying your audience, finding the right genre, coming up with a unique premise, defining your character arcs and building a world that feels authentic.

An essential element of any successful book series is its characters. Creating compelling characters adds depth and emotion to the story that readers can relate with.

With this in mind, take time developing your characters' backgrounds, struggles, motivations as well as their development throughout each book in the series.

Equally important are the plot details; these should be well-crafted so they lead logically from one event or chapter into another without feeling contrived or confusing for readers.

Creating a unique magical world requires attention to detail while keeping things fresh and different from anything else out there already. Some key elements of creating such worlds include setting rules for magic use within specific societies or cultures as well as establishing history through legends or myths that exist within these fictional places.

Tips on how to achieve this include researching real-world inspiration like mythology or folklore relevant to your world-building process. You could also make maps and diagrams showing various regions of interest within constructed fantasy landscapes.

To create an engaging style in writing similar books like Harry Potter; writers should consider putting themselves into their reader's shoes when crafting each sentence or paragraph, ensuring it flows smoothly from one idea into another without causing confusion along the way.

It helps if writers use literary devices such as metaphors, similes alliteration or other sound-based rhythmical techniques in their prose style while avoiding cliches wherever possible since they do not serve uniqueness among competitors seeking publication success too often either intentionally nor accidentally!

After putting all the hard work into crafting a manuscript, the final step is editing and revising your work thoroughly. This involves making sure your story is cohesive and error-free while taking feedback from others along the way.

Some tips for receiving feedback include avoiding defensiveness about critiques received as well as using critique partners or beta readers to get objective opinions about how to improve overall quality before submitting to publishers.

In conclusion, writing a book like Harry Potter requires creativity, dedication, and planning. The eight enchanting steps outlined in this article offer writers an excellent starting point for embarking on their literary journey towards authorship success.

It's important to remember that each writer has their unique style, voice and rhythm within which they will find what works best for them so try not limiting yourself too much creatively but instead looking at different angles possibility around with various ideas until you find something that resonates with both yourself personally as well as readers who will make up your future fan base!

About The Author

Arielle Phoenix

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JK Rowling’s Writing Process: 9 Principles You Can Use From Rowling’s Philosophy of Writing

by Ruthanne Reid | 85 comments

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If you're like me, you loved the Harry Potter series. Maybe you watched the movies or even visited the theme park, and you wondered about JK Rowling's writing process and the strategy she uses to write her best-selling books.

If you're like me, though, you've also been deeply hurt by things Rowling herself has said. On Twitter, on her website, in interviews, and more, Rowling has promoted harmful views of trans people, and you might be one of her many readers who find it painful, or even impossible, to return to the Harry Potter books you once loved.

I understand. Before I dive into the wisdom we can draw from Rowling's writing process in order to write our first draft (or others), allow me to share a principle with you.

Death of the Author: Or, How to Love the Book, Not the Author

In 1967, a French literary critic named Roland Barthes wrote an essay called  La mort de l'auteur, or Death of the Author , in which he states that any piece of writing should be separated from the author that wrote it. In other words, he believed in judging the written work completely on its own merits, without involving personal beliefs or actions of the author in question.

Sometimes, this is possible to do.

Sometimes, it isn't, and we readers have to apply discernment to what we read and the lens through which we view things.

I have two examples for you.

HP Lovecraft

First, HP Lovecraft, whose incredible work literally created today's modern horror genre. Do you enjoy any kind of tale with Elder Ones, or chaos gods, or even just good old Cthulhu? (I know I do!) His work was so creative, so new , that you'd be hard-pressed to find any horror story that doesn't show at least some of his influence.

Unfortunately, Lovecraft was also an extremely xenophobic racist .

Now, I enjoy a good chaos god, and I've made the decision to separate his xenophobia from his writing. That means, of course, that I must view critically anything he wrote that implies white English people are somehow the pinnacle of humanity.

It means I purposely do not allow his racism to infect my way of thinking. By doing so, I am practicing la mort de l'auteur.

JRR Tolkien

Here's a second example: JRR Tolkien, whose work defined modern fantasy. Do you enjoy anything with elves and dwarves or made-up languages? We owe Tolkien for that. He redefined and polished the fantasy genre so well that everything from movies to MMORPGs still use his templates.

Unfortunately, he also described his orcs as “squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types .”

Now, was Tolkien a racist? Not exactly. In fact, according to the standards of the time, he was absolutely liberal and anti-racist. So then what do we do with this bizarro and racially horrifying description?

We see it and choose to discard it. Generations of artists and authors have done exactly that, turning orcs into anything but “least lovely Mongol-types,” and aiding this genre.

Again, it's important to see the problem so you can avoid letting it influence your work. We enjoy the good parts while consciously discarding the bad, rather than being influenced by it.

So What About JK Rowling?

She's not dead. In fact, she's still saying harmful things, even as we speak.

Instead of listening to her readers, who (at least initially) approached her in love, trying to help her understand, she doubled down, rejected their experience and their words, and in the process, caused an unbelievable amount of pain.

Here's the thing about la mort de l'auteur : it is entirely up to you whether to apply it to what you read, or to simply discard the whole thing and find less troublesome authors. 

Both roads are valid.

In no way do I condone her attacks on the trans community, or her persistent sharing of misinformation. I choose to apply la mort de l'auteur  for the simple reason that I benefited from the good things she's written, and I wanted to share them with you.

However, if you aren't comfortable doing that, you are absolutely welcome to walk away. In fact, I'd suggest these writing articles instead: Neil Gaiman's rules of writing , or how to create your own rules of writing .

Okay. Awkward stuff done. Ready to dive into the process stuff instead? Let's go!

9 Rules From JK Rowling's Writing Process

Over the course of her writing career, Rowling shared a lot of solid writing wisdom, and in my opinion, eight writing rules stand out—along with a ninth we can apply from her choices since.

Whether or not you're writing your first book like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone  ( Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ) or last book in a series (like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ), I think these rules speak to Ms. Joanne Rowling's philosophy on writing.

They are great writing tips for you to reflect on in your spare moments and then apply to your writing process, for short stories, novels, bestsellers, or even the first time you've ever attempted a book.

Rule One: Protect your writing time

Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have “essential” and “long overdue” meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it.

This is especially hard for those of us with family. Our loved ones come first, and while that is important, our loved ones also need to understand that we need time to write.

Setting reasonable boundaries is a crucial step for a writer—even if they're as simple as, “Mommy needs fifteen minutes of quiet time, okay?”

If you have trouble setting boundaries with loved ones, try setting a reasonable boundary for one week. See how it goes.

If it's too much time or too little, tweak it. Establish a routine that signals to others that it's your writing time, but also lets them know that outside of your writing space, you're there for them.

Not only will this teach the importance of flexibility and discipline to others, but also that your writing is valuable. It's your work, and your dream! Needing quiet time to write doesn't mean that you don't love your family.

Your writing deserves your time, too. Open communication about this can help everyone understand and respect that.

Rule Two: Treat your writing like a job

You've got to work. It's about structure. It's about discipline.

It's easy to forget that writing is a job.

We don't always feel like doing our job. We certainly don't always feel inspired. To be writers, we must train ourselves to sit down and write even when we don't feel like it. Those moments are the ones that really matter, even more than the shining, flying, muse-kissed moments.

Writing when we don't feel like it is what turn amateurs into professionals and rough drafts into polished manuscripts.

Rule Three: Believe you ARE a writer

I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.

Yes, writing is possible with another job.

Yes, writing is possible with other responsibilities.

Are you a writer? (I know your inner critic snarled no, but I also know a tiny candle-flicker of unquenchable hope in you whispered yes with so much longing you could cry.)

You ARE a writer. That means you write.

A runner runs.

A painter paints.

A cook cooks.

You are a writer. You write. Accept this, fight to believe it, and be amazed at how far that takes you.

Rule Four: Write what you know

Write what you know: your own interests, feelings, beliefs, friends, family and even pets will be your raw materials when you start writing.

This doesn't mean you need to experience aliens in order to write about them. It means that all good stories have universal application. A great example is this Google Doodle. (Trust me. I'm going somewhere with this.)

Take two minutes and thirty-six seconds to watch this.

It's adorable, right? Without a single word, this video told an effective story. You felt for the little ghost, both when it was sad and when it was happy, right?

News flash: you're not a ghost. That was universal application. 

It doesn't matter what culture you're from or what language you speak; all human beings know what it is to be lonely, to feel left out, to be frustrated, determined, and to finally be with friends.

That story works because the creators used their interests, feelings, beliefs, friends, family and even pets to tell this story. (I'm fond of the kitty, myself.)

I'm greatly oversimplifying, but here's the gist: you already know how to tell a moving story because you live one. If you've ever had emotions, ever responded to anything, then you already know what universal application looks like. Listen to the people around you, and apply empathy.

You don't have to be a ghost to write a good ghost story.

Rule Five: Read

I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can. Jane Austen gave a young friend the same advice, so I’m in good company there.

Read some more!

The more you read, the bigger your arsenal of words will be. The more you read, the better your grasp of metaphor, poetry, beauty, passion, and empathy will be. The more you read, the greater you will be as a writer (and probably human being).

It's like learning more dance moves or impressively difficult notes on an instrument. The more you learn, the better you'll be.

So read in your genre. Read outside your genre. Get in the habit of finding time to pick up a book instead of your phone (unless it's to open up another book.)

You DO have the time to read.

Even if that's just ten minutes a day.

Any time counts.

And the more stories you read, the more likely you'll start to implicitly develop the skills you need to become a great writer.

Rule Six: Persevere

Perseverance is absolutely essential, not just to produce all those words, but to survive rejection and criticism.

This is one of those unpleasant truths about publishing: you're gonna get rejected. A lot.

I wish there were a way around this. Harry Potter was turned down again and again because that's just the way it goes sometimes. And it isn't only publishers: when you get published, and your work is out there, you'll get bad reviews, too.

Mostly, they'll just be people who don't understand what you're doing. Intellectually, you'll know that. Your heart, on the other hand, is going to break into a thousand pieces.

But here's the secret: you can't stop writing because of push-back.

You MUST NOT stop writing because of push-back.

Keep going. Don't stop. When you get rejected, pick up your pen and keep going (and use the way you feel to put more universal application into your work).

And when you're feeling really discouraged? Remember that when someone doesn't  like your book, they might also just not be your ideal reader. That person just wasn't your target audience.

If your book isn't to someone's taste, that's all right. It will be to someone else's.

Keep writing your book, because your ideal readers need it.

Rule Seven: Bring your whole self to the page

What you write becomes who you are … So make sure you love what you write!

Writing is a little like a Mobius strip, in a way:

Your beliefs and experiences and feelings all help craft your writing. However, your writing clarifies, corrects, and often reveals your beliefs, experiences, and feelings.

As you write, you'll discover things about yourself. You'll clarify things, too, because it's only as you come to write them that you realize they needed clarification in the first place.

Now, understand: this means that if you haven't given yourself a good look to find your biases (we all have them), you will bring those to the page, too.

It's important to see who you are as you bring your whole self to the page. Writing is a brave, bold venture, and life-altering discovery is part of the journey.

Rule Eight: Accept that failure is part of the process

Failure is inevitable—make it a strength. You have to resign yourself to the fact that you waste a lot of trees before you write anything you really like, and that’s just the way it is. It’s like learning an instrument, you’ve got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot. I wrote an awful lot before I wrote anything I was really happy with.

Failure is normal. Also, it is okay.

You're going to write a lot of crap. You're going to push past those things and write more crap. It may take you twelve years . It may take you a million words . If it does, then you're on the right path—the same one your favorite authors walk.

Accept that it will take time, and that sometimes, your pencil won't be your friend. If you accept it, then when it happens, you won't throw in the towel and set the house on fire. Instead, you'll be able to go, “Well, dang; that sucked, didn't it? Knew it would happen. Time to write some more .”

Rule Nine: Respect Your Reader

Sadly, this rule doesn't come from writing advice she's given, but in a way, it's the final conclusion of the previous eight.

This involves bringing your whole self to the page. This involves empathy and universal application. This involves perseverance, never quitting, and willingness to tackle your writing troubles.

If your readers value what you created, they will listen to what you say. Your words have the power to uplift or hurt others .

None of us can ever really know where someone else is coming from, and it's essential that both our stories and our interactions reflect respect.

Respect yourself enough to be a better person. Respect your readers enough to hear what they have to say.

This sounds scary, I know, but I promise you, it's worth it.

Writer, Persevere With the JK Rowling Writing Process

You can do this, fellow writer. We're all on that same path, and that means we can encourage each other on the way. Please don't give up.

And if you feel like giving up, reach out to the writing community here.

We all struggle with moments when we're ready to quit—but maybe that just means it's a chance to apply some death of the author logic. You don't need to feel guilty if you still love characters like Hermione Granger , the Weasleys, and Snape, settings like the wizarding world or Hogwarts, or the children's books as a whole.

But you don't need to love the author to learn from a Harry Potter  book or the Harry Potter  series as a whole.

And if you want to walk away from both books and author, I understand that, too.

Whatever you decide to do, as a writer, make sure to acknowledge your struggle, fight your  fear of not finishing or being good enough, and then toss what's holding you back in the trash with your other messy manuscript pages.

Non-fiction, fiction, or memoir writer—publishing with Bloomsbury Publishing or Amazon—that voice trying to get you to stop doesn't respect your writing.

But you should.

It's time to write some more.

Which of these rules from JK Rowling's writing process speaks to you?  Share in the comments .

Write what you know! Set a timer for fifteen minutes and take a single experience from your life—one that you responded to with emotion—and apply the universal application to your current story. Or, start a new story based on that experience. This may be about loss or love, anger or fear, rejection or acceptance.

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Ruthanne Reid

Best-Selling author Ruthanne Reid has led a convention panel on world-building, taught courses on plot and character development, and was keynote speaker for The Write Practice 2021 Spring Retreat.

Author of two series with five books and fifty short stories, Ruthanne has lived in her head since childhood, when she wrote her first story about a pony princess and a genocidal snake-kingdom, using up her mom’s red typewriter ribbon.

When she isn’t reading, writing, or reading about writing, Ruthanne enjoys old cartoons with her husband and two cats, and dreams of living on an island beach far, far away.

P.S. Red is still her favorite color.

85 Comments

These are great tips – i just need to quit being a slacker.That means serious work on Rule #2. But I do stick to Rule #5!! I often read a book per week if its less then 350 pages.

I think the discipline of writing every day sounds harder than it is. I write emails every day. I write recommendation letters for students. I write letters to parents. I write announcements for the PA. I mean I write every day and surely you do too the way we are on computers all day long now. I know that’s not the same as creative writing but it is putting your thoughts into words and communicating them clearly and that’s all part of it.

It’s very hard! I’m often not able to do it, but as long as I have it as a goal, i definitely write more often than I don’t!

As for the communications thing, that doesn’t really count as this kind of writing. The challenge is leaving something in the bucket so that when we switch from emails, etc. to OUR writing, we have words left to give. Make sense?

Yes, I know emails don’t count but we do have to express ourselves clearly and use good punctuation. I haven’t actually made it a habit daily but I can say I write creatively more days than n.

Good point.

IMO, there’s something to be said for the “build consistency then scale” approach. eg. Set yourself a goal of writing a minimum of two sentences per day – then, only once you’re confident you’ve got that nailed, increase the minimum amount.

Professional authors may have a daily minimum of one page a day – or three. But I’m betting that’s not what they started at…

I can do that and often one or two sentences leads to many more…

You can do this, Paul! 😀

https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/928568123258822656

Boy, you really had to make sure everybody saw this! 🙂 I’m glad, honestly – I think this is great and funny. Here’s my reply from yesterday: https://twitter.com/RuthanneReid/status/928727308042735616

Hehe, I didnt mean in that way,sorry 🙁

🙂 No worries! I figured that – it actually gave me a really good giggle!

I guess she misunderstood because of the title of the post :p

I have tasted most of the rules, and I am getting better by being on the 100 day writing a book challenge with Joe Bunting, and so far my attention to focus and diligent to write has gotten the better of me. 🙂 It’s not for the fain hearted to construct and write with structure five to seven thousand words a week.

So true that it’s not for the faint of heart. You get so much rejection and criticism and even lack of support and people not taking you seriously. You have to really know that you know that you are a writer and then slowly everyone else will believe it too!

Definitely! You have to want to write more than you want anything else.

SO glad to hear that, Victor!

Write what you know – a very important one for me. But ALL these rules are fundamental and critical!

I agree! It’s definitely a growth process.

Felt all those emotions during the video, so sweet. These are great rules. Thank you for sharing. 🙂

You’re so welcome, Judy!

Rule #3 resonates with me because I remember when I first started calling myself an author to my family and friends and then others. It felt surreal. It was something I had believed inside myself forever but I was very scared to say it out loud. But, I continue to live into that statement and stop pretending every day. My family doesn’t really take me serious and others think it’s just a hobby because I have a “real” job but to me, it’s who I really am. It’s like I finally feel like I’m living in my skin.

*hug* I really think most writers aren’t taken seriously – and I don’t know why that is, but you’re definitely in good company. Keep at it. You have TWO real jobs – the one they acknowledge and the one that they don’t. 😀 Write on!

Here’s my 15 minute piece. Well, a bit more that 15 minutes…

It was the fourth time I was pregnant so I figured I knew what I needed to know. I was an expert in this. I went to my first appointment alone, knowing that I would just be measured and the midwife would listen to the heartbeat and go over the basics. Easy-peasy. I got this. Besides, my husband had a lot of meetings that day and he couldn’t reschedule them. My sister was watching the other kids for me while I went to the appointment. I sat on the exam table, I didn’t even have to undress for these appointments, just have a shirt I can pull up so she could measure and listen. She came in. “Wow, here again! You’ve already got a pretty big file.” “Yeah, this will be baby number 4.” “Who do you have at home?” “My daughter is 8, and I have 2 sons, 5 and 1.” “Busy momma.” “Yup. It’s wonderful, though.” “Well, let’s take a listen, shall we?” She took the bottle of jelly like stuff from a warmer and squirted it on my belly. Then she put a microphone like instrument on there so we could hear the heartbeat. There was a lot of static as she moved the instrument around my skin. She looked off into space, concentrating on finding the sound. I knew that sound, it was a rhythmic pshew, pshew, pshew sound. It connected me to my baby and this would be the first time I would hear it with this one. “I’m having trouble finding the heartbeat,” she said. “Oh,” “It’s normal when you come in at 12 weeks that it might not be strong enough to pick up, or the baby me be positioned where we can’t really hear it well. Let me try for another minute.” She continued to move around the jellied area and pressed hard into my belly for a few more minutes. Finally she gave up. “I’m going to go check with the technician to see if she can get you in now for an ultrasound. Sometimes, if we can’t hear the baby, we can see it. Here you go,” She handed me some paper towels to wipe the sticky jelly off of me and she walked out. Okay, I thought, I had to do this the last time and everything was fine. Plus, this way I will get to see some pictures. Usually they don’t do that for another few months. I sat in the exam room, proud of my composure and that I was not thinking the worst like I usually did. Although part of me was worried, a bit. I mean, something could be wrong, couldn’t it? If they can’t find the heartbeat then… The door opened and she walked in. “Good news, there is an opening in a few minutes. Let me just move you into another room and you can wait there. A little quiet time for a busy mom, right?” “Okay, thanks.” I sat in a big, leather reclined usually used for non-stress tests towards the end of the term. I’d been in here before because all my babies had come after their due date and this was where they made sure things were still okay in there. She left the lights off but the door open and I picked up a magazine and started to page through it, looking for something to divert my focus. It seemed like ages before she finally came back and told me I could go to the ultrasound room. I walked down the hallway and went in. The technician greeted me with a warm smile. She handed me a gown and told me to undress from the waist down then she left. I did and then opened the door and walked over to the exam table. Because it was so early in the pregnancy, she had to use her internal device. It was unpleasant but I’d done it before and knew the drill. Soon I could see on the screen the outline of a tiny body. There’s my baby! I thought to myself. I watched, waiting for a hiccup or a kick. And I watched. And I watched. I couldn’t see the heartbeat. The technician was very quiet. “It’s not moving is it?” I said quietly. “No.” She said, “I’m sorry. I have to capture some images.” She did her measuring and clicking and I just stared at the motionless form of my baby. Empty.

Thanks for this clear summary of JK Rawling’s 8 rules of writing. I like the emphasis on the need for discipline in doing and finishing your writing. It is gratifying to know that such a successful author as JK Rawling applied the same rules that Joe Bunting and his team have been teaching us at The Write Practice Community since day one. That fact supports the view that writers borrow ideas from one another.

Rule 5 about read, read, and read is the one I find most difficult to apply. The more I read, the more books and materials I still need to read. I wonder, does anyone have suggestions about how to cope with the reading requirement?

Rule Seven says: “What you write becomes who you are … So make sure you love what you write!” At first, I misunderstood this rule, but I later agreed that your writing is a reflection of the person you are.

It’s an interesting and informative article!

I am a writer. I am also a reader. I do it every night. I love novels of several different genres. That is how I am able to use Rule 5. I enjoy it. I believe I have learned so much about what not to do in my own writing. Some novels that are published are not particularly to my liking. I get disappointed at times and other times I finish a novel and sit for a while quietly staring at empty space. I let the world I just left depart slowly and often I am sad to see it go and feel as if I want to stay there longer. That’s when I know I have learned something valuable.

Hi Mary, Thanks so much for your input on the benefits of reading to the writer. I like your point that reading various types of books gives you an idea of what not to do in your writing. Let’s keep reading more. My best wishes to you, Jola

Different genres = good stuff! The more widely you read, the bigger your writing arsenal. 🙂

It’s okay to not like a novel, too – even if it’s critically acclaimed. I appreciate the reminder that not all readers like all things; that way, when someone doesn’t like mine, I know it may just not be the kind of thing they like.

Hi, Jola! For me, I try to make lists of books I need to read. Yes, the list is never-ending! However, I read at the pace I can. Sometimes I’ll do something like enter a Goodreads challenge to read a certain number of books in a year – that helps. Other times, it’s just setting aside time to do it.

There will always be more things to read. You’ll never read it all! Just keep your reading varied.

A book that might help you figure out HOW to read and what to look for is this one: READING LIKE A WRITER by Francine Prose. It may take a little while to work through, but it changed how I read books, and it’s really helped me. http://amzn.to/2zbvNFn

Hi Ruthanne, Thanks so much for the tips and for the reference. I’ll surely try them. Have a wonderful weekend, Jola

The fifteen-minute strategy, at first attempt, seems as though it’s a worthless effort however after making this a daily practice I have yet to adhere to fifteen minutes! Once I get rolling, ideas, emotions, and details flood my pages. One interesting method, at least for me, is that writing by hand on paper is vastly more productive. Possibly because it’s more difficult to “self-edit” as I move forward. Another reason — and about which much research has been done, is the brain-hand connection. I say this suggestions is a DEFINITE go!

That is WONDERFUL, Marlene!!

Ah, self-editing – I hate that. 🙂 I fall into that rabbit-hole all the time!

Marlene – I say, “Do whatever works for you!” I am so married to my keyboard that I struggle to write longhand anymore. But I don’t argue with what works. Just keep on writing! Then hide your work for a week or two and then come back to it. I guarantee you will be amazed at how much more objectively you can look at your work after taking a break from it.

I have less problem liking what I write just after I’ve written it than I do later on, when I’ve become a better writer. I saw my writing as pretty good, which it was at the time I wrote it, but once I learned more it wasn’t as good and needed either a lot of work or to be entirely scrapped and replaced.

We all do that, Alyssa! It’s part of the normal writing process. Most authors have what they call the ‘trunk novel’ – the novel that stays in the trunk under the bed, and no one will ever see it, haha!

Great advice….keep going. Don’t give up!

Keep writing, Kathy!

Simple rules for rulers of simply designed minds.

What rules would you suggest, Swapan? 🙂

Rule number 7 provides me the most valuable insight. The whole love what you write part can come from any direction of life. Whether, its from friends or experiences or emotions we feel as we interact with other objects, humans, animals, environments and institutions. Writing these things causes one to reflect and gain clarity. This is what happen to me in my assignment for this post. Clarity was followed by love, because after reflecting on the writing, I realized what I loved about myself: growth and strength and the beauty of other.

Secondly, you write what you become part that was mention turned on a flashlight. I have become what I wrote in the past.

That’s beautiful, Ajarn! I’m glad that this advice has really helped you.

Is there a rule for when you feel your writing sucks?

Yes, and it isn’t easy: write it anyway.

Writing is just like learning a musical instrument, or even a baby learning to walk. At the beginning, we’re ALL terrible – all of us, no matter what talent we have.

The key is to keep reading and keep writing. The more you write and the more you read intelligently, the better you’ll get – just like a baby who keeps trying until they learn to walk gets better at walking, then better at running, and if they practice a lot, really, really good at it. You can do this, Tinthia!

Tinthia, I felt that way about my YA novel (first time writer here). I felt there were too many inconsistencies and I couldn’t do anything about it — it was just too hard a job to sort it all out. I reached the point where I wanted to shred the whole thing. I’d spent six years writing it while working four days a week and babysitting grandchildren two days. I felt I’d wasted those six years for nothing. And then I read James Scott Bell’s “Write Your Novel from The Middle.” It lifted my spirits so incredibly. I found myself constantly saying, “Hey… that’s what I do!” Knowing that I was actually getting the process right most of the time, gave me such a boost, my whole attitude towards my writing changed. Do you have any other writers to support you and encourage you, ‘cos that’s important?

Love this post – thank you for sharing! <3

You’re welcome, Charlotte!

That was the best Pep Talk I’ve had in a long time. And it came at just the right time.

I self published a novel (Father John’s Gift) but got depressed because I’ve been unable to generate any sales or even any reviews by the few people who have read it. I thought it was good, (and I still do) but I’m forced to conclude the world sees it as junk. But you know what? I don’t care. I will press on. I will persist. Why? Because I write for myself, and I am unique! If no one sees my point then they are clearly wrong! ha, ha!

But seriously, I watched an old film the other day. It was a 1951 black and white movie (on Netflix) entitled, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. I love that film. I have seen it a dozen times and know it by heart. It is classic Science Fiction and the 1951 special effects are cheesy. But besides telling a good story, it has an underlying message about the danger of nuclear weapons that still resonates today.

Why did I tell you this? Because I want to write something that good! I want to write a story which will still resonate 100 years after I am dead. Write on. Write on. Write on!

Wow, I’m so glad to know it came at the right time! You’ve got the right idea there; sometimes, it’s really hard to get your work out there and seen by the right people. The important thing is to keep creating.

If you want to write something that good, there’s no reason you can’t. It’s just going to take a lot of work – as it does for us all! Stephen King was right: read a lot and write a lot. There are no shortcuts.

You can do this. Don’t give up.

You’re welcome! (Adorable jack-o-lantern!)

I know this topic is a little off the subject but…

I have started a blog and would like to try to make one blog entry per day. (This will keep me focused on writing.) I have been using Google Blogger but am told that Word Press is much better. Do any of you have (or know about) a favorite program you use to blog? Do you use your own web site hosted by a good company which is not too expensive?

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you might pass on!

I personally love WordPress. It’s got the largest userbase and support out there, the most options for customization, and the best ease of sharing on any platform. 🙂

Thanks Ruthanne! I will migrate to WordPress.com Do you get hits on your Blog? I have decided to write about our current political situation. How can I improve the odds that someone will see what I write? Any thoughts?

R. Allan Worrell

I don’t get a ton, but my focus is shuttling people to my books, not my blog. 🙂 I really suggest Jeff Goins’ stuff as a way to build your blog audience!

I relate to rule 8. I like to write but I have yet to feel fully engaged with one of my characters or stories, even when I’ve finished one. But persevering with the idea that one of these times, some character or story will really grab and engage me, as JK experienced inspired me today.

Sheila, that’s fantastic. It can be frightening to tackle that step – it means feeling what your characters feel, and in order for a story to be good, they HAVE to go through stuff.

It’s worth it. That journey is worth it. You can do it!

In the words of Howard Tayler – who knows of what he speaks, having gone from writing a webcomic for fun to making it his full time job – “Failure is not just an option, it’s mandatory. The question is whether it will be your last option.”

That. Is. Fantastic. I’d not heard that quote before. Thanks so much for sharing it!

I just had an awful email telling me that our book is NO good. It came from my co authors wife after ONE rejection from an agent, and ONE comment from her daughter. The rest of the beta readers fabulous applause did not matter. Sigh. People don’t get the arduous walk toward publication. It is daunting and very much alone.

Negative responses are SO hard to get over; I know it all too well! My debut book in 2012 had great response, but the few negative reviews really threw me for a while. It takes a special kind of determination to keep going.

It IS daunting, but it doesn’t have to be alone. A good writer’s group (note: a GOOD one, not one that rips you to shreds) can make all the difference.

I love this

I work 12 hour days never have 3 young children and an exhausted wife. Discipline is all important for writing.

It really is, GM! I know this is exhausting; you can do this – even if it’s just in five minute increments. Those add up!

“It smells different here”

“It’s called fresh air”

“It’s so dark!”

“Look up, you can actually see the stars!”

“There is nothing but cows and cornfields!”

“And us, we have each other.”

Norman breathed deeply and held his arms out and up above his head in complete contentment. Julie and their three children, Matt, Amy, and Karen stood staring at him. Julie was a ridged woman with a certain elegance about the way she held herself but in this instance, her mouth was hanging open slightly and giving her an comical look which was wholly foreign to her features.

“I thought you said we would be at our new home tonight. I can’t handle another dirty Airbnb Norman. I just can’t!” her voice wobbled at the end of her sentence and was slightly too high pitched. Norman winced.

“This isn’t another Airbnb sweety,” his words were at first cautious and then welled with enthusiasm, “this is our new home!” As Julie didn’t seem to comprehend, he gestured to the house in front of them. Sudden understanding dawned on her and she froze and became statuesque. Norman’s stomach flopped uncertainly. Julie was a high profile criminal lawyer in New York City. Nothing surprised her. It was her job to know everything. She knew her clients, knew all of the evidence, knew how the defense would construct their plea. She knew and counteracted every point prior to it happening. When taken off guard, which rarely happened, she froze contemplating everything before she made a move. Before she dropped a hammer on whatever contrivances the other party had concocted to uproot her. Norman would wait for the hammer to drop.

Karen, eight-years-old with sunny, slightly mussed, blonde hair was the only other party in their family to be excited about the move. She had never seen a cow before and jumped on the wooden fence beside them attempted to peer into the night. Matt, 13 going on 30, decided to take matters into his own hands and do away with the unfamiliar darkness. He drew out his 18M Brite-Nite Mega Spotlight which lit up the scene. There, standing before them, was a stone house. It looked to be about 100 years old and there was yellow tape draped about the door and windows warning everyone to be cautious.

“Are people supposed to be living here?” Matt asked. “It doesn’t look safe”

“I’m sure this caution tape was placed here as a Halloween prank!” Laughed Norman but his eyebrows raised and then came down together as he saw how bleached the tape was from the sun and how many spiders had taken up residence, constructing their webs between the door and draped tape”

“It says, condemned by the city of Masopeakwa” Amy read from a piece of paper that was nailed to the front door.

“Well, there you have it. This is Wabash! There must be a rivalry from a town close by who did this as a prank.” He would later find out that their house had originally been charted under Masopeakwa 10 years ago before the county lines had been re-drawn.

Norman and his family had a lot to learn about the county life. Two lessons they learned then and there on the front lawn of their new home. The first being that this would not be easy. The second being that one could not simply shine a light in a dark space without drawing out the nearby inhabitants of the night. Mainly, big juicy June bugs. The June bugs came crashing down on the little family from all sides, again and again, trying to stay close to the spotlight. And with that they all ran screaming into their new home.

I find rule seven interesting–or, more specifically, the commentary on it. I got my start writing fanfiction: one day after several hours spent looking for a particular type of fanfiction (a “Peggy Sue”, where a character travels back in time, often mentally replacing themselves at the beginning of a story) I went “That’s it, I’ll just write one myself.”

It was awful, of course. I haven’t looked at it pretty much since I posted it, but I know that it was awful. But the wonderful thing was that suddenly I didn’t have to go “Oh, that would be really cool–I should see if someone has a fanfic about that.” I didn’t have to dismiss these sudden moments where I desperately wanted some new twist on a story: I could write them myself.

As time went on, my ideas became, well, better. They weren’t as superficial, or momentary: they became deeper, because I was learning how to think about stories, how to have ideas about stories. It’s an interesting process, and one that continues to this day–but the key to it all was going “These ideas mean something; I shouldn’t just discard them.”

I LOVE this, Einar! What you experienced is the core of becoming a writer: the desire, the choice to write even if it’s not (yet) good, and the persistence to keep going. That you wrote something you wanted to see and couldn’t find is even better.

Definitely don’t discard those ideas.

Those are fantastic! Thank you for sharing! My favorite is: What you write becomes who you are…so love what you write.

I recently sent a writing to a friend of mine that was based on events that happened to me with a fictional twist. His reaction was that of negativity and fear. Though that wasn’t what I was thinking when I wrote it (and he didn’t know the twist I was going to later add and he admitted that he was projecting his own knowledge of the situation into what he read), I realized that wasn’t what I wanted my readers to experience so I am careful now when I write, to read it over with a neutral perspective to try to see if it could be taken a way that isn’t intended.

WOW! What an incredible experience – and what confirmation! Thank you for sharing this!

Very heart-felt, informative, practical, entertaining read. Thanks!

Julie, I’m so glad to hear that. I really hope it helps you write!

You’re so welcome, Noah!

thank you for the advice. it is really interesting.

I hope it helps you write, Nisha!

J.K. rowling just tweeted this as nonsense. https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/928568123258822656

How sad that she could be so harsh for what is actually good advice. To call them rules is probably inaccurate, and Ms. Rowling probably should have politely asked Ruthanne to change the title to “8 great writing tips from JK Rowling.”

Naw, there’s nothing to feel bad about here. I detect definite British sarcasm in her tweets – and the fact that she went on to give MORE rules (such as “write what’s in your heart, not what the market says will sell”) just made it even more fun for me. 😀

The funny thing is, these “rules” are her own words, taken from her past interviews. I suspect she objected to the idea of storytelling rules like “write a book with this many words” or “write a book about this kind of character,” but the takeaway here is really about discipline and choosing to write even when it’s hard, which is something I’m sure she’d agree with.

That’s what comes of critiquing something without reading it. Don’t judge a book by its cover, as they say.

(Of course, we in the Write Practice office are very excited she tweeted the article!)

I know! She’s then went on to give more rules (including “don’t follow the rules,” which is a rule), and examples of them, such as knowing what’s out there in writing – e.g. school stories – and then writing what you want to write, regardless of whether it’s in fashion. Which is a rule.

This whole thing has delighted me beyond words. 😀

I guess she means to say is things work out differently for different people. You must have different rules of your own that work for you. But we love copying the style famous people, why not? 😀

Well, none of these were about style. 🙂 They’re actually the same kind of advice that Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Steven Pressfield, and all the rest give! It just tends to carry weight when we see that writers we love also believe in those ideas.

gd evening mam

Rowling rules are nice articles

http://www.emetechnologies.com/industrial-training-in-chandigarh/6-months-android-app-development-in-chandigarh-&-mohali.php

I love the part about writing what you love. The emotion shines through and readers can feel it, too! It is authentic.

Rule one…making the time to write! I just decided that after the holidays, I’m going to go to the library on certain scheduled days and write. I can’t stay home because there are too many distractions. I can’t go to the local coffee shop because I will see too many people I know. I’m going to find a quiet spot at the library and write….even when I don’t feel “inspired”. I have learned that it comes. I just have to do it.

Rule Number Three is the one that most speaks to me. To define oneself as a writer is paramount.

I think the hardest issue with writing (and probably any creative activity for that matter) is failure and how to deal with it.

I have approached a few literary agents (are there any publishers in the FSF genre who will receive unsolicited manuscripts, by the way?) who basically either don’t respond or turn around and say “No thanks [thanks, optional]”

Rowling is an interesting case of publishers’ remorse since she has been phenomenally successful. How do they expect to succeed in the creative sphere if they aren’t willing to take some risks in publishing?

Anyway, for someone trying to get stuff published, getting reject emails — or nothing — this is probably the hardest thing. It delves deeply into the psyche of the creative process. I am not surprised that some give up at this point.

But J.K. soldiered on and eventually made it.

So there is hope!

You use JK Row;ing to get people to click on your article, and then you diss her. You are using HER fame to benefit yourself, then talking crap about her. That’s disgusting.

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Five great writing tips from J.K. Rowling

• Post author By Bridget McNulty
• 39 Comments on Five great writing tips from J.K. Rowling

These days, J.K. Rowling is a household name all over the world – the first billionaire author on the planet and the creator of a world that many of us can’t imagine life without. But how did unpublished writer Joanne Rowling turn into this superstar with film rights sold to Warner Bros as well? Read J.K. Rowling’s best book writing advice and writing process :

J.K. Rowling on writing: 5 top writing tips

1.    write in whatever time you have.

One of the most famous quotes from J.K. Rowling is: “Sometimes you have to get your writing done in spare moments here and there.” This is crucial advice on writing a book. It’s easy for us to imagine successful writers spending all day penning beautiful paragraphs, but everybody had to start somewhere. For Rowling, that somewhere included full-time work and finding stolen pockets of time to write her fantasy novels . Much as it might be a dream to take six months out to write your book, odds are you’re going to have to fit it into your everyday life and just find a suitable writing time. Rowling was working for Amnesty International when she conceived of the idea for the Harry Potter books in 1990.

2.    Planning is essential

Instead of diving right into line 1, J.K. Rowling advises taking the time to plan out the world your books will live in. She took five years to create and develop every last detail of the entire series of Harry Potter world. Every part of Rowling’s books was planned and work out, from conceiving the boy wizard, right down to how the Wizards and Muggles interacted (and the word Muggles, to begin with!) what the education was like, how magic helped in every day life and how the wizarding world of government worked. She also plotted out all the events of the Seven-Book series before she started writing the first.

Even J.K. had a Plan

Start planning your story in easy steps, and get webinars on craft and feedback when you upgrade.

3.    Rewriting is just as essential

You would think after five years, J.K. Rowling would just be able to dive right in and write the whole of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone , without much rewriting. She rewrote the opening chapter of her first book a total of fifteen times, however. It’s easy to imagine published authors writing with the greatest of ease, but actually the process is just as difficult for them.

4.    Be aware of plot and pacing

Even when you’ve plotted out all seven of the books you want to write in a series, you can trip yourself up. In fact, that’s one of the big things to be aware of when you’ve done the necessary planning: even though you know what’s going to happen next, your readers shouldn’t. They need to have a sense of excitement and uncertainty as the plot and pacing unfolds because this is where magic lies. After J.K. Rowling finished the first book in the Harry Potter series, she realised she’d given away the whole plot of the series. So she had to rewrite it, and hold back a number of integral plot points in her fictional world.

5.    Write your passion

Perhaps my favourite J.K. Rowling quote is: “What you write becomes who you are… So make sure you love what you write!” One of the reasons the Harry Potter books are so infectious is because you can tell she really loves the world she created – and all the characters in them. If you’re going to approach your book in a half-hearted manner, there’s no point even beginning it. Make sure you’re passionate about what you write and you’ll draw your readers along with you. Write like Rowling and create a fantasy world full of magic ! Rowling has also now gone on to write adult novels such as A Casual Vacancy. She has collaborated with playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany to bring the stage play to London.

Ready to write the next Harry Potter? Now Novel is the easy way to write a book . Try our story builder – a step-by-step way to outline your novel. You could join J.K. Rowling in the ranks of the published authors.

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• Tags Harry Potter writing advice , how to write like JK Rowling , JK Rowling , JK Rowling writing advice

By Bridget McNulty

Bridget McNulty is a published author, content strategist, writer, editor and speaker. She is the co-founder of two non-profits: Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and the Diabetes Alliance, a coalition of all the organisations working in diabetes in South Africa. She is also the co-founder of Now Novel: an online novel-writing course where she coaches aspiring writers to start - and finish! - their novels. Bridget believes in the power of storytelling to create meaningful change.

39 replies on “Five great writing tips from J.K. Rowling”

I love this post – great tips. I didn’t realize she’d planned the whole series from the beginning! That’s fascinating.

Look closely, if you see Genius, your right.

If readers see genius too, you’re even more right.

i re-write a couple here and there..there are times that i feel to give up all the my entire work and re-write everything from scatch, but i end up throwing the re-write version because it didnt mix well with my original writing tone..

That is a tricky challenge. I think the key is to rewrite and try keep in mind that it is the story and characters you want to tighten up, rather than the style (a professional editor can always help with that).

I love J.K. so much. Currently reading the third book of the Cormoran Strike novels and the way she makes a man without a leg downright sexy and the plot and her finesse, and and and and and inspires me so much. Keep’em coming, J, you’re an inspiration. She is also completely right. If you truly write with passion, you do it whenever you. Between writing two bills and fixing the kid’s meal. Passion requires sacrifice. Because only these two ensure that you’re any good. This is what I take away from J’s story and her tips.

Thanks for that Ana – I also love the way she interacts with her fans on social media – she seems a truly generous and genuine person.

What she said is very true. With two novels under my belt and readying to publish a third I can attest to the rules/guidelines listed. I discovered them all on my own and follow them religiously. I now have two separate coinciding trilogies with multiple story line crossover points; incorporating real historical events, personal experiences, and they all reinforce each other making them all the more believable. http://www.outskirtspress.com/wodesusu http://www.outskirtspress.com/IICORPS #TimLillyNovels

Congrats on finishing your third novel, Tim. You’re both right that a novel has multiple creative sources and it’s important that each contributes satisfyingly to the whole

I love the advise and it will assist with taking the essential steps to following my dreams.

Glad to hear it! Always follow your dreams.

I love J Rowling’s ambition and passion with create a novel that keeps imagination fun to explore.

She is amazing I love Harry Potter and excited there is going to be a new book in the actual series which of course I pre ordered. I’m also excited they are doing a movie that’s part of Harrt’s world. I’m disappointed though the links here for her stuff didn’t work.

Hi Mandy, thanks for pointing that out! I’ve removed the faulty links.

J.K. Rowling fabulous! I think she can do 100 writing tips list and every word will be important.

You’re right there, Peter. She is a woman of great imagination. Her education in Classics is probably one reason for that.

There’s a few vital tips she left out. Pilfer the work of others, get a crooked agent who can get professionals to ‘edit’ your stuff, hook up to powerful Masonic politicians like Blair and Brown to promote you and ruthless lawyers like Schillings to ensure your plagiarism is safe from snoops and victims; hire two PR firms to field an army of parrot bloggers on your behalf (there’s few preening their feathers on this thread)… and then bury your conscience where you can never find it again.

Thanks for your perspective, Rory. There’s an interesting wikipedia article on the legal histories surrounding Rowling’s series here that details some of the copyright allegations and their legal outcomes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_disputes_over_the_Harry_Potter_series

still better than any of the tripe you like

Goodness! For a nobody author, she certainly had a lot of clout.

I will say one word about JK Rowling’s work. Magnificent

And please tell me what you think about my poetry posted below.

You can find more on Facebook, and I’m writing my own book; with any luck I’ll be able to do it full-time.

Best of luck with your writing, Vincent. Thanks for reading!

Where did you get your sources for these tips?

I would just call it “Happenstance” with a cool font. Overthinking is an writers nightmare.

The first book is titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Thanks for the tips!

It was originally published in Britain as “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” – it was changed for the American printing.

“Planning is essential,” and it’s impressive she spent five years planning her series before diving in to get it done.

Planning is literally the most important thing.

I agree, Deborah – definitely when working with a story that has so much intricate detail of setting and world-building.

[…] world of Harry Potter over 5 years, while raising a child on the side, squeezing in time to write whenever possible. « Sometimes you have to get your writing done in spare moments here and there. […]

[…] are many great writers like J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and Jack London who had to endure rejection after rejection. They were all broke at […]

[…] world of Harry Potter over 5 years, while raising a child on the side, squeezing in time to write whenever possible. « Sometimes you have to get your writing done in spare moments here and there. […]

[…] and ongoing edits, even JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, claims to have written 15 drafts of the opening chapter of her first book. The key to the entire process is […]

J.K. Rowling took over five years, beginning in 1990, she began to plan out the seven Harry Potter books in the series. Hard to believe she wrote in longhand. Not sure we’d all have that kind of dedication or the time to plan like her.

Just a reminder that JK Rowling never created the Muggle.

Planning, writing, editing and proofreading your written work is most important.

Thanks for your comments. You’ve hit on some very important points. All of these points are vital steps when you’re writing and completing your manuscript. I’d also like to say that getting someone else to edit your work, preferably a professional, is also so important. We sometimes miss things or fail to see a bird’s eye view of our manuscripts. 

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• Entertainment
• The 10 Most Magical Books to Read If You Love <em>Harry Potter</em>

The 10 Most Magical Books to Read If You Love Harry Potter

R ereading the entirety of the Harry Potter series is never a bad idea. But if you’re looking to branch out from J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world into other enchanted literary universes , there’s no shortage of books like Harry Potter ; stories that will soon have you saying “Accio more!”

These tales may not have Hogwarts or Dumbledore, but from talking polar bears to bewitched manuscripts, they each feature unique spellbinding elements that are sure to get you hooked.

Here’s TIME’s take on the 10 most magical books to read if you love Harry Potter .

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The first installment in Philip Pullman’s acclaimed fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials transports readers to a universe parallel to our own where each human being is born with an externalized soul that takes the form of a talking animal, or “daemon.” So begins the story of eleven-year-old Lyra Belacqua, whose eavesdropping on a conversation about a mysterious particle known as “Dust” leads her on an epic adventure to the far north. As Lyra attempts to rescue her best friend from a group of child-snatchers called the Gobblers, she discovers a whole new world—populated by armor-clad polar bears and witch clans—outside of her sheltered life in Oxford.

Buy now: The Golden Compass

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

When Quentin Coldwater is unexpectedly accepted into a secret and elite college of magic, his longtime obsession with a series of children’s fantasy novels no longer seems so absurd. But by the time he discovers the dark and dangerous truth behind the magical setting of his beloved books, it may already be too late.

Buy now: The Magicians

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Perseus “Percy” Jackson, a 12-year-old New Yorker with dyslexia and ADHD, has always felt like an outsider. But after his pre-algebra teacher transforms into an ancient Greek spirit and attacks him, he discovers the truth about his heritage: He is a demigod, the son of Poseidon. Set in a universe where Mt. Olympus is located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, the first book in Rick Riordan’s fantasy pentalogy sends Percy on an epic quest across the United States to recover Zeus’ stolen master lightning bolt and prevent a war of mythical proportions.

Buy now: The Lightning Thief

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Average London businessman Richard Mayhew finds himself in a city both unnervingly similar and terrifyingly unfamiliar to his own after he stops to help a bleeding girl on the sidewalk and falls through the cracks to London Below. In this mysterious underworld, Richard must learn to survive among monsters, murderers and angels alike if he ever hopes to return to his normal life.

Buy now: Neverwhere

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

“What if darkness was a place? What if the monsters lurking there were real and more horrible than anything you’d ever imagined beneath your bed or behind the closet door?” It was with these questions in mind that Leigh Bardugo says she came up with the idea of the Shadow Fold, a land of near impenetrable darkness that serves as the nightmarish backdrop of the debut novel in her best-selling Grisha trilogy . When orphan Alina Starkov and her best friend Mal are attacked on the Fold while serving in the army of the war-torn nation of Ravka, it awakens a long-dormant power in Alina—the ability to summon light—that thrusts her into the ranks of her homeland’s magical elite.

Buy now: Shadow and Bone

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Set 300 years after an environmental disaster decimates modern society, Erika Johansen’s debut novel transports readers to a medieval-esque future in which Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn must return from exile to reclaim her dead mother’s throne, lead her kingdom and defeat the evil Red Queen. If that’s not enough to hook you, Emma Watson—a.k.a. Hermione Granger—is both executive-producing and set to star in the movie adaptation of the book.

Buy now: The Queen of the Tearling

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

If your interest was peaked by the character of Nicolas Flamel in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , then Michael Scott’s six-book fantasy series centered on teenage twins Sophie and Josh Newman’s dealings with the immortal alchemist will keep your attention until the very last page. Book one opens with the Codex , a spellbook that contains the secret to the elixir of life, being stolen from Flamel by master necromancer Dr. John Dee.

Buy now: The Alchemyst

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When 15-year-old Clary Fray is inducted into the world of the Shadowhunters—a secret order of demon-slaying warriors—she discovers that she too is a descendant of the powerful line of half-angel, half-human hybrids. After her mother is kidnapped by a powerful rogue Shadowhunter, Clary teams up with the snarky and smoldering Jace Wayland to rescue her. But as the two begin to develop feelings for each other, things get more complicated than either of them could ever have imagined.

Buy now: City of Bones

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

“The circus arrives without warning,” opens Erin Morgenstern’s stunning debut novel. And so Le Cirque des Rêves—a nocturnal carnival of magical attractions like a Wishing Tree and Pool of Tears—begins to materialize before readers’ eyes. It’s in this enchanting setting that star-crossed magicians Celia and Marco are pitted against each other in a fantastical duel of wills that only one can survive.

Buy now: The Night Circus

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

After young historian Diana Bishop discovers an ancient magical manuscript in Oxford’s library, she is forced to reconcile with the witch heritage she has long denied. The compelling first installment in Deborah Harkness’ bestselling All Souls trilogy throws her brilliant heroine directly into the path of brooding vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont and the heart of a supernatural war that threatens to consume them both.

Buy now: A Discovery of Witches

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Beyond Hogwarts: Innovative Techniques for Writing a Novel like Harry Potter

The world of literature was forever changed when J.K. Rowling introduced us to the magical realm of Harry Potter. The series not only captured the hearts of millions but also left an indelible mark on the fantasy genre. 

If you’ve ever dreamed of crafting a novel that bewitches readers in the same way, you’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll delve into innovative techniques for writing a novel like Harry Potter. Let’s help you unlock the secrets of Rowling’s enchanting storytelling and communicate your story effectively.

Understanding the Magic of Harry Potter

To write a novel like Harry Potter, it’s crucial to first grasp what makes this series so enchanting. Rowling’s ability to create a world brimming with magic, wonder, and relatable characters is unparalleled. The key takeaway here is the importance of a strong foundation.

Building a Magical World

Creating a captivating and immersive magical world is important in fantasy writing. Just as Hogwarts is a character in its own right, your setting should come alive with rich detail, history, and rules. 

Whether it’s a hidden school of magic or an unexplored land, take readers to a place they won’t forget. Rowling mastered this quite well. She hooked a solid fanbase that explored deeper into her world, such as this comprehensive guide to Ravenclaw house .

Tip 1: Develop a Unique Magical System

Rowling’s magic system is distinctive and detailed. Consider how magic works in your world, including its limitations, spells, and magical creatures. Ensure it’s consistent throughout your narrative.

Tip 2: Infuse History and Lore

Hogwarts is steeped in history, with each corner of the castle having a story. Craft a deep lore for your world, including legends, myths, and the origins of magic. Share these details organically to enrich your storytelling. Modern fairytales like Harry Potter made a powerful impact on how we imagine history and magic. Rowling based her world on actual historical cities and then created fake medieval settings, which together make a magical and historical blend that feels real, per the Journal of Heritage Tourism .

Tip 3: Diverse Magical Cultures

Expand your magical world by incorporating various cultures and societies with their own unique magical practices and traditions. This adds depth and diversity to your world.

Crafting Memorable Characters

Harry, Hermione, and Ron are more than just characters; they’re friends we grew up with. When crafting your own characters, invest time in their development. Give them depth, flaws, and relatable qualities. Your readers should root for them and relate with them as if they were real people.  Rowling’s character development effectively reduced prejudice among her readers because she made stigmatized groups a central focus of her story, per the Scientific American .

Tip 4: Develop Complex Backstories

Dive into your characters’ pasts. Explore their family backgrounds, childhood experiences, and formative events. These backstories shape their personalities and motivations.

Tip 5: Create Authentic Relationships

The friendships and relationships in Harry Potter feel genuine. Build connections between your characters that evolve over time. Show how they support, challenge, and rely on each other.

Tip 6: Moral Ambiguity

Introduce shades of gray in your characters’ morality. Just as Snape is a complex character, your protagonists and antagonists should have moments of ambiguity that keep readers guessing.

Mastering the Art of Plot Twists

The Harry Potter series is riddled with unexpected twists and turns. To keep your readers hooked, surprise them with unforeseen developments in your plot. Plot twists inject excitement and keep the story fresh. Use them wisely to maintain tension and intrigue.

Tip 7: Foreshadowing and Misdirection

Foreshadow key plot twists subtly to engage readers’ curiosity. Employ misdirection to keep them guessing while maintaining a sense of inevitability when the twist is revealed.

Tip 8: Character Growth Through Challenges

Use plot twists as opportunities for character growth. Each twist should force your characters to confront their fears, make difficult choices, and evolve throughout the story.

Embracing the Style of Writing

Rowling’s writing style is distinctive, marked by vivid descriptions, witty humor, and clever wordplay. While you don’t need to replicate her style, developing your own unique voice is essential. Experiment with prose, dialogue, and narration until you find a magical style for your story.

Tip 9: Rich Descriptive Language

Use descriptive language to paint vivid images in your readers’ minds. Describe what characters see and how they feel, smell, and experience their surroundings.

Tip 10: Inject Humor and Wit

Rowling’s humor adds charm to her books. Incorporate humor where appropriate to lighten the mood and make your story more relatable.

Tip 11: Chapter Endings That Beg for More

Craft chapter endings that leave readers hungry for the next page. End with a question, revelation, or cliffhanger to maintain suspense.

The Importance of Themes

Harry Potter isn’t just about wizards and spells; it’s about friendship, courage, and the eternal battle between good and evil. Your novel should have underlying themes that resonate with readers. Themes add depth and meaning to your story, making it more memorable.

Tip 12: Layer Multiple Themes

Consider weaving multiple themes throughout your narrative. Explore themes like identity, sacrifice, or the consequences of one’s choices to create a multifaceted story.

Navigating the Publishing Journey

Once you’ve conjured your masterpiece, it’s time to navigate the world of publishing . Seek out literary agents and publishers who specialize in your genre. The journey may be challenging, but remember that even Rowling faced rejection before achieving literary stardom.

Photo by Troy Jarrell from Unsplash

As you embark on your quest to write a novel like Harry Potter, remember that magic lies within your imagination. Create a world that’s as enchanting as Hogwarts, characters as unforgettable as Harry and his friends, and a plot that keeps readers spellbound. Here, we’ve explored innovative techniques to help you craft your own magical masterpiece. Now, grab your quill and parchment, and let your imagination take flight. Your own wizarding world awaits.

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Loved Harry Potter ? We think you’ll like these books too

Harry Potter: the Complete Series by J.K. Rowling

When you finish reading the Harry Potter books, there's a good chance you'll be hungry for more books just like them. After consulting with her kids, our editor, Sophie Roell, suggests some series that you might find equally engrossing and addictive.

Suggested by Sophie Roell , Editor

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

A wizard of earthsea by ursula le guin, the lost twin (scarlet and ivy, book 1) by sophie cleverly, the magician's nephew by c s lewis, the secrets of vesuvius by caroline lawrence, 1 the lightning thief by rick riordan, 2 a wizard of earthsea by ursula le guin, 3 the lost twin (scarlet and ivy, book 1) by sophie cleverly, 4 the magician's nephew by c s lewis, 5 the secrets of vesuvius by caroline lawrence.

So, you’ve just finished reading the Harry Potter books and you want to find more books that are as good. If you’re a diehard Potter fan, you will probably already know that beyond the original seven books in the series  there are a few add-ons: The Tales of Beedle the Bard , Quidditch Through the Ages , Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Parts One and Two) , Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald . These are not engrossing novels—the first two are short, the others scripts for plays ( The Cursed Child ) or films ( Fantastic Beasts )—but if you really love Harry Potter and the world he lives in, that may not be an issue.

At some point, however, it’s time to move on. These recommendations of books like Harry Potter are mostly based on my experience with my own kids. (I read the Harry Potter books to them while travelling around China and we all caught the bug). In my choices, I’ve looked for books that capture some of the different elements of what was so appealing about Harry Potter:

At least for my kids, the series that is hands down the most like Harry Potter is the Percy (aka Perseus) Jackson series by ex-English teacher Rick Riordan . As in the Harry Potter series, the main protagonist discovers something about himself and ends up in a magical place.

Combining Greek myths with modern America (Mt Olympus is now on top of the Empire State Building) and learning difficulties with special powers (dyslexia helps with reading ancient Greek ), there is a lot to love about this series, which seems to captivate kids anywhere from age 8 to age 14. If Harry Potter is set in Hogwarts, the Percy Jackson series is set at Camp Halfblood, a summer camp in Long Island, and it is from there that the adventures start out. If Harry has Hermione and Ron, Percy has Annabeth and Grover.

The book to start with in the series is The Lightning Thief  ( or you can take the plunge and buy the Percy Jackson boxset: it’s hard to go wrong). Rick Riordan has also written a number of other series you can move on to, which are explained by 13-year-old Alex (my son) here .

Harry Potter was not the first book to feature a wizard, and it’s worth reading some of the older books that (presumably) inspired JK Rowling. Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)  is a perennial favourite on Five Books . In the book, a boy who discovers he has magical powers ends up at a wizarding school and fighting evil. Despite the similarities, A Wizard of Earthsea is quite a different book from Harry Potter. The school (Roke) does not play the central role Hogwarts does and the writing has a bit more of an epic, somewhat formal feel.

One other book to mention in terms of the inspiration behind Harry Potter: if you haven’t read it yet, you’ll find quite a bit that’s familiar from Harry Potter in The Lord of the Rings.   This is a book I devoured as a 13-year-old and enjoyed rereading recently for Five Books . My kids found it a bit harder going, though we did listen to the first two volumes as audiobooks in the car.

Part of Harry Potter’s appeal is that it’s a boarding school novel. This is a tremendously popular genre of books in which these traditionally rather grim British institutions are transformed into places of fun and adventure. It’s an exciting reading experience: kids living without their parents, questioning authority, and embarking on adventures with friends they’re thrown together with for 12 weeks at a time.

There are a lot of boarding school novels for kids out there, but in our house, the most popular series is Scarlet and Ivy by Sophie Cleverly. The two main characters solve mysteries and uncover secrets from the past. The series has no magic in it but, like Harry Potter, was completely engrossing to my two daughters.

If it’s the magic in Harry Potter that appeals, it’s also worth reading The Magician’s Nephew (1955) by CS Lewis. Most people are familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia: this book, The Magician’s Nephew, is part of the series but precedes The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by a millennium. Like JK Rowling, CS Lewis is very good at juxtaposing the everyday and the magical. As the book opens, you can almost feel yourself in 1950s London, as Polly and Digory meet over the garden wall.

The Roman Mysteries series is different from the other books on this list. It offers an entry not into a magical world, but an ancient one. Like Harry Potter, it’s a group of friends working together, led by a 12-year-old girl called Flavia Gemina. It’s another series that I read out loud to the kids: we read all 17 of them together.

The first book in the series, The Thieves of Ostia , introduces the characters and the town they live, Ostia, whose ruins you can still visit near Rome’s main airport, Fiumicino. The second book, The Secrets of Vesuvius , about the eruption of Vesuvius, is our favourite. Caroline Lawrence, the author, studied Classics at Berkeley and won a Marshall Scholarship to Cambridge, and she seems to use genuine sources (eg Pliny ) to recreate the Roman world she describes. Not only is the series enjoyable and moreish, but you really will learn a lot about life in ancient Rome.

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48 Harry Potter Writing Prompts (+ Free Printable Pack)

It’s been 20 years since the first Harry Potter movie came out in cinemas. To celebrate Harry Potter’s 20th Anniversary, we have created these 48 Harry Potter writing prompts to inspire you with the magic of Hogwarts and more. Our list contains a mix of creative writing prompts, as well as journal prompts relating to the Harry Potter franchise. 

From the busy streets of Diagon Alley to the mystical creatures found in the forbidden forest, explore the world of Harry Potter with these fun writing prompts. Plus keep on reading to get your printable Harry Potter writing activities pack.

Fan of Harry Potter? Then you’ll love this Harry Potter Name Generator ! It’s great for generating character names for your Harry Potter-inspired story or fan-fic! You might also want to see our post on over 110 Harry Potter quotes on life, love and friendship . For more fantasy-theme prompts, check out this list of over 70 fantasy writing prompts .

Harry Potter Writing Prompts

This list of prompts is great for anyone looking to write Harry Potter fanfiction or for teachers looking for some interesting writing prompts to use in the classroom. See the full list of Harry Potter writing prompts below:

• With Lord Voldemort gone, something more evil is coming. What evil is coming? Is it another dark lord or some sort of creature? What makes this ‘evil’ worse than Lord Voldemort?
• If you could choose Hogwarts house, which would it be and why? The houses include Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
• As the new head of Hogwarts, you decided to create a fifth house. What would you call this house? Draw a picture of the house’s coat of arms or logo. What traits would a person be selected for this house? What are the house colours? What animal symbolises the house?
• You have been hired as a Quidditch coach at Hogwarts. Your job is to help Hogwarts win the Quidditch championship against other schools. Make a list of at least 10 tips you can provide to your players.
• The Harry Potter franchise is filled with loads of amazing spells. Can you invent your own spell? What would this spell do? What are the consequences of casting this spell incorrectly? For example, the  Bat-Bogey Hex was a spell invented by Miranda Goshawk. The spell transformed bogeys into bats that come flying out of the victim’s nose.
• Write a day in the life story about being a student at Hogwarts. What classes would you attend? What would you do during your break? What would you eat at lunchtime?
• Boggarts take the shape of a person’s worst fears. In Harry Potter, most Boggarts took the form of Lord Voldemort, as he was feared the most. If you encountered a Boggart what form would it take and why?
• Which Hogwarts professor is your favourite and why?
• Desperate to find a book on transformation spells, you sneak into the Hogwarts library after hours. You find that all the books in the restricted section of the library have been thrown off the shelves. You look at a couple of these books and notice that page 394 is missing in all of them. 
• Walking through the Forbidden forest you encounter an Acromantula (a giant spider). Write a battle scene in great detail between you and this creature. 
• Write down four character descriptions of four very different students at Hogwarts. Each student belongs to a different house at Hogwarts. 
• Imagine you are a ghost roaming through the corridors of Hogwarts. You eavesdrop on a conversation between Harry and Hermoine. Hermoine is furious about something. Write down this conversation that you hear between the two characters.
• Write a story about a muggle who mistakenly receives an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
• Imagine you are walking through the Forbidden Forest. Describe what you see, hear, smell and feel in great detail.
• Imagine if Harry Potter joined Slytherin instead of Gryffindor and became best friends with Draco Malfroy. What would Harry’s first year at Hogwarts look like?
• Somewhere hidden in Hogwarts is a new, unknown creature. Describe this creature in great detail. What does it look like? Does it have any special powers or abilities? What would you call it?
• Describe the busy, bustling streets of Diagon Alley in great detail. Think about what you hear, see, smell and feel as you walk through the busy street.
• Make your own list of the top 5 scariest creatures In Harry Potter. For each creature explain why you think they are scary.
• Walking through the halls of Hogwarts you notice a door that you have never seen before. You open the door to discover…
• What class at Hogwarts would be your favourite and why?
• After years of mastering your skills at Hogwarts, you are finally ready to take revenge on the Muggles that abused you as a child. 
• Imagine you work at Sugarplum’s Sweets Shop in Diagon Alley. Your task is to come up with a new magical sweet to amaze your customers. 
• Write a story using this story starter: It was a brand new day at Hogwarts. You hoped that this day was going to be better than yesterday. 
• After mastering transformation, you transform yourself into Harry Potter’s doppelganger and return to Hogwarts many years later. What happens next?
• A Patronus in Harry Potter is essentially a spirit animal that fends off evil. It is unique to the wizard that conjures it. Harry Potter is able to conjure a stag Patronus to fend off dementors in Prisoner of Azkaban. If you were able to cast the Patronus Charm spell what would your spirit animal look like and why?
• After 7 years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you will graduate at the top of your class. What do you do afterwards? What job do you get?
• The Mirror of Erised is a mirror that shows someone’s deepest desires and wants. For example, when Harry Potter stood in front of the mirror in 1991, he saw both his parents alive. If you stood in front of this mirror, what do you think you will see and why?
• You are on a quest to find a potion that turns anyone who drinks it into a dog. Why is this potion important?
• Write a diary entry of your first day at Hogwarts. What did you enjoy? Did anything bad happen? What was the highlight of the day?
• Tired of crime in the Muggle world, you decide to use your magic for good and become a ‘superhero’.
• Write a how-to guide on how to ride broomsticks correctly.
• There are many types of quills used in the Harry Potter franchise. An example includes the auto-answer quill which automatically writes down the correct answer to a question. If you could invent your own magical quill, what would it do and why?
• Which Harry Potter book or movie is your favourite and why?
• Would you rather own the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone or the Cloak of Invisibility? Spells cast by the Elder Wand are the most powerful. The Resurrection Stone allows the holder to bring back a deceased person. While the Cloak of Invisibility makes the wearer invisible. 
• You are a poor student at Hogwarts and can’t afford to get the items on the Hogwarts supply list. You decide to rummage in dumpsters behind the shops in Diagon alley looking for some free items. As you go through the garbage, you find…
• My friend Harry Potter is a wizard, but he is a horrible person. Write a story from the perspective of a fellow student who dislikes Harry Potter, and wants to ruin his time at Hogwarts. 
• Someone has cursed your entire house with the Curse of the Bogies. Now you and your friends have an extreme cold. You must find out who did this and why?
• Create your own curse spell. What would it do? And what will you call it?
• A squib is someone who is born into a magical family but has no magical abilities yet. Write a story about a character who is a squib trying to develop their magical abilities.
• Who are your top three favourite characters in Harry Potter and why?
• You walk into your room at Hogwarts and discover that your roommate is performing a forbidden dark magic spell. What do you do next?
• In a battle between a Basilisk and an Acromantula who would win? You could even write down a detailed battle scene between the two creatures.
• Your character creates a new club at Hogwarts called Green for Life. It is an environmental club about protecting the planet. How can wizards help protect the environment? What kind of spells could they cast?
• Imagine you are a muggle-born. A child is born with magical abilities but their parents are muggles. You never receive your invite to Hogwarts, but know that you can be a powerful wizard. Continue this story…
• You are responsible for hiring professors at Hogwarts. You need to hire a new professor to teach the potion class. Write a job description for this role. Think about the skills and traits this person will need to teach this class.
• Tell the story of a student that becomes the ultimate creature carer and tamer at Hogwarts. Beyond all belief, this student is able to tame the toughest of creatures. 
• Write down a potion recipe for creating a new potion. What will this potion do, once it’s used? What ingredients would you need to make it?
• You have become the master of a house-elf like Dobby. What kind of tasks would you give this house-elf? How would you treat it?

Thank you for reading this post! To reward you here is the free Harry Potter writing activities pack as promised!

What did you think of these Harry Potter writing prompts? Did you find them useful? Let us know in the comments below.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Plotting Like J.K. Rowling with LivingWriter

The Harry Potter novel series is a well-celebrated series of books about the eponymous boy, Harry Potter, and his rise to power in order to defeat the strongest Dark wizard of his time, Voldemort. J.K. Rowling managed to enrapture the whole world with her own world of magic and wizards and witches, not an easy feat to do for an author.

Hence, it would be no surprise that many writers would love to follow and know how Rowling wrote a milestone piece of literature composed of complex themes that would be enjoyed by generations of readers. Thankfully, plotting like J.K. Rowling is actually pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it.

J.K. Rowling as an Architect

Building a large, complex world like that of Harry Potter ’s is obviously not something that one would just randomly think of from a single thought. Rather, it is a result of a lot of time spent on meticulously planning and deliberately thinking over each piece of the world. 

This makes J.K Rowling a story architect. As a quick introduction, architects are the kind of writers who plan and outline their novel before starting their first drafts. Rowling admits to finding more success in writing by the way of the outline, as we can see with her repertoire of Harry Potter’s stories.

J.K Rowling carefully plans her stories beforehand. She extensively utilizes outlines and notes to work out multiple plotlines and important points in the story. A famous example of her outline can be seen below, which is a snippet of her outline for the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix .

A Breakdown of the Outline

The image above is a single page from J.K. Rowling’s map of chapters 13-24 of the book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix . Admittedly, Rowling’s outline is a bit messier than expected, but there are a lot of important details we can glean from this document about her plotting style.

Let’s start by recognizing that she used a makeshift spreadsheet on a single leaf of paper to plan out the overarching storyline of the novel. Commonly, outlining is often done through bulleted lists and points. This style of outlining can be quite limiting, especially for larger pieces like novels, as this only allows you for a rather linear plot.

The spreadsheet allows Rowling to keep track of the major plot and the various subplots that occur together in a chapter. You can see that for this outline, Rowling had 6 plots: 

• Prophecy (the Hall of Prophecy)
• Cho/Ginny (the romantic subplot)
• D.A. (short for Dumbledore’s Army, Dumbledore’s secret organization, now known as the Order of the Phoenix)
• O of P (short for Order of the Phoenix, Harry’s secret club for learning defensive magic, now known as Dumbledore’s Army)
• Snape/Harry + father (Harry’s Occlumency lessons with Snape)
• Hagrid + Grawp

This method of outlining is great because not only do you get to see the distinct plot points that need to be discussed in a chapter, you also get to see the continuity of events in a subplot separate from the others. This makes it easier to manage and know how to place specific events in the outline.

Of course, she also has the Plot column for the outline of the entire chapter, but having the other six columns alongside an “overview” column helps break down what happens in a chapter, making sure that you don’t miss a detail that you want to be included. This also allows her to see how each subplot would interact with each other.

Another interesting part of her outline is how she includes the date/month for each chapter. This helps her get an idea of the pacing of the story; knowing when events would occur tells you if the story is going too fast or too slow. 

Lastly, Rowling placed a variable amount of detail in her outline. At some parts, she writes down specific events, such as those under the Prophecy column, then she also places simple phrases like “First meeting” under the O of P column. This can mean a lot of things: either that she places more importance on the happenings in the Prophecy column compared to the O of P column for that chapter, or that she has no concrete idea of what would happen for the O of P aside from broad strokes of an idea.

This shows that Rowling’s outline is still open for editing and revisions, in which an outline should be. As a writing document, you should be ready to edit the outline once you have better ideas for the story. In fact, this outline seems to be an early iteration, as it writes out Dumbledore’s Army to be the Order of the Phoenix of today and vice versa. That means, at some point in her outlining phase, Rowling swapped both names, perhaps to make use of this specific plot point later on in the novel (nudges) .

Further inspection of the outline would also show that there are actually a lot of things in the outline that are either removed, added, or changed in the final manuscript. Again, this shows that her outline was changed over a lot of iterations in order to make for a better draft.

Plotting Like J.K. Rowling in LivingWriter

Now that you know the meticulous ways of J.K. Rowling, you might be eager to pick up a random ruled paper and aggressively dash down blue lines for a spreadsheet. However, we’re here to introduce you to a better way to plot like J.K. Rowling, using the Plot Board in LivingWriter. In fact, we got the idea for this feature from her outline, so this is perfect to get your feet wet on this outlining style.

1. Open LivingWriter. Click on the “Blank Story” template, then input your story’s title and other optional details. 

2. This will lead you to a LivingWriter document with no contents aside from the first chapter. As any story architect, you will be touching this part much, much later. Instead, click on the Board button in the left sidebar of your screen, then go to Plot Board.

3. You’ll see that the Plot Board, specifically the Standard Grid, is heavily inspired by the outline style that J.K. Rowling uses. You can see that there are two plot lines provided by default, the Primary and an Untitled Plot Line. You can easily rename these plot lines by clicking on them when your cursor changes into a caret or I-beam and typing out the plot lines you want to have. 

Adding more plot lines is as simple as clicking the “+” button beside your last plot line, while deleting them is also as simple as hovering over the plot line name and clicking on the “X” at the top-right side. 

4. To add a plot point at the end of a plot line, simply click on the box with the “+” symbol. This will open a dialog where you can place a Plot Point Title and the description. There is also a drop-down menu where you can choose between four options for the Plot Point Type: “Custom”, “Story Element”, “Outline”, and “Scene”. We’ll explain the difference among these four options later, but the Plot Point Type identifies the plot point’s color, because, yes, our Plot Board is fully color-coded. Plus, you can customize these colors to your liking.

You can also add a plot point to any blank area in the other plot lines. You can see the box with the “+” button when you hover over any blank area.

5. An amazing feature of the Plot Board is the ability to easily drag and drop plot points wherever you want in any plot line. This is great if you want to move around specific plot points into other plot lines, considerably simplifying the process of editing your outline. 

6. If you have been using LivingWriter’s Outlines and Chapters and Story Elements , you’ll find that they integrate very well with the Plot Board. If you choose the Plot Point Type to “Outline” or “Scene,” you can import the outlines and chapters you made beforehand and LivingWriter will automatically fill up the description with that from the Outlines and Chapters. The same goes for “Story Elements.” This amazing integration maximizes your outlining phase so well, allowing you to have a grand overview of your story. 

Now, not only do you know the magic that produced the magical world of Harry Potter , you also learned how to wield that magic into your own story. Of course, LivingWriter is an easy click away from being your best writing companion as you write your bestseller. All the conveniences that you will want as a writer are all here in LivingWriter, so give it a try now.

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Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

Five writing tips from reading J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter

November 9, 2010 by Nathan Bransford 85 Comments

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 .

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching ! For my best advice, check out my online classes , my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book . And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter !

Reader Interactions

November 10, 2010 at 12:22 am

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.

November 10, 2010 at 12:43 am

"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!

November 10, 2010 at 12:51 am

Excellent post, thank you.

November 10, 2010 at 1:12 am

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.

November 10, 2010 at 2:40 am

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!!!

November 10, 2010 at 2:52 am

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 😉

November 10, 2010 at 3:07 am

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.

November 10, 2010 at 4:17 am

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).

November 10, 2010 at 5:21 am

In a series of seven very thick books, J K did an amazing job of interlinking and foreshadowing. Inventive post, Nathan.

November 10, 2010 at 5:56 am

There's so much to think about while writing and editing. Thanks again, Nathan, for a useful and timely (for me, anyway!) post.

November 10, 2010 at 8:16 am

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.

November 10, 2010 at 12:01 pm

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!

November 10, 2010 at 12:06 pm

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!

November 10, 2010 at 1:50 pm

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.

November 10, 2010 at 2:38 pm

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!

November 10, 2010 at 4:48 pm

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)

November 10, 2010 at 7:07 pm

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.

November 11, 2010 at 4:06 am

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! 🙂

November 11, 2010 at 6:59 pm

#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.

November 11, 2010 at 8:43 pm

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.

November 12, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Great advice. I need to work on showing more of my mc's flaws.

November 12, 2010 at 11:55 pm

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.

November 13, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Great post, and spot-on.

November 14, 2010 at 2:14 pm

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.

November 14, 2010 at 5:44 pm

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!

November 15, 2010 at 7:27 pm

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.

November 16, 2010 at 1:01 am

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.

December 15, 2010 at 4:46 am

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.

April 6, 2011 at 6:18 pm

I love this post.

January 7, 2012 at 12:17 am

Thanks for the tips! I'm a young author just trying to achieve her dreams eventually, so this is really helpful. 🙂 The third person limited part- genius. And the part with, 'Nathan said apologetically' made me laugh 8D

November 25, 2012 at 7:16 pm

You really know your stuff man! Insightful post!

December 18, 2012 at 6:27 am

Thanks a million for writing this – Who wouldn't want to get an insight to JK Rowlings success!!!

August 19, 2014 at 1:46 am

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.

September 20, 2016 at 12:01 pm

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 – 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!

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40 Exciting Books Like Harry Potter (Read Alikes!)

This post may contain affiliate links.

If you love Harry Potter, and you’ve read the Harry Potter books more than once, you need more middle grade books like Harry Potter, aka, read alike books !

Do your kids love the Harry Potter book series? Most fans read and reread the books. I think my oldest daughter read the series three times. And, we read aloud the series to both our kids separately twice.

But is there reading life after the Harry Potter series?

Harry Potter Books in Order

Read the complete Harry Potter books in order. Here’s the 7-set book series in order.

Book 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

When Was Harry Potter First Published?

I vividly remember my sweet 5th-grade student Lindsey telling me about a newly published book way back in September 1998. She loved it and thought that I would like it too. That book was the first Harry Potter book! I read it and soon read aloud (most of) the book aloud to the entire class. (Before it was banned because of magic–I had to abruptly stop just before the end. But, the ban only lasted a few years. Read my reasons for NOT banning Harry Potter books and for reading the books here .)

More Harry Potter Related Ideas:

If you want more Harry Potter book learning activities, why not try your hand at writing fanfiction ? It’s an engaging way to get kids staying in the world and writing.

Make your own Harry Potter potions with these ideas.

Make your own wands.

Get ready for what to read next!

Find good books like Harry Potter that include magic, schools of magic, magical creatures, flawed heroes, hero’s journey, interesting world-building, exceptional writing, interesting plots, and relatable characters.

40 Favorite Middle Grade Books Like Harry Potter

The Ruins of Gorlan: Ranger’s Apprentice  by John A. Flanagan Will isn’t thrilled to be apprenticed as Ranger, a job he’s unsure about. But as he develops a relationship with his master and learns what being a Ranger is all about (spying for the kingdom,) Will begins to embrace his new life. When an old enemy of the kingdom sends out dangerous beasts to attack Will’s master, Will is instrumental in getting help and killing the creatures. Action, fantasy, adventure, friendship, excellent writing — this book series has it all! This is a top choice for books like Harry Potter! 

Odd and the Frost Giants   by Neil Gaiman When I think about books like Harry Potter, I think about fantasy adventures but this is different and just as enthralling. If your child hasn’t learned about Norse mythology , this will be a great intro to an exciting adventure. To end the long winter, Odd must journey to find Asgard, a city under siege by the Frost Giants.  It’s a wonderful, nail-biting adventure!

The Familiars  series by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson We’re big fans of this book series . Do you know about familiars? They are the magical animal companions to wizards. In this first story, the familiars must save the world when their wizards’ powers are taken away. Great for kids who love animals and magical adventures.

Tuesdays at the Castle  by Jessica Day George Every Tuesday, the castle where Princess Celie and her family live adds a new room or area. Celie loves her castle and it’s living ways. When robbers attack her parents’ carriage and they are never seen again, Celie takes comfort that her parent’s room stays exactly the same. Then  the Royal Council and the foreign prince try to take over the kingdom and it’s up to Celie and the castle to stop them.  My kids and I LOVE this unique and imaginative series; Harry Potter fans will, too.

Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit  by Jesse Q. Sutanto When his older brother dies, Theo inherits his spirit companion fox Kai (who doesn’t like him) and learns that his brother’s death wasn’t an accident.  In a mystery filled with magic, growing into yourself, and heritage,  Theo investigates the Reapling Corp by posing as a talented magic user who wants to connect to his Chinese heritage. But he’s not very magical and doesn’t know Chinese words very well so he needs Kai’s help so they can stay at the summer camp and look for clues. Exciting and interesting!

The Iron Trial  (Magisterium) by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare Even though Callum tries to fail the entrance trials, he is admitted into the school his dad says is evil. But the Magisterium school is not as bad as he expects. Call learns about his elemental powers and forges bonds of friendship with his teammates. Things get complicated when he rescues a wolf puppy who is infused with the dark magic of Chaos. This fantasy middle grade book like Harry Potter is a perfect choice for readers who love fantasy , adventure , and magical elements.

Amari and the Night Brothers  by B.B. Alston (series) Fantastic fantasy world-building, excellent writing, a strong female heroine of color, and a surprise plot twist ending are just a few of the reasons you’ll love this book.  On top of that, you’ll find an exciting, action-packed, suspenseful story about Amari whose brother vanishes mysteriously. He sends her a message that she’s a magician and should attend a special school. There, she discovers she’s a magician with outlawed dark magic, but she’s determined to stay in the school and find her brother. If you want to read another great story about a school for magic, read this book next!

Hither and Nigh  by Ellen Potter (series) Masterful storytelling and wildly inventive world-building,  Hither and Nigh  draws you into a magical, multi-layered story.  Nell is forced to join the Last Chance Club or be expelled from school. The teacher surprises the students with lessons in magic! This begins Nell’s search for her missing brother in the magical world of Hither. She hopes to track the poachers who kidnap non-magical children with big imaginations like her brother. One of my favorite fantasy books like Harry Potter!

Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts   by Erika Lewis (series) Fast-paced, this exciting middle-grade book like Harry Potter with Celtic mythology is about a foster child attending a magical school while searching for answers about her mysterious heritage.  Kelcie leaves the human world for the magical world’s Academy. She discovers that she’s a Saiga, a mistrusted elemental, but she makes friends who help her learn about her unique powers and together they fight the monsters who continue to attack the school.

Nevermoor The Trial of Morrigan Crow  by Jessica Townsend (series) Morrigan escapes her birthday’s death curse when she’s whisked away to another realm by a mysterious man named Jupiter North to compete in four trials to join the Wundrous Society.  Morrigan is worried because she doesn’t have a magical “nack” like the hundreds of other kids. She befriends a mischievous boy named Hawthorne with the knack for flying dragons. In between the trials, they try to figure out if the elusive Mr. Jones is connected to the dangerous Wundersmith named Ezra Squall. 

Five Kingdoms: Sky Raiders   by Brandon Mull Brandon Mull has outdone himself with an inventive world and interesting characters. Cole, a regular kid, is trick-or-treating with his friends when they all get kidnapped. He manages to hide but follows the kidnappers — to another world of five kingdoms, slavery, and magic — where he’s captured and sold to slavers on the dreaded Outskirts. There  he’ll battle mysterious beings living on cloud castles, discover an exiled princess, escape slavery, and have unimaginable adventures trying to rescue his friends . A great book like Harry Potter!

Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis These are wonderfully engaging fantasy read alike adventures about a world of magic and good and evil. In this story, four siblings accidentally stumble into Narnia, a world of magical beings controlled by an evil witch. We recently listened to the series on audiobook , which was even more fun to hear it read in a British accent. (Since we’re American.)

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger Twelve-year-old telepathic Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t connect with the older kids at school ; she’s not comfortable with her family either. When she meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns that she’s not alone. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth of who she really is, and almost instantly, she is forced to leave behind her family for a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known. But Sophie still has secrets, which are buried deep in her memory for good reason: The answers are dangerous. One of my favorite books like Harry Potter.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan Did you know that Greek gods still exist? And that sometimes they have kids with humans? And those kids are half-bloods with unique powers? Unfortunately for these demigod kids, monsters are out to kill them –not to mention that they are the only ones who can save the world from a war between the gods. This compelling fantasy adventure introduces readers to Greek mythology in a creative way.

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief  by A.F. Steadman Fans of Harry Potter will love this new series! In Skandar’s world with bloodthirsty  unicorns  and unicorn riders, he’s denied as a unicorn rider until a mysterious woman sneaks him in.  He learns he and his unicorn have the forbidden 5th spirit element, like the evil Weaver, whose been wreaking destruction and stealing unicorns. His new friends help him hide the magic and control his unicorn, who hates pretending to be a water elemental. But he and his unicorn’s elemental magic may be the only ones who can stop the Weaver.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi Magic and color are closely linked in her world. Only Alice has no color in her skin or hair. And her father has been missing for years making her even sadder. Alice travels with a boy named Oliver to a different magical land in order to find and rescue her Father. But the rules are wildly different and the inhabitants eat people for their magic. Even though Oliver and Alice start their quest at odds, the many challenges join them in a solid friendship. Like Harry Potter, Furthermore is a uniquely creative plot, dense with description and beautiful language.

Lightcasters  by Janelle McCurdy (series) After the Reaper King’s soldiers attack her forever dark city and capture her parents, Mia, her brother Lucas, plus two other friends flee the nefarious soldiers toward her grandparent’s in the capital city.  To make it through the dangerous Nightmare Plains, Mia reluctantly bonds with not one but two wild umbras, creatures made of shadows and starlight, and learns she’s one of the mythical Lightkeepers,  foretold to defeat the Reaper King. Unique, super cool world-building, fantastic storytelling.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill Wonderfully crafted and imagined, this is a fairy tale of sorts about a good witch who rescues a town’s abandoned (sacrificed) babies and gives them to another town to love. Except for one baby whom she adopts for her own; a special baby named Luna, who is accidentally infused with moon magic. It’s also the story of the baby’s magical, bereaved mother, a wicked witch who feeds off sorrow, a woodcarver who wants justice, and most of all, Luna. Winner of the Newbery Award.

A Wrinkle in Time   by Madeline L’Engle I’ve read this science fiction book so many times, I can’t count — many times with my classes as a read aloud and every time, it’s just as fantastic. (That doesn’t always happen with books.)  A Wrinkle in Time  is a remarkable, well-written adventure in space that deals with the overarching theme of good vs. evil. Meg and her brother, Charles Wallace, and friend, Calvin, set off to find her scientist father who disappeared while researching tesseracts. A must-read for Harry Potter fans.

The Green Ember  by S.D. Smith I highly recommend this epic fantasy book series about  rabbits, wolves, and birds, lost kingdoms, good vs. evil, friendship , betrayal, and hope for a better world.  This is an enthralling story that you won’t be able to put down.

Voyage of the Frostheart  by Jamie Littler Voyage of the Frosthart  is a  fantastic, illustrated adventure story about an orphan boy with forbidden musical powers.  After Ash’s Pathfinder parents disappear, Ash moves in with a strict guardian Yeti named Tobu. Unfortunately, they’re banished from their home when Ash uses his forbidden Song Weaver magic. They leave the village with a Pathfinder crew, a ship that sails over the snow. On their journey, Ash realizes that he can find his parents using the words in his childhood lullaby. But he’ll be tried, tested, and tricked. Who will he trust?

Wings of Fire  by Tui T. Sutherland A group of dragonets leaves their hidden safe home only to be captured by a malicious dragon faction. One thing’s for sure: when the dragonets are captured, things don’t look good for their future. Are these the long-awaited dragonets of the prophecy that will end the dragon wars for good? And how will they survive captivity? (See more excellent dragon books .)

The Unwanteds  by Lissa McMann In this society, you are sorted as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Alex is declared an Unwanted and sent to die. But instead of death, he is rescued by a magician who has created a secret, magical haven for the Unwanteds where they live and train to use their magical power. (The magical characters in this world like Alex’s art teacher — an octagator — are so inventive, just wait until you meet them all!) But Alex risks the safety of his new home to see his Wanted twin in the old world.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Throne, and John Tiffany Even though it’s not as good as the original books, this original screenplay is such a treat for us who love Harry Potter — it’s one more trip to this beloved world, this time about Harry’s son Albus. We follow Harry’s second son, Albus, and his best friend, Scorpius who is Draco’s son. The boys decide to change history and steal an illegal time-turner from the Ministry of Magic. As you can imagine, messing with history is disastrous. Revisit your favorite places and characters with this new HP story.

The Accidental Apprentice  by Amanda Foody (series) A fantastic, magical journey of self-acceptance, a bewitching plotline, and irresistible characters.  When gathering mushrooms in his latest apprenticeship, Barclay accidentally becomes his worst fear — a Lore Keeper bonded with a mythical beast . Even though he doesn’t want to be a Lore Keeper, Barclay is forced out of his villagers. He travels with another Lore Keeper named Violet to a town, searching for ways to get rid of his mark. He’ll soon have to make a choice — cut out the Beast or embrace his new life. It’s one of the books like Harry Potter with a hero’s journey .

Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling Another must-own book for Harry Potter fans. This is what Dumbledore left to Hermione in his will that helped the friends figure out the Deathly Hallows.

Enjoy these books similar to Harry Potter!

If you’re looking for more books like Harry Potter, check out books to read after Harry Potter list on The Children’s Book Review .

And let me know which books your kids are loving!

I’ve added each of these books to my new master book lists by age.

Early Reader Books for 5- and 6- year olds

Books for 1st Graders (age 6)

Books for 2nd Graders (age 7)

Books for 3rd Graders

Books for 4th Graders

Books for 5th Graders

Books for 6th Graders

Books for 7th Graders

Adventure Books for Kids

Fantasy Books for Kids

Funny Books for Kids

Mystery Books for Kids

Science Fiction Books for Kids

Don’t forget to follow me on  Pinterest  and  Facebook  for more ideas!

Is Harry Potter for 12 year olds?

Yes! Younger kids start reading Harry Potter around age 9 and usually by age 12, kids have already read the book series at least once.

What is Harry Potter fanfiction?

Harry Potter fanfiction is fiction based on the copyrighted Harry Potter characters and set in the Harry Potter world.

What is the best Harry Potter house quiz?

The official Wizarding World house quiz here.

What are Harry Potter characters?

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Dobby, Draco Malfoy, Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort, Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, Sirus Black, Sorting Hat, Dolores Umbridge, Peeves, Bellatrix Lestrange, Remus Lupin, Hedwig, Cho Chang, and more!

What streaming service has Harry Potter?

Peacock and HBO Max stream the Harry Potter movies.

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Melissa Taylor, MA, is the creator of Imagination Soup. She's a mother, former teacher & literacy trainer, and freelance education writer. She writes Imagination Soup and freelances for publications online and in print, including Penguin Random House's Brightly website, USA Today Health, Adobe Education, Colorado Parent, and Parenting. She is passionate about matching kids with books that they'll love.

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59 Comments

I’m so happy to see The Green Ember on your list!!!

Books for Teens

Daughter of smoke and bone,The Magisterium by Holly Black, Dragon Kin, Elder Races , Our chemical hearts, Lux Series,Zecharia Sitchin books,The Chronicles of Ixia Series,Kingdom by the Sea by Kathryn Le Veque,THE SWEET TRILOGY BY WENDY HIGGINS,Hush Hush by Becca fitzpatrick,Eurona Duology – Wendy Higgins,Penryn & the End of Days Series,Winston Brothers Series by Penny Reid,Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh,The Dark Elements Series by Jennifer L Armentrout,Traveler’s Gate Series will wight,Cradle Series by Will Wight, The Iron Teeth by Scott Straughan,Witchy World by Jamie McFarlane

Thanks Shelly.

Two books written in the sixties that deserve to be on the list are The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner and The Giant Under the Snow by John Gordon and soon to be a new film too.

Excellent stories both of them.

thanks, Craig.

I didn’t read through all of the comments, but I’ve read many lists of this type and haven’t seen the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. I began reading it when I was waiting for the next Harry Potter (years ago), and really enjoyed all seven books. The series is similar to Harry Potter but not as deep and not as dark. And I’ve recently discovered that there is a second series focusing on new characters but with the old characters as background.

I lost interest after a few books so that’s why I didn’t include it here. However, yes, it’s a good choice for many! Thanks for the comment.

The Friendly Editor

Advice from an Editor's Desk

Rowling’s Life as an Author: What It Was Really Like to Write Harry Potter

Rowling has said that Harry Potter “simply fell into [her] head” and “all of the details bubbled up in [her] brain.” She “[had] never felt such a huge rush of excitement and [she] knew immediately that it was going to be such fun to write.”

Sounds like a fairy tale beginning to a fairy tale ending, right? And perhaps that’s all ordinary readers need to know about Rowling’s path to literary fame, but writers need to know more.

Writers need to know the not-so-glamorous version of what it was like to write Harry Potter. We need to appreciate how disciplined Rowling had to be to develop her little idea into seven hefty books. We have to know that she wasn’t lazily sipping mochas for two decades while jotting down a continuous stream of words like a literary Fountain of Youth.

All too often writers convince themselves that they would write more if only they were more well known, or had more money, or had more time. But in the end, none of that is what defines a writer. A writer is simply someone who  writes.

Below I’ve compiled the non-fairy-tale version of the story behind the Harry Potter series.

Book One: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Rowling rewrote chapter one of Sorcerer’s Stone  so many times (upwards of fifteen discarded drafts) that her first attempts “bear no resemblance to anything in the finished book.” This was especially frustrating for Rowling because she was a single parent and her writing time was both limited and sporadic—entirely contingent on her infant daughter, Jessica.

Whenever Jessica fell asleep in her [stroller], I would dash to the nearest café and write like mad. I wrote nearly every evening. Then I had to type the whole thing out myself. Sometimes I actually hated the book, even while I loved it.

Rowling had to deal with many other time-wasting nuisances, like re-typing an entire chapter because she had changed one paragraph, and then re-typing the entire manuscript because she hadn’t double-spaced it.

Rowling also struggled with personal problems while writing the first book:

• the death of her mother,
• estrangement from her father,
• a volatile and short-lived marriage,
• a newborn child,
• life on welfare,
• and a battle with clinical depression.

To top it off, Rowling’s support system was pretty much nonexistent. She struggled with suicidal thoughts and eventually turned to therapy for help. Rowling once told a friend about her book idea and her friend’s response was cynical. Rowling said:

I think she thought I was deluding myself, that I was in a nasty situation and had sat down one day and thought, I know, I’ll write a novel. She probably thought it was a get-rich-quick scheme.

Once the manuscript was finally finished, Rowling went on to collect a dozen rejection letters over the span of a year before Bloomsbury Publishing agreed to pick it up.

Even with publication now on the horizon, though, Rowling was warned by her literary agent to find a job because her story wasn’t commercial enough to be successful (“You do realize, you will never make a fortune out of writing children’s books?”). In fact, Bloomsbury’s expectations of the first Potter book were so low that its initial print was only five hundred copies—three hundred of which were donated to public libraries. Rowling’s first royalty check was six hundred pounds.

A year later, she was a millionaire.

Book Two: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Rowling, however, still faced major frustrations.

For one, she did not believe her writing success was permanent, so while writing  Chamber of Secrets , she worked as a full-time French teacher (and cared for her now-toddler daughter). It was during this time that she suffered from her first and only debilitating bout of writer’s block:

I had my first burst of publicity about the first book and it paralysed me. I was scared the second book wouldn’t measure up . . .

Despite Rowling’s personal skepticism, other lucrative contracts rolled in after Scholastica. The resulting money pulled her out of poverty, but it also put incredible pressure on her “to fulfill expectations,” and furthermore, her sudden financial success resulted in a “tsunami of requests.” Everyone was asking Rowling for a leg up:

I was completely overwhelmed. I suddenly felt responsible in many different ways. . . . I was downright paranoid that I would do something stupid . . .

Book Three: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Prisoner of Azkaban  was one of Rowling’s most enjoyable Potter books to write, but she still had to work very hard. Rowling said in a letter to her editor:

I’ve read [ Prisoner of Azkaban ]   so much I’m sick of it. I never read either of the others over and over again when editing them, but I really had to this time.

Rowling added in a later letter:

The hard work, the significant rewrites I wanted to do, are over, so if it needs more cuts after this, I’m ready to make them, speedily . . .

But if Rowling thought these rewrites for book three were difficult, she had no idea what she was heading into with book four.

Book Four: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The first thing that I did when I finished Prisoner of Azkaban was discuss repaying the advance for the [fourth] book. Yes, you can imagine. People were a little bit shaken . . . I said: I want to give the money back and then I will be free to finish in my own time rather than have to produce it for next year.

Rowling has been open about her struggle to write book four, which nearly caused her to have “a nervous breakdown”:

That was the period where I was chewing Nicorette. And then I started smoking again, but I didn’t stop the Nicorette. And I swear on my children’s lives, I was going to bed at night and having palpitations and having to get up and drink some wine to put myself into a sufficient stupor.

Rowling attributed her stress to the staggering pressure she felt to produce another Harry Potter book worthy of global adoration:

I’m sure that I’ll never have another success like Harry Potter for the rest of my life, no matter how many books I write, and no matter whether they’re good or bad. I remember very clearly that I was thinking the same thing when the excitement over the fourth Harry Potter volume literally exploded. The thought was unsettling to me at the time, and I still feel that way today.

Rowling also struggled with her plot for the first time since starting the series:

The first three books, my plan never failed me. But I should have put [this] plot under a microscope. I wrote what I thought was half the book, and “Ack!”—huge gaping hole in the middle of the plot. I missed my deadline by two months. And the whole profile of the books got so much higher since the third book; there was an edge of external pressure.

Rowling faced “some of [her] blackest moments” with book four:

At Christmas I sank to the depths: “Can I do this?” I asked myself. In the end it was just persistence, sheer bloody mindedness. It took months. I had to unpick lots of what I’d written and take a different route to the ending.

The worst rewrite for Rowling was one particular chapter in Goblet :

I hated that chapter so much; at one point, I thought of missing it out altogether and just putting in a page saying, “Chapter Nine was too difficult,” and going straight to Chapter Ten.

Not surprisingly, Rowling also struggled with burnout:

Goblet of Fire  was an absolute nightmare. I literally lost the plot halfway through. My own deadline was totally unrealistic. That was my fault because I didn’t tell anyone. I just ploughed on, as I tend to do in life, and then I realised I had really got myself into hot water. I had to write like fury to make the deadline and it half killed me and I really was, oh, burnt out at the end of it. Really burnt out. And the idea of going straight into another Harry Potter book filled me with dread and horror. And that was the first time I had ever felt like that. I had been writing Harry for 10 years come 2000 and that was the first time I ever thought, Oh God, I don’t want to keep going.

Book Five: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Rowling had written the first four books in a blisteringly fast five years, but she told her publishers she didn’t want a deadline with book five, especially after dealing with the plot problems in  Goblet of Fire . Her publishers had no other choice but to agree.

Even then, though, Rowling still struggled to keep up.

She has said numerous times that she wished she had better edited Order of the Phoenix :

I think [it] could have been shorter. I knew that, and I ran out of time and energy toward the end.

And it’s no wonder. During the two years Rowling wrote the 870-page  Phoenix , she also:

• got married,
• had another baby,
• fought a bogus plagiarism lawsuit,
• started several charity organizations,
• consulted for the new Potter  films,
• and ran around fulfilling her endless PR obligations.

Worst of all, Rowling was drowning in a never-ending deluge of paparazzi.

Rowling’s fame had grown to such bewildering heights that the attention had become relentless. This was quite a shock for her, especially since she had thought that her Harry Potter story would only appeal to “a handful of people”:

Everything changed so rapidly, so strangely. I knew no one who’d ever been in the public eye. I didn’t know anyone—anyone—to whom I could turn and say, “What do you do?” So it was incredibly disorientating.

The paparazzi were digging through her garbage, hiding in her hedges, and camping out in front of her house. One reporter even slipped a note into her daughter’s backpack at school.

It’s very difficult to say . . . how angry I felt that my 5-year-old daughter’s school was no longer a place of . . . complete security from journalists.

Rowling was “racing to catch up with the situation” and “couldn’t cope” with the loss of her private life:

I couldn’t grasp what had happened. And I don’t think many people could have done.

Among the uproar, Rowling was expected to pull off yet another Harry Potter home run.

Book Six: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Rowling was pregnant with her third child while writing  Half-Blood Prince , but she wasn’t nearly as stressed as she had been with book five. In fact, she was so laissez-faire about it, she probably put some fans in a panic:

I’m in a very lovely position. Contractually, I don’t even have to write any more books at all. So no one can possibly write that I have missed a deadline, because I actually don’t have a contractual deadline for Six and Seven.

Of course Rowling did write book six, which was “an enjoyable experience from start to finish.” Rowling’s critics, however, were now growing as vocal as her fans:

I found death threats to myself on the net . . . I found, well, people being advised to shoot me, basically.

The paparazzi problem was also spinning out of control. After the birth of two more children, Rowling couldn’t even step out of her house without being stalked by photographers—she was “completely trapped” and felt like she was “under siege or like a hostage.”

Rowling went so far as to sell her house and move her family, and again she had to turn to therapy, as she had years ago when her Harry Potter idea was in its infancy:

Sometimes I think I’m temperamentally suited to being a moderately successful writer, with the focus of attention on the books rather than on me.

Book Seven: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Deathly Hallows   was the series finale, but Rowling had many other responsibilities to fulfill besides writing: being a mother to three children, giving interviews, overseeing the Harry Potter movies, and running her charities, to name only a few.

Ironically, Rowling’s notoriety and wealth had cut her writing time in half—from five days a week to two and a half:

There are times—and I don’t want to sound ungrateful—when I would gladly give back some of the money in exchange for time and peace to write.

The media marathon hadn’t slowed down either, which was exceptionally draining for her:

Fame is a very odd and very isolating experience. And I know some people crave it. A lot of people crave it. I find that very hard to understand. Really. It is incredibly isolating and it puts a great strain on your relationships.

One of the media’s particular criticisms of Rowling was her appearance:

I found it very difficult, when I first became well known, to read criticism about how I look, how messy my hair was, and how generally unkempt I look.

Rowling worried about how such criticisms might affect her children:

Is “fat” really the worst thing a human being can be? Is “fat” worse than “vindictive,” “jealous,” “shallow,” “vain,” “boring” or “cruel'”? Not to me. I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny—a thousand things, before “thin.”

Somehow, in the middle of all this cacophony, Rowling finished her seven-book Harry Potter series. After nearly two decades, it was over. Rowling said:

I cried as I’ve only ever cried once before in my life, and that was when my mother died. It was uncontrollable . . .

Embracing the Journey

You just have to accept that it takes a phenomenal amount of perseverance., —j. k. rowling [tweet this].

This post is not about glorifying Rowling or pitying her. This post is about learning to appreciate wherever you are in your writing journey.

It’s only human to think that the grass is greener on the other side, to think that if only you had a certain amount of money or a certain kind of life, you’d finally get down to writing. But books aren’t written in a vacuum. Life doesn’t stop moving even for the most famous and successful. The best time to write is now—because that’s the only time you’ve truly got.

My feeling is, if you really want to [write], you will do it. You will find the time. And it might not be much time, but you’ll make it.

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Published by Cary, The Friendly Editor

Cary helps authors successfully navigate the writing and publishing world at her award-winning blog, thefriendlyeditor.com. View all posts by Cary, The Friendly Editor

36 thoughts on “ Rowling’s Life as an Author: What It Was Really Like to Write Harry Potter ”

This was so inspirational and so informative. Reading this made me think of the long process I’ve gone through for my two novels. Getting the beginning is so very hard to just even start with it. I know this is going to be a long journey for me to get my book to the point of publishing and getting it out there, but honestly, I’m looking forward to the journey.

What a great attitude, trismoore! Keep on writing!

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Thanks for this post! It’s posts like this that help me to keep going forward. I’m currently working on the second draft of my current book and the first draft had to be almost completely thrown out except for a few major plot points. If Rowling can push through all that, I can push through and get this book finished!

You got this, wdwritingwizard! I absolutely love reading comments like yours. The whole reason I started this blog was to create an encouraging and inspiring atmosphere for writers—thanks for contributing to it!

My pleasure 🙂 I love blogs like this because as writers we all need encouragement to keep moving forward. We can all do it if we support one another!

Your timing with this post was nothing short of amazing. I am on the third draft of my newest novel, complaining about the number of drafts it’ll take before I’m proud to release out into the world and the plot has gone in a completely different direction than it took in the first draft! So it was bother a relief and therapeutic to read that J.K has done the same thing. I have tried over the years to figure out how painful her writing world was, (because some part of it is always painful) but there are so many interviews scattered everywhere I was never able to find out. You’ve done all that for me, so thank you. Your post was inspiring, therapeutic, reassuring and a well-needed kick in the pants. I cannot thank you enough.

Hooray for a kick in the pants! Keep on writing, Carolyn!

I too am glad to read this about such a famous and successful author. I read the first draft of my first novel just before Christmas and found that I rather liked it. But now I am just about finished the second draft, having solved many problems, and am starting to worry about it. “Is it good enough?” is the main thing bugging me. I was planning on only one more draft before I publish, but now I’m thinking of doing another… in case that helps. But don’t know if it will.

The other thing that really scares me is getting it “out there”. It’s getting worse as I get closer to completion. Your section on JKR’s 2nd book has particular resonance with me, being as I’m one of those introverted types for whom the sort of fame that she has garnered would scare the pants off me.

I thought my book with multiple plotlines would be complicated. It’s not as complicated as writing!

So … wow. This is the kind of distiller wisdom that often comes at the end of a life, in hindsight. As much as it applies to writing, it applies to anything and everything in life of great value. It is really a testament to the purity of the human spirit to rise above everything if given the chance and perseverance. Thanks for distilling this story to 100% proof!!! I feel a bit high on it.

I’m so glad my post resonated with you, Marie. I hope you take that high and use it to keep on writing!

Not only inspirational in a determined, “I’m-gonna-do-it-no-matter-what” way, but a very good read!

I’ve heard about J.K. Rowling’s difficulties before, but I only ever imagined them for the first book or two. In some way, it is a relief to know that she had to work so hard, through so many obstacles, to write great books. Because if not, then any time a writer’s life isn’t perfect, she’ll destine herself to not working at all, but waiting for the “right moment.”

Well said, Diana. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Thanks for writing this awesome post! J.K’s my favourite writer and this just reinforces the notion that perseverance is the key.

Agreed, Z.N. Khan! I’ve heard so many times that it’s not the talented writers that make it, but the writers that just refuse to give up.

I love this blog there is always something which motivates me to write and this post is a great example of that. Its reassuring to know that Rowling goes through a stage of ‘hating’ her work too, something I think every writer goes through at some point.

Yep, I agree with you. I think if a writer is completely in love with her story and her writing from beginning to end, then she’s probably not pushing herself enough. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.

This is a really timely post for me. I’m struggling with getting the first draft of my 3rd novel out. I thought it would get easier, but clearly each book in a series is it’s own challenge. Kind of like having children.

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, Anne. I think all writers want to believe that some day writing will get easier—once they’ve written enough or published enough or whatever—but we’re always growing as writers (or at least we should be) so there will always be growing pains. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s certainly not always fun either. Hope your third novel is going well and please drop in again!

This post was very comforting. It’s good to know Rowling got to a point where she hated her writing, yet she still battled on and got it done. Not only that but she produced something incredible. I think I am going to have to save this post and come back to it when I need motivation and reassurance!

I’m so glad this post was encouraging, Emma. Keep on writing!

I really appreciate these posts. Thanks for taking the time to write them.

Comments like yours are what keep me blogging. Thank you!

I just wanted to say that your posts about Harry Potter, structure and the writing process have totally turned me down a new path in my writing development that I think will make all of the difference. You’ve inspired me to reread the fifth book and really try to map the whole thing out, I’m hoping to do a chapter by chapter analysis of it on my blog and already my reading process has been completely revolutionized. Thank you so much for the work you do!

Wow, Jessica, your comment means so much to me! I wish you the very best in your writing journey, and I hope to hear from you again soon.

I nearly cried when reading this, it was so inspiring. What a wonderful insight to JK Rowling’s journey through writing her incredible series. I sure appreciate your posts! Thank you for sharing!

I’m so glad this post resonated with you, Kristi. My main goal with this blog is to keep writers writing—never give up!

Like many of the comments above I just wanted to say thank you. This is an inspiring and grounding post, and I am incredibly happy that I’ve come across it.

Thank you, Jo—keep on writing!

A writer’s life-saving article, C.S., and for me personally, divine timing as well. I’m in the middle of the ocean with my fantasy novel Blackcat-Whitecat: The Land of Lost Dreams, and starting to seriously doubt myself, thinking, “If only… my health was better… I had more money… was more agent-connected… blah-blah-blah.” This week, I found myself panicked and terribly depressed that maybe I don’t know the way across to bloody finish this first book. Thank you so, so much for telling us “the rest of the story.” (And thank you, J.K., for sharing your magic — warts and all). Pure Heart, CJ

Thank you for posting such an honest, inspiring comment, CJ!

What this post is telling me is “You are not alone”. And oh boy if I feel alone, and stupid while writing! I am working through the first outline I have ever written and it feels like too much work! And, if Rowling could, so can I!

Thank you, C.S.!

It was really hard writing my book, I’m only like 10 years old, but this gave me couragebto write more. Thanks!

This is exactly the pick-me-up I needed. I’ve been struggling badly with carving out writing time and really focusing on plot. Rowling is such an inspiration and knowing her path was anything but clear, that’s comforting. She created an absolute literary masterpiece and she does nothing to dress it up: it was an amazing idea that required extremely hard work that paid off. I have to get into that mindset of pushing and editing and just WRITING. Thanks so much for this post!

I do not get it. How do you map the plot ? How do you come up with the ideas? I have an amazing idea. There is this boy who goes to school, a school where he learns magic. This idea suddenly came to me. Then what? How do you come up with the scar, the dark lord, the horcruxes? How do you come up with the goblet of fire or a character like Umbridge? It is just not magic of language. It is just not perseverance. I come up with wonderful ideas, than it just stops there. So how did she do it?

You are such an amazing person. Dear author who wrote this post. Incredibly informed, well opinionated, and a great eye for empathy. I wish J.K. Rowling would read this too. Thanks a lot!

This was very inspiration to read. Thanks so much for writing this! 🙂

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J.K. Rowling talks in depth for the first time about her writing

J.K. Rowling is often asked questions by her fans about her writing process: from where she writes, to her inspiration, editing process and much more.

Here for the first time, she responds to those questions, talking openly and in depth about her writing including Harry Potter, The Ickabog and The Christmas Pig as well as writing as Robert Galbraith, the Cormoran Strike crime fiction series.

Watch the first episode here.

25 April 2024

All seven Harry Potter audiobooks to be transformed into new full-cast audio editions!

Pottermore Publishing and Audible are working on an exciting project: all seven Harry Potter audiobooks set to be released with a full-scale ensemble cast.

28 February 2024

First Look at Christmas at Hogwarts

Christmas at Hogwarts – a heartwarming and joyfully illustrated gift book sure to delight readers of all ages, celebrating Harry Potter’s first Christmas in the wizarding world is to be published globally on October 15th 2024.

27 November 2023

Introducing The Christmas Pig Readalong!

Throughout the month of December, join us on our Instagram and Facebook channels for this year’s The Christmas Pig readalong. Find out more about how you can join in at home below!

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Blog – Posted on Tuesday, May 28

All the harry potter books in order: your j.k. rowling reading list.

Of all the zeitgeist-defining fiction to come out of the past twenty years, perhaps none has been more universally beloved than the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. An incredibly imagined fantasy bildungsroman , it follows the eponymous boy wizard as he attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and contends with his destiny to fight the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Fortunately, he always has clever, loyal friends Ron and Hermione by his side — plus the invaluable mentorship of eccentric but wise Hogwarts headmaster, Dumbledore.

As fellow Potterheads will know, it’s virtually impossible to rank these books from best to worst, since each one is brilliant in its own way. That’s why we’ve decided to simply present all the Harry Potter books in order of chronology/publication, hitting the highlights for longtime fans to happily reminisce… and to help budding fans get a taste of the series’ genuine magic .

Here’s a quick catalog of the series, so that you know what you’re in for:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997)

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

8. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016)

And then the accompanying “Hogwarts library” texts:

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (2016)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2016)

As well as Rowling's "Pottermore Presents" series and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplays:

• Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (2016)
• Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (2016)
• Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroisim, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (2016)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: the Original Screenplay (2016)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — The Original Screenplay (2018)

Without further ado, let's dive in!

Psst — ever wonder what career you'd have in the wizarding world? Take our Potterhead-proofed quiz below to find out!

Which career would you have in the wizarding world?

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The main Harry Potter books in order

1. harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone , the book that started it all (understatement of the century), Harry Potter discovers his true identity in the wee hours of his eleventh birthday: he is a wizard, famous in the magical world for having vanquished the evil Lord Voldemort when he was only a baby. This revelation, delivered by a gruff, hairy giant named Hagrid, sets Harry on a fantastical (if also often frightening) journey of a lifetime.

He meets bosom buddies Ron and Hermione aboard the Hogwarts Express, and is soon sorted with them into Gryffindor: the house of the intrepid and brave. However, Harry also makes plenty of enemies at Hogwarts, most notably the arrogant Draco Malfoy and the nasty potions master, Snape (both affiliated with Slytherin house). And from battling a troll on Halloween to his first exhilarating Quidditch match — not to mention the novel’s climax , in which Harry goes up against Voldemort for the second time in his young life — there’s never a dull moment in the first year of his new adventure.

Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone , as it’s titled outside of the US) also perfectly balances exciting action with touching emotion, as Harry finds a true family in Ron and Hermione after years of misery with the Dursleys. Indeed, the book’s small, moving moments — such as Harry being floored by a gift from Ron’s mother, or Hermione’s tearful declaration at the end about “books and cleverness” — are just as magical as the spells themselves.

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , Harry and friends return to Hogwarts with a bang — the bang of a flying Ford Anglia as it crashes into the Whomping Willow, that is. After being spotted by Muggles and narrowly avoiding expulsion, you’d think that the rest of Harry’s second year would be smooth sailing in comparison… right?

Wrong. When the school caretaker’s cat is found petrified (essentially paralyzed and comatose, but technically still alive) along with a bone-chilling message that “the Chamber of Secrets has been opened,” fear and suspicions start to arise — and of course, only worsen when students start getting petrified too. Nobody can figure out who the culprit is, only that he refers to himself as “the Heir” and seems to be on the warpath.

But as our young heroes know well by now, if you want a mystery solved right, you have to do it yourself. Which they do — through a combination of Polyjuice potion brewing, mysterious flashbacks provided by a sentient journal, and a truly horrific excursion to see a giant spider called Aragog. The book culminates in a visit to the titular chamber, which lies underneath Hogwarts and contains yet another deadly threat that Harry must face.

But of course, this being an early Potter book, it’s not all din and danger. Comic relief comes in the form of moronic, egocentric professor Gilderoy Lockhart, and toilet ghost Moaning Myrtle — who, in true Rowling fashion, ends up being key to the central plot twist of the story.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The third book in the series introduces Sirius Black, a deranged mass murderer who’s just escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban. As a result, swarms of Dementors — dark, faceless beings that “suck the soul” out of their victims and serve as the guards of Azkaban — infiltrate Hogwarts to patrol for Black, who’s supposedly after Harry next. To make matters worse, our normally steadfast hero has a bad reaction to the Dementors, which cause him to faint on a train and even lose a critical Quidditch match.

Again, though, it’s not all doom and gloom. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban also features Professor Remus Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a school friend of Harry’s late father. Lupin and Harry quickly forge a father-son-like relationship themselves, and Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus Charm (powered by one’s happiest memories) to protect himself from Dementors.

Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione are squabbling even more than usual over their respective pets, Crookshanks the cat and Scabbers the rat. But what seems like a lighthearted subplot turns out to be a major factor in one of the biggest twists of the series , revealed in the last few chapters… and which naturally involves Black and Lupin as well. Oh, and hippogriffs and time traveling, in case that wasn’t enough to sell you on it.

Besides the sheer brilliance of plotting in this book, Rowling also presents some interesting commentary with the Dementors, which symbolize depression and force Harry to grapple with his past trauma. Indeed, though Goblet of Fire is widely identified as the “transition point” into the darker themes of the series’ latter half, Prisoner of Azkaban is definitely where those themes begin to take root.

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

There’s quite a bit to unpack in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , so we’ll dive right in: after attending an eventful Quidditch World Cup with Hermione and the Weasley family, Harry returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year of school. It’s bound to be an exciting one, as Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament, in which students from three major wizarding academies will compete. However, only students aged seventeen or older are eligible for the competition, which means Harry is safe for once… or so he thinks, until the ceremonial Goblet of Fire selects him as the fourth Triwizard Champion for no discernible reason.

What follows is a nonstop sequence of thrills, landmarked by the challenges of the tournament — in which the contestants must tackle menacing dragons, malevolent mermaids , and a maze full of potentially fatal tricks and traps. But even between the challenges themselves is plenty of riveting drama, especially with Rita Skeeter (a slimy reporter trying defame Harry and friends), Mad-Eye Moody (the kids’ new D.A.D.A. teacher), and Hermione’s most recent social justice cause (rights for house elves, naturally). And as anyone who’s read it will know, the GoF finale is unprecedented in terms of dark, difficult material, signaling a definitive shift for the series in a more mature direction.

Indeed, for all those wondering whether Rowling could change gears from the relatively lighthearted adventures of the previous three books into a darker and even more elaborate fantasy-thriller, this book proved her undeniably capable. But once again, GoF is not devoid of laughs and simple charm. The Yule Ball is a hilarious glimpse into the all-too-familiar teenage angst of dating and school dances, and the subplot with Ron being jealous of Harry’s constant spotlight is particularly well done. Yes, even in all the grandeur, Rowling never loses sight of what’s true to life — Goblet of Fire demonstrates this most aptly.

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gets political in big way: despite Voldemort’s revival at the end of GoF , the Ministry of Magic continues to deny all rumors and refuse to take action, worried that they’ll upset the public. This means the real adults have to take a leaf out of Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s book and start fighting him themselves, through an underground vigilante group called the Order of the Phoenix.

But the Order can’t do much about Dolores Umbridge, the newly instated and highly sadistic Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, who perpetuates the Ministry’s lies about Voldemort. When Harry openly defies her in class, she retaliates by giving him chronic detention — during which he must write lines with a “blood quill” that carves the words into the back of his hand. Despite this torment, he and the rest of the class do not acquiesce to Umbridge, and establish a secret defense organization for themselves called “Dumbledore’s Army.”

On top of all that, Harry keeps having frequent, harrowing visions of Voldemort when he’s asleep, and must take Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape to prevent them. This is a different kind of torture, with Snape forcing entry into Harry’s private memories at every lesson and relishing the opportunity to cause him pain. Of course, Snape’s own twisted motivations are revealed when Harry gains access to his memories — one of which is a bitter altercation with Harry’s father.

Even the most diehard HP fan will admit that Order of the Phoenix is a hard one to get through. From watching Harry suffer in such a myriad of ways, to that devastating climax in which he loses one of the few people he’s come to love and trust, OotP is no walk in the park. Yet it’s this strife and despair that makes it such an authentic, powerful narrative — and, trite as it sounds, Harry’s pain ultimately makes him stronger and more determined to defeat Voldemort than ever.

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Things take a turn for the expository in this penultimate installment, which sees Harry learn all about Voldemort’s family and “origin story,” so to speak. Dumbledore gives Harry these lessons to prepare him for a grand future battle with Voldemort, presumably in the vein of keeping his enemies closer. What Harry doesn’t know is that Dumbledore is planning something even bigger — a plan that he, Harry, becomes more inexorably entangled in with each passing day.

At the same time, Harry suspects Malfoy (always a nefarious character) to be colluding with Voldemort, and begins obsessively tracking him on the Marauder’s Map. But each new lead just seems to be a wrong turn, and Harry grows increasingly frustrated with the lack of evidence when he knows that Malfoy is guilty. His only good luck, funnily enough, is in potions class. After receiving a secondhand textbook filled with tips and tricks from the mysterious “Half-Blood Prince,” Harry shines under the tutelage of their new potions professor Slughorn. Hermione, meanwhile, is jealous of Harry’s newfound academic success, and attempts to uncover the Prince’s identity to prove he’s crooked.

Speaking of petty drama, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince also gives the fun, silly sixteen-year-old stuff its due. Ron and Hermione’s chemistry amps up to eleven, with constant bickering over their respective romances. (Ron memorably snogs Lavender Brown with such gusto that it “looks like he’s eating her face.”) Meanwhile Harry’s falling for Ginny, Ron’s sister, and battling his inner demons about whether to ask her out. All this falls to the wayside after yet another epic finale, but it’s another nice reminder of how human and relatable the characters are .

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

To be fair, the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows aren’t as quotidianly miserable as the events of OotP — at least we know the characters are suffering for a greater purpose. But that doesn’t stop this from being, as you might expect, the darkest book in the series. From the corrupting influence of a locket that causes Ron to abandon his friends, to the tragic prophecy that Harry uncovers through more of Snape’s past memories, this book truly tests the reader’s tolerance for beloved characters in distress. (Don’t even get us started on the Battle of Hogwarts bloodbath .)

But Deathly Hallows is also a masterpiece, wrapping up thousands of pages’ worth of deeply intricate story plotting, character development, and booming thematic resonance in a satisfying manner. Indeed, J.K. Rowling has said she wrote the last pages of Deathly Hallows before Sorcerer’s Stone was even completed — evidence of just how carefully the series was planned.

8. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

While not part of the original seven-book series, Cursed Child and the accompanying stage play have become a generally accepted addition to the Harry Potter canon. This 336-page text picks up where the Deathly Hallows epilogue left off, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy sending their unfortunately named kids off to Hogwarts — Harry’s son Albus and Malfoy’s son Scorpius serve as our protagonists this time around. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, the boys are both sorted into Slytherin and forge an unlikely friendship, which naturally causes tension between Albus and Harry over the next few years.

After a fight with his father, Albus overhears Cedric Diggory’s father Amos asking Harry to use a more powerful version of a Time Turner (which features prominently in PoA ) to go back in time and rescue his son. When Harry refuses, Albus enlists Scorpius to help him save Cedric, with the aid of Diggory’s niece Delphi. However, as anyone who’s seen Back to the Future can attest, messing with timelines is never a good idea… especially in the wizarding world. Things are further complicated by the fact that Delphi is not who she says she is, and may have sinister ulterior motives when it comes to rewriting history.

Between the multiple timelines and various versions of the same characters, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child can definitely be a bit confusing at times — and its somewhat far-fetched plot twists and questionable consistency with Rowling’s established world have led some Potter fans to decry it. But at the end of the day, it’s still another piece of the magical puzzle that we’ve all enjoyed putting together so much: this once-in-a-lifetime literary experience that transcends culture and generations.

The “Hogwarts library” texts

Fantastic beasts and where to find them.

Can't get enough of the fantastical creatures that fill Harry Potter 's pages? You're in luck. As detailed by J.K. Rowling (who writes as famed Magizoologist Newt Scamander), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the definitive compendium to the magical beasts that roam the wizarding world. You'll find some familiar companions — such as the Hippogriff, the Basilisk, the Hungarian Horntail — but you'll also discover many, many new creatures to befriend. This is the text that inspired the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie trilogy, so if you're looking to catch up on the source, this is where to start!

Quidditch Through the Ages

Or maybe it's J.K. Rowling's smash-hit sport, Quidditch, that tickles your fancy. Today, Quidditch is an actual sport played at over 100 colleges in the United States — such is the strength of the grip that it's exerted on our public imagination. But if you're interested in the academic side of Quidditch, Rowling's got you covered with Quidditch Through the Ages , which will tell you all that you ever wanted to know about the history and rules behind Quidditch.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of five fairy wizarding tales, told by, well, Beedle the Bard! Professor Dumbledore bequeathed these age-old tales to Hermione Granger, and they (particularly "The Tale of Three Brothers") turned out to be instrumental in helping Harry Potter crack the clues given to him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now it's your chance to read them for yourself. Though the stories in this book all have a magical twist, the themes at their cores still resonate with what we associate with fairy tales: friendship, the everlasting strength of love, and the magic that each one of us possesses.

Even more Wizarding World extras 🎁

Hogwarts: an incomplete and unreliable guide.

Sourced from the short reads on Pottermore.com and gathered into one book for easy reading, Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide gives you all of the background information that you might want to know about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly. Ever been curious about what the Hufflepuff common room looks like (it was never described in the books themselves)? Did you ever wonder about the origins of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters? Here's the book that will provide all of the answers.

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists

Not everything about Hogwarts and the Wizarding World is bright and shiny — indeed, the series has birthed some of most memorable villains in literature, from Dolores Umbridge to Lord Voldemort himself. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Potergeists (also collected from JK Rowling's writings on Pottermore.com) delves deeper into this darker side of Harry's universe: in particular, it'll walk you through the politics of wizards and the backstories of Hogwart's villains, like Profess Umbridge.

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies

Now let's go to the flip side and read about some of the most heroic figures who stand tall in the Wizarding World! In Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroisim, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies , we get the pleasure of revisiting our favorite professors (especially Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin) and discovering their backstories.

The Fantastic Beasts screenplays

Unless you've been living under a rock this entire time, you've probably heard of the two new Wizarding World movies that have hit Hollywood in the past few years. Led by actor Eddie Redmayne and an all-star ensemble cast, the Fantastic Beasts films tell the story of Newt Scamander, Albus Dumbledore, and the dark battle against Gellert Grindelward in the blackened days before Lord Voldemort entered the scene.

Of course, you can choose to simply watch the continuation of the Wizarding World on-screen — but reading the screenplays of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: the Original Screenplay and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — The Original Screenplay  will undoubtedly give you that extra level of depth and insight into the characters.

So what's the recommended reading order (versus the chronological reading order)?

Fortunately, Harry Potter isn't one of those series like Star Wars has a sprawling number of canon novels, film novelizations, reference books, and comics to read. Instead, it's a finite universe — which makes catching up on it much easier. We recommend reading the main series chronologically so that you can see Harry and his friends grow up. Then — if you're still thirsting for more of the Wizarding World — you can see where your interests most strongly lie (whether it's in magizoology or Quidditch, for instance), and start again there.

If you still haven’t read Harry Potter , just know that it’s never too late to start — and even for those who have, you’re never too old to go back and relive the magic. ⚡

Can't get enough? Check out our list of the 20 best books like Harry Potter , or 60 best fantasy books for kids ! (Naturally, HP makes the list.)

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