The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

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trixie
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The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by trixie » February 27th, 2011, 11:53 am

Hi,

My WIP is a MG book about a boy who is destined to save the world. He just also happens to be attending school in a converted castle in Ireland where all the students are placed into houses (academics, arts, business, etc).

My crit group has pointed out the fact that I have a Boggart and a character named Seamus. And, the school has a Headmaster and a cafeteria where everyone eats at their house table.

With all respect to JK Rowling, and with the understanding that I'm NOT trying to say my WIP is that caliber of writing, I am beginning to realize the Harry Potter effect in my writing. I feel like I need to change my MC to a girl, or move the setting to the US, and basically scrub any fantastical, wondrous elements for fear it would just get lumped into a Harry Potter wanna-be pile.

Has anyone in the MG/YA field experienced this? When can budding authors bring Boggarts, Headmasters, and characters named Seamus back into literature?

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Cookie
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by Cookie » February 27th, 2011, 2:25 pm

Well, Jk certainly didn't create any of those things. And I don't think that just because she used them, you can't.
It's not like your MG is going to a school of magic...or is he?

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Beethovenfan
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by Beethovenfan » February 27th, 2011, 2:32 pm

I came across this problem too, and found myself changing characters and scenery to avoid the appearance of anything Harry Potter. However, I think it has mad the story much better because I required myself to think beyond what was familiar. I now have something quite unique (at least I think so!).
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by Guardian » February 27th, 2011, 2:36 pm

Cookie wrote:Well, Jk certainly didn't create any of those things. And I don't think that just because she used them, you can't.
Actually it's a standard writing etiquette that if something was used by someone else and it's became a well known element, you're trying to avoid the same element. But if you're using the same elements don't be surprised if someone is going to say; it's a copy-cat (Even if it's far away from the truth.).

Personally I would suggest to rename those elements.
Last edited by Guardian on February 27th, 2011, 8:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by Moni12 » February 27th, 2011, 2:43 pm

I have been told that close to the beginning of my ms is similar to Stardust because I have a star that falls. It's actually right after the fall and that's where the similarities end. Although, I have noticed some smaller parts in my writing that resemble favorite scenes or characters from books. I think I'm somewhat safe from "copying" too much, though, because I read a wide variety of books and write quite differently from all of them. For example, I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman and Gail Carson Levine, but unlike the latter my writing is more adult and somewhat graphic and also not as strange or creepy as Gaiman. I think there comes a time when every writer experiences similar things.
As far as your writing, though, I look at all the repetitive paranormal romances that have become popular since and before the Twilight frenzy. This is the first (maybe the second) that I've heard of someone's writing bearing similiarities to Harry Potter.

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polymath
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by polymath » February 27th, 2011, 3:49 pm

One concern I have with using motifs similar to other published narratives is they invariably call for a comparison. Using motifs from the Potter saga invites criticism that the narrative doesn't rise to the occasion. The storyline is okay, but it's not as good as . . .

Using fresh inventions, reinventing old ones, reimagining stock motifs, tropes, and metaphors brings them alive and avoids detracting comparisons with past successful inventions, reinventions, reimaginations. There's going to be some comparisons anyway to some style, voice, aesthetic, or storyline. Why add to the noise?

Now, a school setting is a stock setting for middle grade. Middle grade literature is about the first foray into the public world somewhat independent of parental guardianship. It's about a first effort of forging an independent viewpoint and self-identity separate from parentally imprinted viewpoint and identity. A school setting provides a substitute home base headquarters for independent operations.

Old school boarding houses are a stock in the trade. They create the most distance for young protagonists from parents. New school similarities are informal fostering at acquaintances homes, family relation homes, or specialized schools. Other middle grade settings also separate young protagonists from parental supervision. Home alone, lost, abruptly orphaned, somehow operating on one's own lookout for awhile.

Rowling and Tolkien didn't take up all the fantastic and exotic character motifs, like elves, dwarves, giants, witches, dragons, goblins, boogy men, and unicorns that titilate and terrify youngsters, which symbolize childhood fears and desires. They reinvented an ark full of fresh motifs based on ancient ones' part of the collected cultural zeitgeist. Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Brothers Fairy Tales and Arabian Nights are good source materials for fantastic motifs. So are dream symbolism, like shipwrecks representing ruin, lighthouses representing guiding lights, treasure representing fabulous fame and fortune. For that matter, symbolism of Tarot cards are another source material for exotic motifs.
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by Netti » February 27th, 2011, 6:00 pm

I think it mostly depends on your plot. You do have a few similar elements, and lumped together like that it does look like "copying" but I think you need to examine your plot as a whole and go from there.
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by JohnDurvin » February 28th, 2011, 11:27 pm

As polymath said, a boarding school is a great place to set a YA novel, and any boarding school in the UK is (I'm pretty sure) going to have a headmaster, just as an American one is going to have a principal. As for arranging the kids into Houses, I'm not certain how common a thing that is, but in the name of avoiding HP tropes, you might want to change it to, say, different majors or concentrations that they can sign up for, clubs, teams, or even plain old cliques. Everybody loves castles, but if you're otherwise overly Rowling-esque, you might want to switch it out for an old mansion, or just have the board school be really, really old. Two hundred years is plenty of time to get some ghosts, if that's what you're after. But these are all superficial changes.

Just putting this out there, is it possible that you're too close to Rowling in general? In a world where everybody's familiar with the saga, each forming a slightly different internalized version of it based on their perceptions of the theme, are you absolutely sure you're not just writing a sort of world-building fanfic, where characters with the serial numbers filed off do the things that you thought they should do, bits you don't like chopped out? If you're worried that you're so close to her, I would figure out what you're doing different from her, then play that up in the work. Just setting it in an old plantation manor in Georgia instead of a castle in Scotland isn't going to affect the story, or the overall effect of it.
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by DanielaTorre » March 10th, 2011, 10:44 pm

To be fair, there is another popular MG series called The Children of The Red King . The first book is Midnight for Charlie Bones written by Jenny Nimmo, also a British author. The books are quite popular.

The story is essentially about an unlucky boy who is shipped off to a boarding school for "gifted" children. They are split into houses, eat in a huge mess hall and wear capes. On top of that, they have house colors and a headmaster, and mean bullies reminiscent of Malfoy. Instead of mentioning magic, each of the gifted children are referred to as endowed, that is, they each possess a unique ability. In Charlie Bone's case, it's hearing the conversation in photographs.

It's basically the same premise as Harry Potter except they attend Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster and are short one telepathic paraplegic.

So in essence, despite the contextual similarities in pretty much every aspect of the book, it sold really well and spawned an eight book series..... Wait a minute, where was a really going with this? Oh yeah, the fact that Jenny Nimmo pulled off such a massive imitation was because she was already an established author. So she could get away with it. For new writers, it's a challenge.

But before you get discouraged, I'd like to point out the following:

Image

Harry Potter's plot isn't the most original as you can see. But getting away from a book that's sold more copies than the Bible is near impossible. So why don't you do a little brainstorming? Does your protagonist have to go off to a castle? Can't he just attend school and walk home everyday? The walk home from school can spawn limitless possibilities for conflict. Is it critical that they attend different houses? Maybe it's simply a boarding school. Maybe it's even an orphanage. Maybe it's a dilapidate building in the center of a moor surrounded by sheep.Those small details are perhaps what garner the comparisons, not the fact that he's destined to save he world because let's face it, pretty much every character written in fantasy is destined for greatness.

As far as the names and creatures, I'm imagining that you used the name Seamus because it's Irish and a boggart because of its fantastical elements. But there's no need to get attached to a name or a creature. That's what Google is for. Punch in "Common Irish Names" and see what happens. Research mystical creatures and see what comes up. If all else fails, invent one.

If all else fails, don't get discouraged. Just finish writing it. When you're done, stick it in a drawer for a couple of months and come back to it with fresh eyes. If you don't cringe at the similarities, then you're good.

Hope my ramblings help.

P.S. - IMO, Midnight for Charlie Bone was simply horrible, and not because it was it was like Harry Potter. It was just poorly conceived. I won't rag on it to much because I could only get through the first book, so...

Another hugely successful series with the same concept is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Amazingly awesome book. Pick it up. It's basically Harry Potter but with Greek Gods.

Hmm, which reminds me, would changing the narrative from third person to first person make any difference in how people perceive the book (provided that you are indeed writing in third person)? Would you be willing to write it in first person? Those are some other things to consider.
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Re: The Harry Potter effect in my MG/YA writing

Post by Beethovenfan » March 12th, 2011, 12:39 pm

The comparison between Star Wars and harry Potter... Awesome.
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