The Casual Vacancy
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Ask J.K. Rowling a Question About The Casual Vacancy
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Eren
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Jul 04, 2013 05:56AM
I personally haven't read the book, my question is more of a general question. How do you come up with such intriguing ways to write? The thought process must be immense. Only asking as I plan to write but only had ideas come to me when I was in an emotional state.
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When you were writing 'The Causal Vacancy', were you ever afraid that your Harry Potter fans wouldn't accept it or judge you for it and did that fear, if there was any, stop you at any point?
Did you write the book with particular famous faces in mind for the characters?
Have you felt afraid of the pressure of writing something different after the huge success of Harry Potter?
Was it difficult to start writing a new book without wanting to write more about Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger? Do you think that you will write more novels for adults or children?
You are well known for creating characters based on past experiences or past acquaintances. Were there any characters in this book that were based on your own personal experiences?
Why did you choose to write an adult novel, instead of continuing with Harry Potter or starting another children's series?
could we some your other works released un the U.S?
I really enjoyed Casual Vacancy. I noticed many comments and reviews compared this Novel to the Harry Potter series which is ridiculous. I enjoyed the first Harry Potter Book and I must admit, skipped to the last two, with help from my son to fill in, and I enjoyed them very much and my son read them over and over, but that series is in a class all its own. I'd love to see more fiction like The Casual Vacancy - how soon will we see a new Novel from J K Rowling?
Amongst the numerable characters, which do you like the best and why?
Is it easier to get into the mindset of an adult or a child? The one thing I really loved about the Casual Vancancy is that the characters were so real and their reactions to situations even more so (both adult and teenager). I also want to say thank you for having realistically drawn Indian-Asian characters in your book. :)
Why Umbrella by Rihanna? What was it that made you pick that specific song?
What gave you the idea to write The Casual Vacancy, and why did / what influenced you to decide to make the jump from children's novels to more adult aspects?
Given the enormous success of the Harry Potter series, were you pressured by your publishers or those close to you to ensure the Casual Vacancy would be a success? Do you harbour any negative feelings towards the book because it was not taken to the heights as your previous writings?
In the Harry Potter series, you had seven novels (as well as several ancillary books) to tell your story. What were the challenges and benefits to writing a one-off novel like The Casual Vacancy after spending so much time with/on HP?
JK Rowling, will you be writing more adult novels or something still related to Harry Potter? Like the encyclopedia you mentioned before? ;)
A lot of people were upset when they learned that your next book would not be Harry Potter related. What with Pottermore and all the hype about that I think people were expecting that maybe your new book wouldn't be part of the Harry Potter series but it would somehow incorporate themes and important plot points from them possibly like a whole new series about the trio's children and basically what happened with them. However, as much as I too wanted something Harry Potter related, I think The Casual Vacancy really showed people what kind of writer you are. The Harry Potter series, although absolutely everyone loves them, were more for children; kids and teenagers make up a vast majority of the Harry Potter fan base. Therefore I think it takes an extremely skilled writer to pull off writing 7 novels for one audience then writing a new novel for a whole different audience. My question to you is, did you ever find it difficult having to do this? Whilst writing "The Casual Vacancy" did you think about the type of audience and have to keep that in mind or did it come naturally to you? Also, I know there's that brilliant story about how the first time you wrote about Harry Potter it was while you were on a train and you wrote the idea on a napkin; well, how did you come up with the idea for "The Casual Vacancy"? Was the book a fire from a spark of an idea ignited long ago? Or did the idea come to you recently?
Hey Jo! My question is... You made me cry for about 4 hours once I blitzed this book and I am otherwise a rather macho bloke, others I know didn't shed a tear... Is there something wrong with me or them ( in your opinion :)??
Much love - and thanks for seeing me through childhood! :)
From all the success you gained from the Harry potter series, were you afraid the casual vacancy wouldn't be as well received?
The Casual Vacancy has been declared the Middlemarch of our time. How do you feel about that? Did you set out to paint a picure of british society and the class system or was that something that evolved naturally?
Gretchen wrote: "How do you think American politics compare with that of British and how do you think the main political issues in England as portrayed in this small town council translate to the American political..."Keith wrote: "The Casual Vacancy is a very serious look at Britain's mental health/social services institutions and the problems they face. It obviously hits close to home. Can you say what prompted, inspired y..."
These are some questions I'd like to ask as well which I believe are great questions.
What gave you the inspiration to write "The Casual Vacancy" and what gave you the idea of going from teenage wizard Harry Potter, to The Casual Vacancy?
When you felt inspired to write The Casual Vacancy, do you feel it came from a higher realm within your being, and did that inspiration seem to choose odd hours to push you to write seemingly producing some of your best work?
after the successful selling of 'harry potter' do you think this book will be successful like harry potter
Everybody says that Casual Vacancy is completely different from HP. To be true it was not the book that all HP fans expected, but it was great also. What was your emotions when you were writing completely another type of the book. Were you afraid that HP fans won`t like this one?
What compelled you to write a completely different book after the success of Harry Potter??
After writing Harry Potter, why did you choose to write something vastly different from the fantasy genre? Wouldn't you have found more success writing a similar novel or series?
Clearly character development is a stand-out strength for you. Can you share about the process you went through developing certain characters in Casual Vacancy?
How did you make the transition from kids to adults??
What was more fun to write: Harry Potter or Casual Vacancy?
I would like to know where do you get your ideas from is it something you read about I myself am a writer my ideas just come to me name for characters places I once saw baywood on a bottle of wine found out it is a real place i do not drink. Sorry to say i have never read any harry potter or anything else by you yet i love all things about magic anything like that. luv lesleyc xx
As a library employee, I've kept a mental tally of the patrons in our small library who've picked up this book and said they hated it or couldn't even get half way through it, for my own interest. I loved it but am curious how you had it in you to write of such unlikable idiots and jerks on such a complex level?! Such a departure (it's all been said)was a not just a shock to the system, but even if you hadn't been known for HP, I'd be shaking my head in wonder of where all these characters came from. Barely a redeemable quality in the lot-it was so hard to read at times, I didn't blame others for it not being their cup of tea. A book with no likable characters-what made you do it?Love you & Thanks!!
Do you have any particular actors/actresses you would like to see cast in a movie/tv adaptation of The Casual Vacancy?
The Harry Potter books were compelling on so many levels, but primary among them were the lovable central characters and how they dealt with adversity as well as the prevailing sense of hope for the triumph of good. There were several characters to identify with and root for. I didn't find these qualities so easily in "The Casual Vacancy." Must I surrender the joys of escape in reading and embrace the learning opportunities of reality in order to continue reading J K Rowling?
Sorry, I couldn't get through this book. I disliked the characters and the petty, small town feeling of the place. My questionis: Will you be writing a more engaging book for adults in the future? This one just didn't cut it for me
How different was the writing process itself, compared to writing Harry Potter?
I work in Childwelfare for the state of Missouri and I also work in ministry and counseling ,having Masters degree's in both areas. I see and hear the things in this book day and day out. I have counseled a teenage girl who is a cutter and struggles with her families approval. I grew up with a father addicted to both heroine and Crack. I see the lengths at which the political system in the Children's Division will go in order to get their agenda pushed through. In all these areas I found you book very accurate in the descriptions painted of the interconnectivity of the town and the way each character felt throughout. I sense that you had mixed feeling about the social workers, in your book Lay seemed to be both a blessing and curse and the other worker, Matty I think, seemed entirely complacent. Have you had a lot of person experiences in these areas?
When writing "The Casual Vacancy", were you making connections with the Harry Potter series? i.e. Barry rhymes with Harry and Harry Potter is the "boy who lived", whilst Barry is the "man who died".
With Harry Potter, you said that the idea simply fell into your head. What inspired you to write The Casual Vacancy?
Do you think loss is an important catalyst to move the story along?
I love the way you write characters. In the Casual Vacancy my favorite character was Howard because he evoked so many conflicting feelings...you couldn't help but love and hate him all at the same time.What process do you follow when you first sit down to develop a character? Do you use inspiration from somebody you know, or several people put together - if so, do you let people know that there is a piece of them in a character?
What made you want to write "The Casual Vacancy", seeing as it's so different from your previous writing of the "Harry Potter" series?
This was a very impressive novel. Do you believe certain characters in your book are representative of political figures today (e.g. Barry)? Or are they meant to be symbolic of whole populations, such as Kay for more of the middle-class?
Patrick wrote: "If you could ask J.K. Rowling one question about The Casual Vacancy, what would it be? In celebration of the paperback release, J.K. Rowling will answer one winning question about the book from Goo..."What gave you the idea about writing "The Casual Vacancy?" and will it be a series or a novel?
I see that their many questions about this. Why did leave security of Harry Potter genre for an adult theme?
The characters in this story go through different serious problems we see every day in real life. Was any of them inspired by a real person?
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