Happy 26th Birthday Harry Potter
Jul. 31st, 2006 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pbrayOf course in JK Rowling's world it's still 1997, and we're waiting for book seven when Harry will turn 17.
As writers we can take note of what happens when you put specific dates in your books. When JK Rowling started writing in 1990, the dates she used were contemporary. By the time the first book was published in 1997, it referred to Harry being 11, which would place the events in 1991.
Fortunately the time gap isn't a big deal, since the majority of the action takes place in the magical world, and thus there's no need to account for the differences between 1997 and 2007. But if this were a conventional series such date specificity could be a problem.
As writers we can take note of what happens when you put specific dates in your books. When JK Rowling started writing in 1990, the dates she used were contemporary. By the time the first book was published in 1997, it referred to Harry being 11, which would place the events in 1991.
Fortunately the time gap isn't a big deal, since the majority of the action takes place in the magical world, and thus there's no need to account for the differences between 1997 and 2007. But if this were a conventional series such date specificity could be a problem.
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Re: you don't know me, but
Date: 2006-08-05 01:00 pm (UTC)Interesting point on the Dolly mystery series. It makes me wonder if the book was a "trunk manuscript"-- something she'd written before the others but for whatever reason didn't sell until later, and thus the inconsistencies between the character timelines and the world timelines.
I like what Duane has done with the series, but I'm sure she's had to give a lot of thought and put significant effort into the decisions that she's made.
It's funny how some things stay the same while others are constantly morphing. If you have your characters listening to a Top 40 radio station that works in the 70s as well as it works today, it's only the specific songs that change. But yesterday's Walkman is today's iPod, is tomorrow's who-knows-what?