When people ask who’s influenced my fiction writing, I can point to several of the best fantasy writers around—Ursula K. LeGuin, Philip Pullman, J. R.R. Tolkien. But close to the top, I’d also have to include a person who wasn’t exactly a writer per se: Hermione Granger. Yes, Harry Potter’s indefatigable gal pal has taught me a lot about writing. No, I don’t mean her creator, J. K. Rowling. I’m talking about Hermione herself.
I’ve decided Week 4 should be Fantasy Writing Week in my writing pilgrimage, so to begin with, here are a few of the things I learned about writing from Hermione Granger.
Be authentic. Hermione may have been played by the adorable Emma Watson in the movies, but in the book, she’s described as having bushy hair, big front teeth, and a loud, unpleasant voice. The good part: She doesn’t care.
We never see Hermione fussing over her looks, worrying about her hair, or trying to be something she’s not. She is who she is, and she seems perfectly fine with it. In the books, she straightens her hair exactly once—when she goes to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum—but afterwards, she announces that it was simply too much work and never intends to do it again. Hurrah for her!
Every writing class on Earth should begin with a lesson on authenticity. Being who you are—not an imitation of J. D. Salinger or Toni Morrison or John Grisholm—is key to writing well. A reader can spot a phony a mile off, and nothing is as deadly to writing as insincerity. So, embrace yourself warts and all, the way Hermione embraces her bushy hair, and you’ll be one step ahead of everyone who’s trying to be someone they aren’t.
Use the library. Listen up, writers: Research, research, research. Learn to love it and learn to do it well. Hermione does. All the time. And always with very useful results.
“But why’s she got to go to the library?” Harry asks when she disappears among the stacks to solve a mystery in their second year at Hogwarts. “Because that’s what Hermione does,” answers Ron. “When in doubt, go to the library.”
Follow the rules except when you break them. Hermione can be a stickler for rules. In her first year, she follows Ron and Harry around demanding that they follow Hogwarts’ regulations and worrying about what will happen to them if they don’t. But, when the chips are down, she has no problem breaking every rule in sight. In order to create a polyjuice potion that will allow them to disguise themselves, she lies to Professor Lockhart, illicitly checks a book out of the Restricted Section of the library, and even steals ingredients from Professor Snape.
This is exactly what I teach my writing students—and try to do myself. Listen to what your teachers and editors tell you. Study books. Take workshops. Learn the rules of grammar, style, and structure until you know them inside and out. Don’t just learn them, master them. And follow them. Except when your writing will be better for violating them. Which may be often. Then, break them all you want.
Tomorrow: more things I learned about writing from Hermione Granger.
I just finished my morning writing which ended up with thoughts on being authentic. I decided to sit down with a cup of tea and check your blog for this week. How wonderful to find that you were also writing about authenticity. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Now I think I must go read the Harry Potter books… Anne Ciochetto
Hi Anne. It’s good to hear from you. I’m so glad you liked the post!