PROJECT ON "INTERVIEW WITH J. K. ROWLING"

 

 

INTERVIEW WITH J. K. ROWLING

 

 

Here is an imaginary interview with J. K. Rowling, writer of famous film series Harry Porter:

 

 

 

 

 

Output of the project:

 

Interviewer:            Hello madam, do you make up the plot in every aspect first by charting the characters and knowing exactly what you would do with them, or did you just piece a lot of it together as you wrote earlier?

J. K. Rowling:          I always have a basic plot of outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I wrote or write. It's more fun, indeed.

 

Interviewer:            Do you now or have you in the past kept a journal? If yes, do you believe that it helps in you while writing?

J. K. Rowling:          I never managed to keep a journal longer than two weeks. I get bored with my life. I always prefer inventing things.

 

Interviewer:            Madam, what is Nearly Headless Nick's last name?

J. K. Rowling:          It's in Book I: De Mimsy-Porpington, excellent one.

 

Interviewer:            Why does Professor Dumbledore always like sherbet lemons?

J. K. Rowling:          Because I think that as I like sherbet lemons! And he's got good taste too.

 

Interviewer:            Was it hard for you to think of the monsters' names?

J. K. Rowling:          You know that some of the monsters are from folklore, so I didn't invent them. In Book IV you'll see some creatures I did invent, and I had fun making up their names and it gives me pleasure a lot.

 

Interviewer:            What has been your greatest experience because of Harry Potter's success?

J. K. Rowling:          It was the last American tour because for the first time I realized how many children love Harry. And It was a moving experience for me.

 

Interviewer:            Kindly tell me what makes some witches/wizards become ghosts after they die and some not?

J. K. Rowling:          You don't really find that out until Book VII, but I can say that the happiest people do not become ghosts at all. As you might guess, Moaning Myrtle! Is not it right?

 

Interviewer:            How long have you been writing, Madam?

J. K. Rowling:          As far back as I can remember as it is my passion. The first story I finished was when I was six years old, very funny.

 

Interviewer:            What would your advice be to any other young people that would want to write stories like you?

J. K. Rowling:          I think the most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will surely give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary and knowledge. And it's a lot of fun! And also, start by writing about things as you already know - your own experiences, your own feelings. That's what I do.

 

Interviewer:            What did the Potter parents do for a living before Voldemort killed them, Madam?

J. K. Rowling:          I'm sorry to keep saying this, but I can't tell you because it's important to a later plot, sorry. But you will find out later when you will read it!

 

Interviewer:            In the first book you said Slytherin house Quidditch captain was sixth year Marcus Flint and If there are only seven years of Hogwarts, why is he in the third book of yours?

J. K. Rowling:          He had to do a year again, my boy!

 

Interviewer:            How do students at Hogwarts get educated in Muggle subjects and Do they even need to know other things besides magic?

J. K. Rowling:          They can choose to study Muggle subjects if they will. In the third book, Hermione takes the class Muggles Studies, and that's where they learn about Muggles in school etc.

 

Interviewer:            Since Harry Potter's parents were sorcerers and Petunia was Harry's mother's sister and Shouldn't Petunia be a witch or wizard?

J. K. Rowling:          I don’t think so as Hagrid explains in Book I, sometimes a witch or a wizard occurs in an otherwise Muggle family, just as a Squib is a non-magic person who occurs in an otherwise magic family. Right?

 

Interviewer:            yes. Do you think that you will write about Harry after he graduates from Hogwarts? Isn't there a University of Wizardry in the story?

J. K. Rowling:          No, there's no University for Wizards. At the moment I'm only planning to write seven Harry Potter books and I won't say "never," but I have no plans to write an eighth book.

 

Interviewer:            Will we ever get a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who lasts more than a year, Madam?

J. K. Rowling:          I'm not going to tell you.

 

Interviewer:            Is Harry Potter ever going to fall in love with Hermione or is he going to fall in love with Ginny Weasley surely?

J. K. Rowling:          In Book IV Harry does decide he likes a girl, but it's not Hermione or Ginny, I will say. However, he's only 14, so there's plenty of time for him to change his mind if he wish.

 

Interviewer:            If you had to choose one teacher from your books to teach your child, who would it be and why, kindly tell me, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          It would be Professor Lupin, my favourite one because he is kind, clever, and gives very interesting lessons.

 

Interviewer:            How many countries have you visited since writing Harry Potter? I know you like to travel.

J. K. Rowling:          Um...let me think a bit. Spain, Italy, France, America. That's all. Hope, I will be visiting lots more, but because my daughter's still so young, I don't like to travel too much unless I can take her with me.

 

Interviewer:            Will Harry ever get a break and not live with the Dursleys in your story?

J. K. Rowling:          I'm not going to tell you that, its secret!

 

Interviewer:            Will we ever see Scabbers again in your story?

J. K. Rowling:          Yes, definitely You will see Scabbers again.

 

Interviewer:            Will Harry ever get to go with his godfather (Sirius Black)?

J. K. Rowling:          He is in contact with Sirius Black in Book IV, but you know as Sirius is on the run, it's difficult for them to be together at the moment in future.

 

Interviewer:            Is it true, kindly tell me, you're doing 7 books, one for each year that Harry will be at Hogwarts?

J. K. Rowling:          Yes,  true.

 

Interviewer:            Do you have an actual floorplan for Hogwarts? Do you use it when writing your books?

J. K. Rowling:          I haven't drawn it, because I think it would be difficult for the most skilled architect to draw, owing to the fact that the staircases and the rooms keep moving. However, I have a very vivid mental image of what it looks like you may know.

 

Interviewer:            What made you think of the people's names and dormitories at Hogwarts, please tell me?

J. K. Rowling:          I invented the unusual names of the Houses on the back of an airplane sick bag! This is true. I love inventing names, but I also collect unusual names, I do so, so that I can look through my notebook and choose one that suits a new character.

 

Interviewer:            will you inform me if you take real people you know and put them in your books?

J. K. Rowling:          The closest I've come to putting a real person in my books is with Gilderoy Lockhart  and he is an exaggeration of someone I once knew. John Weasley is a little bit like my oldest friend, a man I was at school with, whose name is Sean. But neither of them are accurate portraits.

 

Interviewer:            How long does it take to write one Harry Potter book? An interesting question.

J. K. Rowling:          It depends. The quickest, so far, was a year as far as I can remember.

 

Interviewer:            How does it feel to you to know that millions of kids are reading your books worldwide?

J. K. Rowling:          Amazing to know it! I don't think I really realized how many there were until I visited the States and met thousands and thousands of people at book signings, I like it.

 

Interviewer:            How did you come up with Harry Potter in the story?

J. K. Rowling:          Harry just sort of strolled into my head, on a train journey, long ago. He arrived very fully formed. It was as though I was meeting him for the first time.

 

Interviewer:            Why are the gnomes bad? What do they do in the story?

J. K. Rowling:          Gnomes eat the roots of your plants, and make little heaps of earth, like moles do, you know. They are also a bit of a giveaway that wizards live in a house in the story.

 

Interviewer:            Did you ever meet a boy like Harry in your life?

J. K. Rowling:          I probably remember that I  met a boy like Harry, since I've been meeting readers of the Harry books. But he wasn't based on anyone real so far I can tell you.

 

Interviewer:            Are any of your female characters, like Hermione, modeled after your own daughter, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          No, if Hermione was based on anyone, she was based on me when I was younger, you know. But my daughter is turning out to be a bit like me, so she is a bit like Hermione as you will notice.

 

Interviewer:            Was there a particular teacher who encouraged you to write when you were a child, madam? If there was, how did he or she encourage or help you in writing?

J. K. Rowling:          I had some wonderful teachers, but I never confided that I wanted to be a writer. So, no. Writing for me is a kind of compulsion, passion, so I don't think anyone could have made me do it, or prevented me from doing it since my childhood.

 

Interviewer:            Where were you born and what was your childhood like? 

J. K. Rowling:          I was born in a place called Chipping, so perhaps that explains my love of silly names, my boy.

 

Interviewer:            How can two Muggles have a kid with magical powers, kindly explain it? Also how does the Ministry of Magic find out these kids have powers?

J. K. Rowling:          It's the same as two black-haired people producing a redheaded child in the story. Sometimes these things just happen, and no one really knows why! The Ministry of Magic doesn't find out which children are magic. In Hogwarts there's a magical quill which detects the birth of a magical child, and writes his or her name down in a large parchment book, as you will notice. Every year Professor McGonagall checks the book, and sends owls to the people who are turning 11 in the story.

 

Interviewer:            Does Harry give Christmas gifts to his friends? The books mention only gifts he receives in the story. I am interested to know whether he gives gifts and if they are appropriate for the receiver.

J. K. Rowling:          Ron is very sensitive about his poverty, and Harry knows that Ron might be offended if he tried to give him too much in the story. Ron feels awkward accepting too much from Harry in the story.

 

Interviewer:            Do you have a role model and if so, who?

J. K. Rowling:          I don't really have a role model, but I have a heroine in my mind! She was Jessica Mitford, and she was a human rights activist.

 

Interviewer:            When you were my age, did you ever write a book? I am in the fifth grade.

J. K. Rowling:          Yes, as a matter of fact I did. I wrote a story about seven cursed diamonds in the childhood. I thought it was a novel. I think now it was really a very long short story.

 

Interviewer:            Where is Azkaban, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          In the north of the North Sea, a very cold sea.

 

Interviewer:            We are Windy Hills Elementary. Do you write every day, and for how long do you write, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          I write nearly every day. Some days I write even for ten or eleven hours. Other days I might only write for three hours and it depends on how fast the ideas are coming in mind.

 

Interviewer:            How do you feel about receiving the British Book Awards Children's Book of the year, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          Very, very honored.

 

Interviewer:            Where did Sirius Black and Buckbeak go after they went into hiding in the story?
J. K. Rowling:          Somewhere nice and warm! Ha ha.

 

Interviewer:            Do you have any pets/animals? If so, did any of your ideas for monsters come from watching them, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          I have a very very violent rabbit.

 

Interviewer:            How many languages is the book published in?

J. K. Rowling:          Oh goodness! Probably Twenty-five, I think!

 

Interviewer:            Madam, would you get a mythical pet from one of your books? If you could, which one?

J. K. Rowling:          If I could, I would choose a Phoenix, because they have such useful properties, as Harry finds out in Book III.

 

Interviewer:            Did you get any help writing any of the books?

J. K. Rowling:          No, I did it all by myself!

 

Interviewer:            Why did you choose the lightning bolt as a trademark for Harry Potter story?

J. K. Rowling:          actually I decided that it would be an interesting and distinctive mark.

 

Interviewer:            Do you still write in cafes, or do you have to stay out of public places while you write so people won't bother you? I am excited to know it

J. K. Rowling:          I still write in cafes, but I go to different ones now! Ha ha.

 

Interviewer:            Scholastic says: We are almost out of time Ms. Rowling, thank you so much for joining us. Do you have any parting words you would like to share with your unnumbered admires, madam?

J. K. Rowling:          Don't let the Muggles get you down! Ok bye.

 

Interviewer:            Thank you madam! Thanks for your valuable time.