Brad and Harry: A Study in Fantasy

This readthru began as a “rest” strategy – part of learning to step back, take stock, and “level up”. Not once have I regretted my decision to fling myself headfirst into Harry’s world again. In addition to the hours of deep, utterly abandoned enjoyment, this rich story has given me a few other surprising gifts:

~ For writers, these books are like a masterclass in world-building, character development, and how to weave an immensely complicated plot with the correct balance of revelation and concealment.

~ Harry has helped to clarify certain aspects of the novel I just finished writing – the first in my own fantasy series (though I am hoping for five books, not seven).

See, this new book is long.

I finished writing it – longhand, on actual paper with an actual pen – in July, and I still am not finished typing it. (Granted, I have also been working on four freelance editing projects and teaching and trying to keep the house in order during that time, but still . . . it’s a long book.) It’s already much longer than The Ancient, and I still have to type the epic final chapter.

I was remarking on this to the hubs, and I reasoned – mostly to comfort myself – that this first book has to be long because it is . . . the first book. This is our first time meeting Brad (I tend to refer to this new book as simply “Brad”; keep that in mind for the rest of this post), so we have to get to know him and his backstory. I also have to establish the mechanics of this new world, and that requires a lot of explanation.

Then, I finished the first Harry Potter book.

I was remarking to the hubs how short this first book is – really, compared to the final four books, the first three are practically novellas – and how deftly J. K. Rowling manages to set up this entire world in such a short time. He thought about this, and then asked me a very important question:

What makes Brad different?

Why does the first Brad book have to be long, when the first Harry book accomplishes all of the same things with a lot fewer (as in, tens of thousands fewer) words?

I pondered that, and had two important revelations that have helped me understand Brad better:

First, Harry is only 11 years old when we meet him. He is a precocious lad, of course – he asks plenty of questions and sticks his preteen nose into plenty of places the adults would have preferred him not to investigate – but he still accepts this new magical world with the openhearted faith of a child.

His emotions are also fairly simple in those first two books: Sad things have happened in Harry’s life. Harry is sad. Harry is even a little angry sometimes. Look – a broomstick! Let’s move on to how awesome it is to be a wizard!

Brad, on the other hand, is 29 in this first book. He has more baggage (nearly two decades’ worth) to keep him from entering into this new world with Harry’s simple delight. Brad is certainly an easygoing chap – he rolls with the punches of his new situation with surprising ease, for the most part – but he is also deeply suspicious. He spends much of the first chapter trying to figure out if he is a) on drugs b) going insane. (Since he’s never done drugs, this is rather tricky, but he tries to reason it out.) Alas, this attempt to control his situation by understanding it – by fitting it into a more familiar frame of reference – is a very adult response.

Harry #3, which I am almost finished reading, has confirmed this hypothesis about age of main character/length of book. Suddenly, Harry is 13. The world is not so simple anymore. Yes, Harry is still delighted about the magical world, but he is also beginning to have a harder time sorting through his emotions: Bad things have happened and are still happening in Harry’s life. Harry is sad. Harry is MORE than a little angry. Harry is feeling a whole lot of things he can’t even put words to. Harry is going to shut himself away from the people who care about him so he can brood on these things for several paragraphs. 

The Harry Potter books get longer because the plot becomes more complex, yes, but also because Harry himself becomes more complex.

The books grow up with Harry. It’s genius.

Basically, Brad #1 is longer than Harry #1 because Brad is older, and therefore, his emotions are more complex from the beginning. He also has a lot more backstory to layer in, and a whole lot more difficulty being ok with suddenly landing in a new, completely different world. 

My second big revelation is that the magical world Harry encounters in that first book is, apparently, an intact world.

Many are still recovering from the terror of Voldemort’s rampage a decade before, but for the most part, business proceeds as usual. Only the occasional hint reveals that future terror is brewing in the shadows.

Unfortunately for Brad, the world he lands in is already broken – split down the middle and splintering more every day.

Not only does he have to learn how this new world works, but he has to learn how it’s SUPPOSED to work, what went wrong, and how to fix it. 

Think about it: what if Harry found out he’s a wizard AFTER Lord Voldemort had already returned and was in the process of taking over?

How is a hero supposed to learn the ropes, save the day, and stay sane in such an atmosphere of panic, doubt, and fear? 

To find out, you’ll have to read Brad. 🙂

Back to typing . . .