J.K Rowling: A life (Biographical Writing)

J.K Rowling: A Life

By Thomas

Year 6

Have you ever wondered who wrote the bestselling, award winning Harry Potter series? If so, J.K Rowling is your answer. Born on the 31st of July 1965 (coincidentally Harry Potter's birthday apart from the 1965 part) in a small town called Yate, no-one could have suspected that she would later become an author of universal appeal. She has raised millions of pounds for charity through the millions she has made from her book, movie and merchandise franchise. She is also the second richest woman in entertainment with an estimated 545 million pounds. But how did this literary genius achieve all of this phenomenal success whilst suffering a divorce, clinical depression and intrusion from the media…?

J.K Rowling grew up surrounded by books and has said herself that she lived for them and that she was a bookworm. Along with this she has mentioned that she wanted to write from an early age so it is no surprise that she became an author. She wrote her first story - called Rabbit - at the age of six. Sadly, this was never published. At eleven, she wrote another story about cursed diamonds and the people who owned them. She attended Wyedean Comprehensive school (so she did not have any head start in her education) and went on to study French and Classics at the University of Exeter. Classics included studying Latin which came in very useful for the Latin based spells in the Harry Potter series.

The idea for the Harry Potter series first came to her on a delayed train between London and Manchester in 1990. In the next five years she would plan out the seven books that make the famous and fictitious series. The way she wrote them though was rather unconventional as, instead of typing them (as most authors do), she wrote them on scrap pieces of paper and notebooks in longhand. Whilst this was happening she was also suffering from clinical depression. The full details about it are still mostly unknown but what we do know is that it was most likely because of her earlier divorce. When she had finally completed her first book, she went to twelve different publishers but none of them accepted the book. Her real name is Joanne but the first publisher she went to told her that most boys would not want to read it if they knew it was done by a female author. This is why her book/author name is J.K Rowling instead of Joanne Rowling. Her book was finally published by a small London company named Bloomsbury, however they only released one thousand copies of the book. Soon the book became a bestseller and she went on to write the other six books. The last four were instant bestsellers and the quickest selling books in history. In 2001, she remarried around the time that the fourth book was being published. Ten years after the first book, the last one was published and ever since people have asked themselves the question. What will she do next?

Although she began her journey under difficult circumstances, she went on to complete the entire series and write other books including several for an adult audience. These other books were written using a pseudonym though. She is an avid supporter of many different charities and she donates millions every year. She has come a long way from the depressed woman she was before Harry Potter. However, even in the midst of fame, she has not forgotten her humble beginnings which helped to create the iconic and popular character.