“Facing” Up to My Writerly Limitations

As you probably know by now, I am an avid reader.  My adoration for Anne Lamott and Judith Warner notwithstanding, I am pulled quite strongly to fiction.  But despite my love of a great piece of literature and my newfound passion for writing, I cannot imagine writing fiction.

I am currently rereading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  I have very fond memories of my first forays into J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world: immediately after reading the first book in the series, I read aloud it to my third grade students and will never forget the way in which their fascination with Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, and Hogwarts helped animate my own enjoyment of the series.

Having read the Harry Potter series several times and knowing the plot points fairly well, I am now more focused on Rowling’s writing when rereading the books.  I certainly would not argue that Rowling is one of the greatest writers of our time.  Not nearly.

But a captivating story-teller?  Absolutely.  And, as I realized last night while diving back into her writing, quite adept at describing the physical attributes of her characters.

Of Professor Dumbledore, she writes,

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive.  He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.  He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept to the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.  His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.

Hagrid receives a similarly thorough introduction:

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it.  He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide.  He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins.

Like an artist’s ability to accurately render the human hand, the ability to describe a character’s physical appearance – particularly his face – is a kind of Holy Grail for a writer -  and it’s one of the many reasons I cannot imagine writing fiction.

I have enough trouble understanding and then explaining people’s emotions – forget about describing the shape of someone’s nose.

Do you prefer reading fiction or non-fiction?  Which do you prefer writing?  Is there a particular ability that you admire in a writer?

Image: BIG Harry Potter by Christine ™ via Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Tagged as: Anne Lamott, Dumbledore, fiction, Hagrid, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Hermione, Hogwarts, Holy Grail, J.K. Rowling, Judith Warner, Motherese, mothereseblog, non-fiction, Privet Drive