Why all this hoopla over a pretend starting day for a fictional school?
Because Hogwarts seems totally awesome to so many people. And, most importantly, incredibly real. As one Tweeter put it, Hogwarts is way more fun than his real school. Who wouldn't want to go there?
Fans love JKR's wizarding world so much that they can't let it go, even though the series is complete. They must find ways to keep Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, the Burrow and Grimmauld Place alive, playing in its rich imaginary corridors and dungeons constantly.
How real is your world? How vividly have you imagined your shops and streets, your hospitals and homes? How strongly have you captured your imagination in black and white on paper or monitor? Have you put all your effort into giving your reader more than they expect? Have you provided such richness and authenticity of detail that your fans, too, one day will play in your universe as if it were better than real life?
World building is one of the most important elements that JKR did so right. It's impossible to cover all her world building techniques in one post, but follow the World Building label below, and I'll keep coming back to it again and again, trying to learn, hoping to unmask her magical secrets.
Because while my Hogwarts letter must have gotten lost in the mail too, :-( , I've got a ticket to an imaginary world of my own creation that thrills me just as well...if not better.
What about you? Where's your imagination taking you today?
