Putting On That Magician's Hat

A writer says to the reader, take my hand. Follow me and I will show you wonders. And if the writer is good we follow. But, the big question is, how to become a writer of such magical abilities that the reader will follow you anywhere. My first response is: the reader must trust the writer, and the writer must work hard to be worthy of that trust. I can tell you a few of the things that break my trust in a writer. Number one,  spelling and grammar mistakes. If a writer doesn't know how to use the English language correctly, why is he a writer? Number two, writers with an agenda. If I'm reading fiction, I don't want to hear about about your religion, or how you feel for the starving children in the Sudan, I can get that in church or the news. I read for entertainment, and when the entertainment turns into a sermon or a rant, I tune out. Number three, too much exposition, poorly crafted dialogue, a writer not in love with language, etc. etc. Each of these is the reading equivalent of seeing where the rabbit was before the magician pulled it from the hat. It spoils the Magic.

So what makes magic for me in a book? An emotional connection. Not only do I want to experience what the main character does, but I want to feel what he or she feels.  I will give as an example the beginning of  J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

In the beginning of the first Harry Potter book, Harry is being raised by his aunt and uncle, Muggles who don't understand the magical world, and in fact are emphatically against it. Harry is a Cinderella child, an unpaid servant who is made to sleep in a tiny room under the stairs and who must endure the fawning of his aunt and uncle over their overweight, silly son. Hopefully, no one you know, or even you yourself has lived in such terrible circumstances. In the meantime, of course, we know that Harry is the son of two well known wizards, though he is unaware of his famous

heritage and  his inherited magical powers.  

What Rowling has done in this opening scene is connect Harry with the reader through the idea of unfairness. We've all experienced unfairness in our lives. Even if we don't live in an environment as dire as Harry's, we understand what it means to have something we've worked for abruptly taken away. We've felt the sting of someone else receiving the praise we feel we deserve, of having  someone less worthy get the promotion, the parents' attention, the place in line, or the good grade. You name it, the list is endless. In other words, the feeling of the world's unfairness is universal, and in portraying Harry Potter in an unfair environment, Rowling has made us feel that she knows us, and thus reeled us in as readers.

The second event which occurs in the beginning of the book is what I call Divine Intervention. Hagrid comes to rescue Harry from the island where he's been taken by the Muggle family. Harry is surprised but in the end, not unwilling to leave the family and follow Hagrid on new adventures.

Normally, I'm not a fan of Divine Intervention. "It was only a dream," is the worst example of this kind of ending. It says that the reader was too lazy to work out an ending that actually fits the plot. The Greeks used to call Divine Intervention, "Deus ex Machina" or The God from the Machine. At the end of some Greek plays a mythical God would descend from above (via a machine of some sort) and make a pronouncement, solving all the problems of the play.

I grew up in a busy household. With two working parents and four children there wasn't much time for individual attention. My sisters would 'borrow' clothing and return it stained or torn. I had toys taken and returned in the same condition, and at times I fervently wished I were an only child. One of my recurring fantasies was that I was the offspring of a king and queen, living far away. These two people had somehow forgotten that they had a daughter...me, whom they'd left with ordinary Muggles to raise. I imagined that one day, there would be a knock on the door and my real parents would arrive, ready to reclaim me and whisk me off to a wonderland of endless toys and unlimited parental regard. Divine Intervention.

So when Harry gets rescued by Hagrid, I get it because I've known the feeling of longing for someone up there to recognize how miserable I am down here. At that point in the story,  J.K. Rowling has put on her magical magician's hat and I am ready to follow her anywhere.

And so dear readers and writers, can you find the place in a book you are reading, where the writer/magician has touched a deep feeling in you? And, more importantly, can you as a writer do the same for other readers? If so, you can put on your pointed magician's hat, pick up your magic wand and say to your reader "Follow me and let me show you something wonderful."

If you can do that, you may not have the fame of J.K. Rowling, but you will be a writer.

Marguerite Mooers is the author of six murder mysteries, Take My Hand, The Shelter of Darkness, A Casualty of Hope, The Girl in the Woods, The Life That He Lived, and The Lies That He Told. They are available on Amazon, Draft2Digital and Google Play. Follow her on her Facebook author page and on her website, margueritemooers.com.