Not My Canon!

Update: Make It Work

A New Interview

Yesterday, we got a new interview from The Cursed Trio of J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. I know we are in the middle of analyzing the text, but I feel this has an important role in the overall analysis, since our insight into their collaboration has been limited to scant interviews and tweets. Many of the questions that fans have attempted to answer about how well they may have worked together, and to whom the credit (or blame) was due, were based on speculation. A lot of this I've covered and expanded upon, but there was always this lingering question in my mind about the inner workings of the writing process and this interview is enlightening.

We know that JKR has worked primarily on her own for all these years. The books were told from her creative mind and no one else's. The films gave her an opportunity to collaborate with others, but they were always based on her books. Cursed Child was the first time that JKR shared responsibility and worked in a team to alter course away from telling a prequel and toward a new target of developing the 8th story.

Although we've discussed how working in a committee of minds can unintentionally create an atrocity, I had not fully considered the impact of team dynamics on the development of the play. This interview revealed how important that truly was.

Team Challenge

One of the things I despised about school as a teenager was when the teacher would make us work in pairs, or teams of three. Somehow, I always wound up with people who were nothing like me, for a number of reasons. I always wished to be partnered up with my friends and felt like it was done intentionally to stop us from talking or being distracted from completing the assignment. Now, I understand as an adult how important team dynamics are in achieving a goal. For a truly modern example of this, you can look at the television show Project Runway. Particularly the episodes when the fashion designers are divided up into teams.

There, we observe how different voices, opinions, styles, and personal aspirations are meant to meld together in order to create something cohesive. And many times, almost without fail, the teams who are combative, who cry, bicker, challenge, and fight over minor details, are the ones who succeed. While the ones who work best together, the ones who seem to just agree on everything and find a perfect groove, wind up losing.

And, from a distance, that makes sense, right? It's sort of obvious. If you are forced to defend your work, or tear it up and start over, it puts you in the right mindset; one that reminds you that good things come with difficulty. Of course, when we are watching the show, engaged with these creative individuals, we would always prefer the latter. Who doesn't want a smooth work environment, where it seems like everyone is on the same wavelength, in-synch and positive - - that concept of functioning like a "well-oiled machine"? But in the real world, none of that matters. No one actually cares about how you achieved your result, they just want the end product to be successful.

Here, Have A Cookie

This was apparent to me in design school, where we learned the benefits of constantly challenging one another to deliver the finest project - - WHICH IS NOT EASY! Our natural instinct is to want someone to pat us on the back, say 'good job', and give us a cookie. And we want to extend this courtesy to others. But what is the goal? Is it to achieve the best possible outcome, or is it to simply finish a job? And that is where I think this interview really gives us a glimpse into their work life and why it could have perhaps been a negative environment for J.K. Rowling. She surrounded herself with people who weren't willing to stand up against her, or fight.

Struggle Equals Success

I've mentioned my wife before now. She has always supported my dream to be a novelist because she has a deep belief in my abilities as a storyteller. And while she is my biggest fan, she is also my staunchest critic. I cannot count the number of times when I handed her a completed chapter or discussed the concept of a new story where she didn't hear me out and say, "I like it, but..."