How JK Rowling created Harry Potter #shorts

2023-02-23 · Short · Ali · recording, 0:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Mindset, motivation and happiness · mode: Explanation and tutorial

Ali retells how J. K. Rowling had the idea for Harry Potter on a train in 1990, wrote while unemployed and on benefits, and was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury published the book in 1997; her persistence paid off, he says, though the hard part is knowing when persistence does more harm than good.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — How J. K. Rowling created Harry Potter, and when to keep going

• ★★ Ali says J. K. Rowling had the idea for Harry Potter in 1990 on a delayed train from Manchester to King's Cross in London. — 00:00:00 · Harry Potter (book series), London
• ★★ Ali says that while J. K. Rowling was unemployed, a single parent and living off government benefits, she spent the next few years writing in Edinburgh cafes with her daughter. — 00:00:00
• ★★ Ali says J. K. Rowling finished the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in 1995, five years after the idea. — 00:00:00 · Harry Potter (book series)
• ★★★ Ali says 12 publishers rejected Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone before Bloomsbury Publishing took a leap of faith; it came out in 1997, and J. K. Rowling went on to become the world's highest-paid author. — 00:00:29
• ★★★ The lesson Ali draws from J. K. Rowling's story is that her persistence paid off: if you want something badly enough, you have to keep going no matter how many times you fail. — 00:00:29
• ★★ The difficult part of persistence, Ali says, is deciding when it is actually causing you more harm than good; he asks viewers what they think. — 00:00:29

Threads in this video

• refine · How do you deal with rejection and failure? — The lesson Ali draws from J. K. Rowling's story is that her persistence paid off: if you want something badly enough, you have to keep going no matter how many times you fail. (00:00:29)

Mentioned

Central: Harry Potter (book series) · J. K. Rowling

Also: Bloomsbury Publishing · Edinburgh · Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone · King's Cross · Manchester

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