Written by Christopher Mannino
Two recent reviews compared School of Deaths to the Harry
Potter series. I decided to play on that a bit with this question: are
writers like Voldemort?
I say YES.
The first similarity is that both writers and Voldemort use magic.
Voldemort’s magic mostly involves torturing and killing people.
He seems especially obsessed with a teenage boy, and finds ways
to get into the boy’s mind. A writer also uses
magic. Writers use a group of arcane symbols arranged into
clumps they call words. Like a spell, they can take an image,
something that only exists as a slight fancy in their imagination, and
dump it into the imaination of their reader. As I type, an
elephant walked in front of my window stinking of manure. Did
you picture an elephant, or smell manure? What if I then told
you there was no elephant? That transference is the most real
form of magic imaginable….
Voldemort’s magic mostly involves torturing and killing people.
He seems especially obsessed with a teenage boy, and finds ways
to get into the boy’s mind. A writer also uses
magic. Writers use a group of arcane symbols arranged into
clumps they call words. Like a spell, they can take an image,
something that only exists as a slight fancy in their imagination, and
dump it into the imaination of their reader. As I type, an
elephant walked in front of my window stinking of manure. Did
you picture an elephant, or smell manure? What if I then told
you there was no elephant? That transference is the most real
form of magic imaginable….
“Writing is magic.” – Stephen King,
On Writing
On Writing
Another striking similarity is in what both writers and Voldemort
want: eternal life. Voldemort is obsessed with the idea of
immortality. He kills people to create horcruxes, ironially
causing his own downfall and death, when one of the horcruxes fights
back. Writers are no different. It’s true that many might
simply want to share their ideas, but in the end, by creating stories
that will endure, a writer has taken part of their soul and created
something eternal: a part of their soul that can be shared in
another’s mind, and could last forever. Sounds a lot like making
horcruxes- only without all the murders.
want: eternal life. Voldemort is obsessed with the idea of
immortality. He kills people to create horcruxes, ironially
causing his own downfall and death, when one of the horcruxes fights
back. Writers are no different. It’s true that many might
simply want to share their ideas, but in the end, by creating stories
that will endure, a writer has taken part of their soul and created
something eternal: a part of their soul that can be shared in
another’s mind, and could last forever. Sounds a lot like making
horcruxes- only without all the murders.
So what do you think? Are writers like Voldemort?
Also, don’t miss this stellar review for School of Deaths: http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=20235
YA Author Rendezvous 
February 12, 2016 at 12:13 am
Reblogged this on Paws4Thought and commented:
Today on the YAAR blog Christopher Mannino, Author of School of Deaths asks the question “are writer’s like Voldemort?” What do you think?
LikeLike
February 12, 2016 at 12:29 am
Great title 😀 😀 😀
LikeLike
February 12, 2016 at 2:38 am
Don’t forget our love for really complicated plots!
LikeLike
February 12, 2016 at 7:35 am
Well, Voldemort, in that top picture, really does look like he’s got writer’s block…
LikeLike
February 12, 2016 at 6:23 pm
Don’t forget the love of really elaborate plots!
LikeLike
February 15, 2016 at 10:32 pm
Paul, you’re right, we do love our elaborate plots! And yes, in the top shot, they cut out the manuscript that’s sitting in front of him- clearly writer’s block (but is there a spell for that?)
LikeLike