--- title: Book: J.K. Rowling Needs to Say Goodbye to Harry Potter description: What is there to speculate on if the author fills in the blanks for us? canonical: https://time.com/3924640/jk-rowling-harry-potter-let-go/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-17T18:30:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:15.474Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why J.K. Rowling Needs to Let 'Harry Potter' Go og:description: What is there to speculate on if the author fills in the blanks for us? og:url: https://time.com/3924640/jk-rowling-harry-potter-let-go/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ed9756914c232a7/698854e22dce012c7a9e4354/187481786-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=411&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 411 og:image:height: 231 og:image:alt: J. K. Rowling attends a charity event in London on Nov. 9, 2013. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why J.K. Rowling Needs to Let 'Harry Potter' Go twitter:description: What is there to speculate on if the author fills in the blanks for us? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ed9756914c232a7/698854e22dce012c7a9e4354/187481786-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=411&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why J.K. Rowling Needs to Let _Harry Potter_ Go > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Harry Potter Could've Attended An American Wizarding School [Watch (HLS stream): Harry Potter Could've Attended An American Wizarding School](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ivWBNS2z.m3u8) (2:05)  _Published 2015-06-10. The_ by [Tyler Vendetti / xoJane](https://time.com/author/xojane/) ## Tyler Vendetti / xoJane Contributor Jun 17, 2015 6:30 PM UTC  J. K. Rowling attends a charity event in London on Nov. 9, 2013. J. K. Rowling attends a charity event in London on Nov. 9, 2013. Danny E. Martindale—Getty Images by [Tyler Vendetti / xoJane](https://time.com/author/xojane/) ## Tyler Vendetti / xoJane Contributor Jun 17, 2015 6:30 PM UTC  Last February, mystery author Lynn Shepherd committed an unforgivable offense: she advised J.K. Rowling to stop writing. Her piece, titled “[If J.K. Rowling Cares About Writing, She Should Stop Doing It](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lynn-shepherd/jk-rowling-should-stop-writing%5Fb%5F4829648.html),” chastised the children’s author for occupying the media’s attention with her post-Potter mystery novels, claiming her continued publishing efforts make it difficult for other, amateur writers to break into the industry. The punishment was swift and scathing. Forbes writer Jerry Bowyer [denounced the “second tier” writer’s “pathetic cry for relief”](http://www.forbes.com/sites/jerrybowyer/2014/03/03/should-j-k-rowling-stop-writing-second-tier-crime-novelists-tells-harry-potter-creator-to-stop-writing-adult-fiction/) and her view that Rowling’s new writing projects threaten to occupy publishing’s limited “shelf space.” _Interview with A Vampire_ author Anne Rice condemned Shepherd’s “[vicious, cynical, \[and\] resentful](https://www.facebook.com/annericefanpage/posts/10203179590240824)” behavior. One blogger went so far as to call Shepherd’s piece “[venomous](http://publishthings.com/2014/02/28/if-lynn-shepherd-has-any-credibility-she-should-shush/)”; another recommended that she seek a therapist, “[or a priest, if that’s your thing](http://www.technologytell.com/entertainment/38277/an-open-letter-to-lynn-shepherd-the-lady-who-wrote-an-open-letter-to-j-k-rowling/).” To say that Shepherd made Rowling the scapegoat for her own personal failings is not entirely inaccurate, but her argument can’t be completely discredited. While her claim that the _Harry Potter_ series “\[made\] it next to impossible for anything else to survive, let alone thrive” demonstrates a flawed understanding of the publishing industry, her suggestion that Rowling needs to let her beloved series die is correct, but for very different reasons. Before I continue, I should preface my discussion by saying that I believe J.K. Rowling should never stop writing. A single mother who suffered bouts of clinical depression and survived on welfare for years before publishing her now famous series, Rowling used literature in a way that literature should be used: to inspire personal growth and happiness. I don’t believe her attempts to expand on Harry’s world pose a threat to new writers trying to break into the exclusive realm of “successful authors.” I cannot deny (nor do I want to) that _Harry Potter_ has had an enormous impact on our society, on our kids’ imaginations, and on literature. In fact, I resent Shepherd’s holier-than-thou opinion that adults should be reading more “grown up” books; her suggestion overlooks the potential the series has for dissolving the boundaries between young adult fiction and adult fiction, and eliminating the elitism that sometimes comes with the latter title. And I’m not saying we should torch our _Harry Potter_ books and devote our precious reading time to authors who have learned how to pursue other projects. Here’s what I am saying: the last _Harry Potter_ novel was published eight years ago. The last movie was released four years ago. Since then, Rowling’s released three novels and a handful of short stories. Despite these successes, though, she continues to return to Hogwarts. And that’s where I see a problem. Steven Spielberg once said that the key to _Jaws_’s success is not its visual effects but its reliance on the audience’s imagination: “Jaws is scary because of what you don’t see, not because of what you do. We need to bring the audience back into partnership with storytelling.” Our imagination is the most powerful tool we have. It’s the well that keeps creativity flowing. It’s what keeps the passion alive, in literature at least. Withholding [the details of Sirius Black and James Potter’s adolescence](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry%5FPotter%5FPrequel), for example, allows readers to speculate alternative narratives and create their own connections. It inspires discussion at book groups and encourages the exploration of character development. In other words, it starts a conversation, which is the best thing any book or piece of art can do. Filling in all the details restricts that creative movement. What is there to speculate on if the author fills in the blanks for us? Nobody wants to read an extensive biography of an imaginary character. That level of detail isn’t necessary or desirable. In fact, that lack of detail, those spaces between the lines, is what makes some stories so compelling. That’s what engages fans, that opportunity to devise an explanation for all of the stories left unsaid. We don’t want you to show us the shark; we want to imagine it ourselves. To Ms. Rowling: Saying that it’s difficult to let go of something as massive and influential as _Harry Potter_ would be an understatement. You not only reinvented young adult literature but you built a world that became a part of the national zeitgeist, spawning a film series, tourist destinations, and even a theme park. But you have to. You must. If you’re going to grow as a writer and as a person, you need to keep your eye on the future and not dwell on the past. You need to challenge yourself to create new places, new stories, and new ideas. You’re allowed to be proud of your accomplishments; I’m not suggesting that you trash all of your _Harry Potter_ memorabilia and “obliviate” your memories. Building up a kingdom that big just to knock it down is counterproductive. But I think you need to [stop releasing _Harry Potter_ short stories](http://time.com/2965574/j-k-rowling-new-harry-potter-story/). You need to stop revealing obscure character details in cryptic tweets and writing prequels, sequels, and spinoffs. You need to kill your darlings, Ms. Rowling, if not for your fans, at least for yourself. Let us pick up where your imagination left off. Pack up your Hogwarts stories and move on; your fans can take it from here. [_Tyler Vendetti_](http://www.xojane.com/author/tyler-vendetti) _wrote this_ [_article_](http://www.xojane.com/entertainment/jk-rowling-needs-to-let-harry-potter-go?utm%5Fsource=time.com&utm%5Fmedium=fullpost&utm%5Fcampaign=syndication) _for_ [_xoJane_](http://www.xojane.com/)_._ ## Transcript Harry Potter has scores of fans across the world, the only downside in our American eyes is that most of the cool stuff J. K. Rowling penned happens across the pond. She needs to sort out her priorities. But now, good old America, land of the free, could also be considered home of the wizard. The wizard. Oh yeah. We're serious. Here's some background: Rowling wrote the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2001. The book, when mentioned in the Harry Potter series, was written by a fictional character named Newt Scamander. To sum it up, Rowling wrote a book about a book, that a character in her book wrote. Now, there's a movie coming out with the same title and it will follow Schamander and his adventures in New York's secret community of witches and wizards. Collecting the information he used to write the book, Potter would ultimately read in class 70 years later, IMDB. com says. Turn to page 394. This led to a Twitter user asking Rowling if her character Scamander was going to visit a school in New York. She replied no, but he's going to meet people who were educated at name in not New York. Educated, out of school, in America, we have wizards too. Woo. Rowling isn't giving the name of the school, saying if she did, it would give away it's location. But did hint that the name was of immigrant origin and that indigenous magic was important in the founding of the school. Rowling has been known to be as cryptic as Tom Riddle's diary. In October 2014, she tweeted out some nonsense that people on Reddit somehow deciphered to mean Harry returns. Won't say any details now. A week off. No comment. It turns out she was really just teasing us about this upcoming Scamander movie and she's still teasing us it seems. Teasing us as hard as Harry's Uncle Vernon was when he withheld those Hogwarts acceptance letters. Entertainment Weekly took a wand waive at some locations, suggesting the school could be New Orleans, Roanoke New England the Southwest. We'll be on the lookout for more cryptic tweets. Or heck, we'd even take a movie trailer at this point. The movie is due out in 2016. This is choking us up like that time Harry swallowed the snitch. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3924640/jk-rowling-harry-potter-let-go/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3924640/jk-rowling-harry-potter-let-go/"},"headline":"Why J.K. 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