Inspirational Books for Writing Fiction - Just Menong

If asked, what is my favorite inspirational fiction writing book so that I don't get bored even though I read it over and over again?

Well, I have loved reading since I was little, so of course my list of favorite books is countless. There are many books that I like and have read more than 2x, such as Lupus by Hilman Hariwijaya, who just passed away on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 (Al Fatihah for him); Mimi Elektrik by Zara Zettira; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; the adventures of Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie; Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; books by Enid Blyton; Supernova by Dee Lestari; the Laskar Pelangi Tetralogy (of course...who doesn't read this cool book); the fantasy book The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (I read this book at the same time as working on my thesis); Dan Brown; and various other types of books except romance books.

But there is one book that I used to often read over and over again, and until now I still remember the details, namely the Harry Potter series. Yeah, I used to be a Potterhead, and my mother gave me a Harry Potter book as a gift for my 30th birthday or something. The Harry Potter novel series is a novel by Joanne Rowling, better known as J.K. Rowling. This novel series has sold up to 500 million copies worldwide in 80 languages. The success of this book made Warner Bros. adapt it into a film that was divided into 8 parts with a revenue of $7.7 billion. Wow, fantastic, huh!

Why do I like this incredibly thick book?

Regardless of the pros and cons, I like every detail that Rowling presents in each series. I admire Rowling's flexibility when describing the relationship between one fact in one book and another book, which is woven neatly and perfectly.

Story Bond

I still remember how Harry Potter, the main character of this book, thought of using the Room of Requirement as suggested by Dobby the House Elf in the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, because it turned out that Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, had discussed it in the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

This well-connected and well-woven storyline makes the Harry Potter books an inspiring book for writing fiction, from which I learned to create quality fiction in every detail.

Reality in the Real World

And Rowling also did not hesitate to 'kill' the readers' favorite characters in order to correlate their real lives in the real world, such as the death of the kind-hearted couple Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, who left behind their only child, Edward Remus Lupin, or Teddy Lupin, who was still a baby. 

This illustrates that in real life, when the war happened, many children became orphans because their parents were killed. Likewise, the Weasley family had to lose their child and their brother, Fred Weasley.

 Science

Hedwig is Harry Potter's favorite owl that he has had since entering the wizarding world as a gift from his best friend, Rubeus Hagrid. Hedwig is usually used by Harry Potter to deliver letters.

Scientifically, migratory owl species can deliver letters over long distances. In addition, owls' eyes that have wider corneas allow them to see at night because more light enters the eye.

Owl

Mandrake, one of the plants that appears in the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, is used to restore the petrified students who were exposed to the glare of the Basilisk, an ancient snake. In the real world, Mandragora officinarum has certain pain-relieving properties that are often used as herbal medicine.

Metaphor

There are many metaphors in the Harry Potter series, one of which is the dementor character that is mentioned to be able to suck someone's happiness and bring nightmares. This is a depiction of the feeling when someone is depressed, as Rowling herself once experienced.

That's the perspective of someone who aspires to be a fiction writer. In addition to practicing, of course, we have to read a lot of books as additional references and to find the meaning of what is behind a story.

How to make an interesting and 'alive' sentence and weave a coherent but beautiful storyline. Like Rowling and many other fiction writers, such as Andrea Hirata and Dee, in-depth research is needed to make the storyline we create more real and provide added value in the form of new knowledge even though it is wrapped in a fictional story.

This reading experience will teach us how to make an interesting book that is not 'ordinary.' And how the idea of ​​a book that was born 'in difficult times' is so promising as a writer's dream achievement. And until now, Harry Potter has been an inspiring book for writing fiction in my version.