She is bad at returning library books
Question: Did you use the library a lot as a child?
J.K. Rowling responds: Yes, I loved the library, though I was very bad at returning books on time. I once ran up a bill at
university of over fifty pounds in overdue fines, which was a lot of
money to a struggling student. (It didn't stop me doing it again
though!)
"About the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com," Scholastic.com, 16 October 2000
She struggles with public speaking
JKR: I've never been good at speaking in public. In fact it's a borderline phobic.
"Harry Potter and Me" (BBC Christmas Special, British version), BBC, 28 December 2001
She can't act or take direction with a straight face
a) I can't act
b) I'd just keep corpsing
via twitter
She's bad at geography (and maths)
Maths is not my strong suit (though it's better than my geography, as
those who have found the most recent Easter Eggs might already know).
J.K.Rowling Official Site - FAQ
She's not good at reading in public
I do think that the people that have come tonight would rather ask
questions than hear me doing a long reading. I would like to think so
anyway because I’m not very comfortable doing it and I don’t think I’m
particularly good at reading.
An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp: Press Conference
She considers herself to be highly disorganised
JKR: No. No, I'm embarrassingly bad at most other things, I think. Very disorganized person. I was hell in offices. I was good at teaching English as a foreign language. I loved doing that. I think I was ok at that. I'm good at keeping tropical fish. Can't think of much else, actually, I really can't.
"J.K. Rowling Interview," CBCNewsWorld: Hot Type, July 13, 2000
She struggles to critique her own work
Rowling: I can only speculate about this really, I'm very bad at being a critic of my own work. I'm far too close to it, I find it very
difficult to say why I think things are so popular, and so on. I'm
guessing it's because I write about things I find funny, as opposed to
what I think eight year olds find funny. And I suppose other adults
find it funny too, I'm clearly an adult.
"Rogers, Shelagh. "INTERVIEW: J.K. Rowling," Canadian Broadcasting Co., October 23, 2000
and
JKR: I think (but I don't really know, because I'm not good at being
objective about my own work) that as I wrote primarily for myself,
that probably shows in the books. The sense of humour is mine, not
what I think children find funny, for instance.
"Comic Relief live chat transcript, March 2001
She was bad at being a secretary
After school, Jo attended the University of Exeter in Devon where she
studied French. Her parents hoped that by studying languages, she
would enjoy a great career as a bilingual secretary. But as Jo
recalls, 'I am one of the most disorganised people in the world and,
as I later proved, the worst secretary ever.' She claims that she
never paid much attention in meetings because she was too busy
scribbling down ideas. 'This is a problem when you are supposed to be
taking the minutes of the meeting,' she says.
"21 authors: J.K. Rowling," Bloomsbury Publishing,
Bad at sports, clumsy and scared of heights
Kings Park Primary School: Which position would you like to play if you played quidditch?
JK Rowling: Who wouldn't want to be Seeker? But I think I'd be dreadful at Quidditch, I'm not sporty, I'm not great with heights and
I'm clumsy as well. Neville would be about my standard.
JK Rowling's World Book Day Chat, March 4, 2004
She's bad at metalwork, woodwork (and sports again).
My least favorite subject was metalwork. I was the worst in my
class-just terrible. I am not a practical person .... It seemed to me
to be all about hammering stuff until I broke it. I did try, but I
just could not do it. Mum always kept a ridiculous flat teaspoon I
made which was useless, completely hopeless. I was terrible at woodwork too
— I remember arriving home with a photograph frame
composed mainly of glue. I was also dreadful at sport, although I
vaguely liked gym. I especially hated hockey. But I did like swimming
and dancing.
Conversations with J.K. Rowling
Inadequate tennis skills
My tennis game is non-existent. Feeble little arms like a T-Rex due to years of typing, typing, typing. Strong fingers though.
Via Twitter
Struggles with pet management
I can't say I consider myself a 'world leader' though. Maybe of worlds inside my head? In the real world I can barely lead my dog.
Via Twitter
She struggled to juggle being a mum and a full-time writer
How did you raise a baby and write a book?" and the answer is, I
didn't do housework for four years! I'm not Superwoman, and living in
squalor that was the answer.
"Harry Potter and Me" (BBC Christmas Special, British version), BBC, 28 December 2001
She claims to be bad at computer games
Stephen Fry: Do you ever play the computer games?
JK Rowling: I don’t but my daughter plays it - she’s very good. I can’t work Playstations. I’m no good at these things.
Fry, Stephen, interviewer: J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall, 26 June 2003.
However subsequent investigation reveals that she's actually quite good at Minesweeper
She struggles to operate her television
"I don’t want to programme money. I can barely work my TV."
Via Twitter
Cannot understand bitcoin (despite having had it explained to her, repeatedly)
God bless every single one of you now earnestly explaining bitcoin to me as though I’ll grasp it if you break it down properly. Things like this are white noise to me. I cannot and will not ever understand Bitcoin, but I love you for thinking that I can or will.
Via Twitter
She can't write short stories
But I didn't really need much persuasion as I have always supported
Comic Relief, and I think they do fantastic work, so I wrote back and
said yes but I'm not good at short stories particularly not short
Harry stories I tend to ramble on, so how would it be if I wrote a
couple of the titles that appear by title in the novels so that's how
it all started.
Raincoast Books interview transcript, Raincoast Books (Canada), March 2001.
