J.K. Rowling has authored 10 critically acclaimed novels. Ben A. Pruchnie/GettyImages

On a delayed train journey from Manchester to King's Cross station in London, the characters Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger came "fully formed" to the mind of a young temp named Joanne Rowling.

In the six tumultuous years following, she would imagine an entire magical world of witches and wizards, assume the pen name J.K. Rowling, and publish "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the first novel in the now beloved "Harry Potter" series.

Rowling has since become the UK's best-selling living author, her books have brought in more than $25 billion and sold more copies than any other book series, and the newest installment in the story, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," is already a best-selling book — but not before Rowling had to overcome the hardships of rejection and being a single mother living on welfare.

Here's an inside look at how Rowling went from living on welfare to becoming one of the world's top-earning authors: