# What Is a Novel's Purpose?

What is a novel for? What is the point of them? Why do we even bother to read them? Yes, I know these sound like stupid questions, but the answers really will help you with the job of writing novels - both genre and literary novels.

- First, I'll deal with the What Is A Novel's Purpose? question (and I'll do that by explaining why we read fiction).
- Then I'll move on to explain how all this helps when it comes to writing novels.

## 1. Why Do We Read Novels?

### For Entertainment and Escape

This is perhaps the biggest motivation behind us picking up a good book. Novels fill time that might otherwise be filled with boredom, and they offer a temporary escape from our workaday worlds.

And incidentally, entertainment and escape don't just explain what is a novel's purpose, but also what is the point of going to the theatre, riding a rollercoaster, listening to some music, or just about any of those things we do to take us away from our everyday lives and concerns.

### For Understanding

From the day we are born to the day we die, we are all on a quest to improve ourselves. We might not always know it, but all of us are struggling to understand this world we call home and what it takes to get by in it.

Much of our understanding, of course, comes from our first-hand experiences. But it also comes from hearing about the experiences of others - and what is a novel if not one of the best ways there is to tap into what our fellow humans think and feel about this world and our place in it.

All good novels have something to say about one aspect or another of the human condition - about how to find true love, about the horrors of war, about a million things.

- Sometimes when we read these thoughts and insights, we will have arrived at similar conclusions ourselves, and we will take comfort from knowing that we are not alone.

- More often, an author will shed fresh, unexpected light on an issue, and our understanding of that issue is deepened or even changed, making us grow as a person.

You can read this article in full, and loads more besides, in my 500-page eBook. Follow this link to discover more about the Ultimate Guide to Novel Writing.

From What Is a Novel's Purpose? to Types of Novels

From What Is a Novel's Purpose? to Novel Writing Home

### Getting Started

How to Write a Novel
Becoming a Writer
Types of Novel
Finding Ideas
Theme & Symbolism
Creating Characters
Understanding POV
Choosing a POV
Building the Setting
Plotting a Novel
Narrative Structure
The Final Plan
Preparing to Write
Writing Prose
Writing Dialogue

### Getting Serious

Novel Writing Guide
Novel Writing Blog

### Getting Help

Fiction Writing Q&A
Regular Publishing
Self Publishing
Writing Software
Writing Guides
Creative Writing Tips

### Getting Personal

About Me
Contact Me
Testimonials

Subscribe to my free e-zine, Creative Writing Tips Tell Me More Email
First Name
Then
Your e-mail address is
totally secure. I promise
to use it only to send you
Creative Writing Tips

[?] Subscribe To This Site

Sitemap 1 - Sitemap 2 - Privacy - About - Contact

Share this page: What's This? |  |  |  |
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how... Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

1. Click on the HTML link code below.
2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

<a href="http://www.novel-writing-help.com/what-is-a-novel.html">What Is a Novel's Purpose? - Novel Writing Help</a>

Copyright © Novel-Writing-Help.com 2008-2010. All rights reserved.