Can a novel be based on entertainment? Of course it must entertain the reader, but is this enough? What I'm trying to say is that when you write a novel, you have to think about hidden meanings, messages/morals of the story, and so on, but what would happen if you decided to leave all of those out? If you made your novel funny and entertaining but forgot all about sophisticated literature? If it made people laugh and they wanted to read it, would that be enough for a publisher to pick it up? I'd love to know everyone's opinions on this. Just to be clear, this isn't a problem I'm having, I'm just wondering. I make allegories and symbolism a big part of my writing.
This is a great question and something I've wondered about myself. Having said that, you're not asking quite what I thought you would be, when I read the title. I thought the thread would be about writing meandering, plotless novels, where the enjoyment comes not from the twists and turns, but simply from the events that take place. I'm not the world's greatest plotter, and I've often thought how great it would be to just write a 'story' in which you don't have to worry about the relevance of any given scene, and if it's doing anything to drive the plot, because there is no plot. Of course Kerouac does precisely this with On the Road, but I think this is an exception. And bare in mind that when asked about Kerouac, Truman Capote famously said, "That's not writing, it's typing." I dunno, maybe this is what you're asking. Either way it will be interesting to read the replies.
Who says there is an idea to literature? Literature do quite a lot: providing a historical document like a lot of Dickens, religious texts like Homer, being a work with a message or opinion relevant to an on-going debate like Orwell, or being a way to work through complex and often philosophical problems using characters to help visualize the number of problems like almost any good literary novel you can name, including Brave New World. Reading for a story that will just entertaining you can at times be dull as all hell. To use just a few examples.
@General Daedalus have you been to a bookstore lately? All you have to do is peruse the shelves to see how many entertaining-but-not-very-sophisticated books get published every year.
Actually you put it very well, either way (without a meaning or without a plot) I think the fact that the reader can simply take enjoyment from whatever happens is quite a novel idea (pardon the pun). It would definitely alleviate a lot of the stress from writing if you didn't have to constantly worry about deviating from your plot.
You certainly have a point there, just look at 50 Shades Of Grey. To call EL James a writer is to call Hitler a humanitarian.
I'm talking about marketability, though- of course different works have different purposes, but I'm interested in the idea that you can make money off a novel simply based on it's sheer entertainment value. As I said, I'm not actually doing this, I'm just curious whether you could get away with a poorly plotted but entertaining read and actually make some cash out of it.
Yes, definetly! A lot of my favorite books are just entertaining books! While not all of them might not be exactly seen as "classic", I would say at least half of all books are purely entertaining.
Quite. I suspect, however, that the best vehicle for such a novel would be humour. That's not to say silly 'gag' humour, but humour that occurs in general day to day life. That's why I also believe that a road-trip set-up would lend itself to this type of book perfectly. You could just have two friends (or a bunch of) travelling the country, and report on all the different mishaps and scrapes they get into along the way.
Well the novel I'm writing now takes a serious look at social issues in the sixties (racism, chauvinism and so on) but I use a lot of humour to put a likeable face on these offensive behaviours. My protagonist engages in all of these activities, among other addictions, but he's funny, so it takes the edge off them and allows the reader to relate to him. The 'point' in my novel is to show how easy it is to fall into the trap of becoming racist/sexist and following the crowd, and makes them question themselves. The protagonist is an airline pilot- you mentioned a road trip setting, and that's basically the premise of my story, only on a worldwide scale. It gives me many opportunities to have the MCs engage in 'mishaps and scrapes' as you proposed, and so far I've found that it's very easy to come up with many different situations in this setting, especially when you consider that you can have the protagonist end up in any scenario you want. All you have to do is get them there. But apart from the deeper meaning I'm trying to convey, my writing is pretty much what you described above.
Go for it! Text books are all well and good, but when they're constantly drilling 'rules' into you, such as 'Every scene must be relevant and drive the plot forward.' it can seriously restrict a beginner. Take for instance, again, the road-trip idea. You've probably guessed it's a genre I like. I also have a real fascination not only with diners and road side cafes, but with all that those places entail. This means that whenever I'm thinking about writing a road-trip novel, I'm also thinking about scenes where my characters stop at these places; what the place would look like, the food they would order, the small-talk as they eat. Any text book would tell you these were pointless scenes, unneeded padding, self-indulgence. But then contradictory to all this, is the advice which states 'Write the book you yourself would like to read.'
Yes, and if you ever learn to play guitar, don't bother learning the technique of good fretting. Just play how you want. Who cares if your music's full of fret buzz.
I'd say that a novel could probably be just for entertainment, but I have yet to read one like that. Then again, I deeply study all the possible meanings for everything, so maybe that's my fault. I don't think I could personally write many works that were only for entertainment. I might have one short story like that, but it's only a page and a half anyway.
Yes. As a fan of old 80's horror fiction there was nothing deep about 90% of these stories. They were just thrilling or unintentionally amusing. Created to entertain and thrill. One of the authors I love(d), Ruby Jean Jensen, was an older woman who grew up telling her children spooky stories and I think someone suggested she write them down and she did. Voila - a career. As a writer though I would like to combine both - I'd love to be entertaining and thought provoking. I love using symbolism, deep layers, and themes. It's not something any author needs to do, it's a choice.
Okay, so in your view, what would be the purpose of a scene which has no relevance to the plot? Not trying to catch you out here, just interested.
It can act to set the mood, or more importantly reveal character - or just be the set up to a joke like a lot of P.G. Wodehouse. I don't believe in writing guides and rule books, Homer didn't need one, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, and anyone else you care to name didn't need one. All they needed was their talent and their intelligence, and their familiarity with the conventions. The great books are the only guide books to writing you'll ever need as far as I can tell.
