What to do if your novel has no point

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On my desk is a tiny contraption which, when cranked, plays part of Here Comes the Sun. It has no other purpose. Unlike a music box, you can’t store stuff in it. It doesn’t even play the whole song. I paid $9 for this contraption. I could buy nine full songs on iTunes for that.

But it was worth every penny. I would totally buy it again.

In fact, it’s the second one I’ve bought. The first one is on my desk at work and plays the Pink Panther theme song.

The point?

Not everything has to be a cure for cancer. Not everything has to be an insightful commentary on the human condition. Not everything has to be educational or inspirational or profitable.

The world needs more things that exist just to make us smile.

Don’t fret if your adventure novel is more Cussler than Homer. Don’t be ashamed because you prefer to write about elvish magic than about social issues. Don’t let the pseudo-intellectuals look down on you if your science fiction masterpiece is less Fahrenheit 451 and more Beatnik Rutabagas from Beyond the Stars. Those people are like Vulcans at a baseball game. They just don’t know how to have fun.

The power to brighten someone’s day is just as valuable as the power to help someone get a new perspective, or accept a hard truth, or take action for a cause.

Some things exist to save the world. Some things exist to make the world worth saving.

I, for one, am willing to fight for a world in which things like this exist:

 

About Stephanie Orges

Stephanie is an award-winning copywriter, aspiring novelist, and barely passable ukulele player. Here, she offers writing prompts, tips, and moderate-to-deep philosophical discussions. You can also find her on and Pinterest.
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22 Comments

  1. hear hear. 🙂

  2. Amen, Sister! Thank you for this.

  3. This made me smile! Thank you. I think I’ll read it out in my writing group. It’ll give some people food for thought and make others smile too.

  4. This counts as ‘deep and meaningful’ – I’d like to use it in a newsletter if that’s ok with you Steph …

  5. I have one of those, the one that plays the Pink Panther. Great advice—and just what I needed to hear tonight. Thank you.

  6. Awesome post and I completely agree!

    Also, sorry I’ve been out of the loop on InMon, BUT to make it up, I created a new InMon logo I’m putting on this week’s story.
    I wrote a story this past weekend I’ve just finished reading through and am going to put up just now but not having used any prompts it didn’t make sense to add the logo to it. 🙂

    Got a killer idea I’m bashing out for this new set of prompts – will be doing my usual of simply writing the story and seeing how many of your prompts I can work into my story, I find that more fun than using the prompt itself for inspiration (though I did that in the first submission I had here)… but I’m rambling now.
    Cheers! 🙂

  7. Well said! I, for one, need to be reminded of this frequently. As much as I appreciate my literary upbringing, it does make me take literature a little too seriously most of the time.

  8. As a writer of mindless fiction, I agree. Very well said. A world without escape, without a cellar where our minds can pause for a breather, is a world in which we wouldn’t survive.

  9. I have two just like that!! One plays “Happy Birthday” and the other “Stairway to Heaven.” They do help clear up writer’s block!

    One question, though. I’ve never been able to spot these in the US, only in Germany – Munich and Berlin, to be exact. Where did you find yours?

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