My Novel's Heart

Somewhere in the course of shuffling through naming schema and screaming, "OMFG NO, THAT SOUNDS LIKE CHICK LIT," I stumbled upon all kinds of other thoughts that had intrinsic connections to the title of the pieces.

What is my novel's heart?
Do I want something of my readers?

The second question is easy - yes, yes I do. I would love to affect a transformation of my reader's reality - of the world and of themselves. I would love for my readers to see the world I have created and understand the people and the psychology and the language of them all. I would love for my readers to take a piece of that world with them as they close the book. So yes, I want something from my readers - I want them to remember my world, long after I'm gone or the books are gone or whatever may be. I want my readers to be engaged in my world, inside of it, not simply entertained. If they wanted entertainment, they could watch a movie or read a cheap scifi bestseller. No, I want more. I want to give more.

That is, perhaps, the heart of the novel. I want to engage people in my world. There is something more at stake in the heart of my novel than just entertainment. My world will live if people connect with it. I want it to live. I want people to *wonder* about my world.

There are a few books that I've read that have caused me to continue to wonder, long after I've read and re-read their stories.

Engaging readers, however, is one of those illusive little dreams - where the ticket to accomplishing the task is to know just how much subtlety your intended audience can pick up on - because if you smack them over the head with what you *want* to say, they will close off immediately. No, the proof is in the pudding - if you can weave the whole iceberg of your world just under the edge of a reader's 'overtness' meter, then they will have the opportunity to be engaged and not simply entertained.

Whether they choose to be engaged - that's a whole different department of psychology.