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I've always wanted to write a novel I could be proud of. The type of book that, once finished, I would feel contained the most of my talent as well as my sweat and tears. I've also wanted to write a novel in order to inspire others, to give hope to the helpless, and to pass along messages that I've been fortunate enough to learn throughout my life. When I tell my friends of this admittedly romantic point of view, they generally tend to scoff and roll their eyes.

"Okay, well then, why do you want to write a novel?" I'll demand, somewhat snubbed.

They'll shrug nonchalantly, unsure of how to answer. "I don't know. Does it make a lot of money?"

"Well, it depends."

"It's pretty cool, though. Writing a book. It's impressive."

It makes money. It's pretty cool. It's impressive. These are all cited as common reasons for which many of those around me want to finish a book. Maybe I'm just a romantic at heart, but to me, those are just about the most pointless reasons to write a novel I've ever heard of. It's also extremely insulting to those who pour their hearts into their work, and who write with a reason. They possibly want to draw passion, emotions and inner-dialogue from our reader. Perhaps they mean to provide a pick-me-up and a chuckle, or rather to engage their audience in an emotional catharsis. Maybe they want to bring awareness to a very serious issue, or they want today's tensed-up society to learn how to relax and take life in stride.

No matter your purpose for finishing a novel, if it involves more than making money and impressing your peers, you're probably on the right track. When I first began writing, I invariably wondered how many people would like my book, which therefore had me questioning how much money it would pull in. Funny enough, that book never got finished. Nor the one after it, which was written with the same purpose: fattening my wallet and drawing gasps from my friends and family.

When I finally returned to the roots of writing, and I realised that I needed to write a book for the reasons that had haunted me in my childhood, I finally had the motivation to finish my work. Not only that, but the book was a hundred times more interesting and well-written than the others. Now that I was writing directly to the reader, to provoke them to think, to act, and to question, and to cause various emotions to surface within them, I had the passion to finish that final chapter. Now that I was writing to translate my own feelings and experiences onto the paper, I pushed harder than ever to complete my novel.

In short, if you're writing a novel for petty or material reasons, you should probably reconsider. True literature is created with a much deeper purpose, and until you move beyond money and fame, you might find that you're never fully capable of finishing a novel.

Learn more about this author, Leigha Comer.
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