Failure in Fiction - Why it's Important in Your Novel
- WGSS Libr@ry
- Jun 18
- 2 min read
Failure in stories - why is that important?
Demonstrating failures in story not only brings a realistic stance to it, but also allows the reader to find common ground with the characters inside. Failures not only give readers a feel of vulnerability, but also demonstrates resiliance in the face of adversity and builds trust.
On top of that, children have been found to experience a higher tolerance for failure in the long run, due to being exposed to it at an early age. Some examples of positive outcomes being; resilience, problem-solving skills, and a growth mindset.
How does it improve your writing?
While success is important to progress a story, it tends to become more bland throughout the novel. The repetition of it deteriorates the, now dissipated, tension in the story. Why continue reading if you know how it's going to end?
Every story uses failures to their advantage - to add overlining tension. No matter the genre or age rating, it's used. For example, in The Outsiders, Darry fails to convince Ponyboy to stay behind at the house - leaving the readers to wonder where he'll go instead. Or another in How to Train Your Dragon when Hiccup isn't able to convince his father that dragons are better than they appear and he takes Toothless. Would those scenes be as interesting if there was no conflicting conflict, resulting in their failure?
The feeling of tension should be built on between scenes, but never relieving it fully as to keep a constant flow for the reader to root for. If this isn't built upon and solved very easily, the story can feel dull and flat the more they progress. When that happens, the readers could find no reason to continue without anything to root for.
Failures are apart of being living, prove that on the page.
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