Why Novels are the new Signal of Intelligence

There was a time, not too long ago, when having books on the shelf behind you in a Zoom meeting was part of your personal brand. Best-selling non-fiction like Unreasonable Hospitality, Becoming Steve Jobs, or Blue Ocean Strategy used to signal intellect or ambition. It used to say something if you could quote Malcoln Gladwell or Steven Levitt at cocktail parties. 

But A.I. appears to be changing that. It’s not that these books no longer hold value. They’re just as poignant and perspicacious as ever. But there’s been an important shift and the non-fiction market is getting flooded. Unfortunately, it’s creating two distinct problems.

1 A.I. can write the book for you

A book suitable for the self-help or business stacks in your local library can be generated in minutes. And no, that’s not hyperbole. Youtuber Zachary Donovan shows you how to do it using just one tool. Time will tell if they’re any good but there’s no shortage of entrepreneurs giving it a go. The result is an exponent

ial increase in the titles available under this category.

2 We may not need the book anyway

Early data shows people are starting to turn to A.I. chatbots for advice. Not non-fiction. And why not? What’s the point of spending hours sorting through frameworks, focus group results, and a prologue about how the author’s dead dog paved the way to his life as a billionaire if you can get a personalized answer in under a minute. And from a tool that’s been learning about your life for months, no less. Again, early days still. Who knows if this is a lasting trend or just fascination with a shiny new toy. But if it does stick, the memoir section of your local bookstore may be overstocked for a while.

So what does any of this have to do with fiction? For years, I heard people say they didn’t have time for novels. As though it were an indulgence afforded only to people with nothing more serious to think about. People who weren’t driven to succeed in the real world. People who were anything but ambitious. 

I know. I was one of them.

I enjoyed novels but they were entertainment. Not real world knowledge. Then I started writing them. And my whole world changed. Scratch that. The way people responded to me changed. I’d always been an enthusiastic participant in conversation, but now I was the interesting person in the room. Not because of who I am, but what I do. People want to know everything. What was the motivation behind the story? How do I pick the setting? Are my characters based on real people? Do I drink scotch while I write? For some reason, people are fascinated with authors. Even if they don’t read fiction. Yet.

So, if non-fiction is going through a rough patch, what advantage is there to exploring creative writing?

1 Fiction can go to socially questionable areas before non-fiction can. 

One of my personal favorites is Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. In this very short story, the agonizing tension between a couple as they talk (but don’t) about having an abortion is a great example of a taboo topic that ran under the cover of fiction to get its message to the masses - forty six years before Roe V. Wade. In fact, the first non-fiction book openly discussing abortion wouldn’t hit bookstores until thirty seven years after Hemingway’s piece was published. It’s entirely possible that a novel in your ‘recommended for you’ section is touching on something non-fiction won’t have the courage to tackle for another ten years. Making you way ahead of the curve at dinner parties.

2 Fiction is great for piloting new ideas. Non-fiction works best when there’s an answer. 

Sometimes fiction is so far ahead of the game, the author herself

doesn’t have the answer. Sometimes there’s no specific message. The author may not even know how they feel about something until the words show up on the page (which is usually the case in my own writing process). Fiction is a great way to let characters battle over those difficult ideas so we can all come to a new understanding about the topic. Fiction isn’t about giving us answers. It’s all about empathy. It gives us the experience of walking in someone else’s shoes and then permission to argue about whether or not the protagonist should’ve changed into flip flops.

3 Characters struggle in recognizable ways. 

In self-help and business books, the hero is generally the author. And they’re usually setting an impossible standard. The whole reason you’re buying their book is because they have it all figured out, right? A non-fiction writer has to demonstrate expertise before convincing you to buy. But fictional characters (especially in modern works) are flawed. They struggle and strive the way most of us do. And fewer than half of them get a happy ending. That realization can either give us a sense of camaraderie (misery loves company, after all) or it can push us to be better. 

So, does pivoting (even temporarily) to fiction mean you need to find the most prestigious/pretentious book you can find? Absolutely not. Name dropping the latest Booker prize recipient will buy you a little social capital at first but may completely backfire with the people you most want to impress. Better to find a book you genuinely love and share why you love it and what you learned. Or don’t. Even if you say nothing, the lessons you absorbed from that experience will show up in the way you interact with people. You’ll soon be the most interesting person in the room simply because you allowed the material to help you organically grow into the sort of socially nuanced person others are fascinated by.

I love talking to readers about my books. Not because I’m particularly self-involved. But because I write about questionable choices. What if you found out your childhood home, filled with years of happy memories, was redlined before you were born? And the last Black woman who tried to buy it was your coworker’s grandmother? If women ran a clandestine society to replace problematic men in positions of power, would you try to stop them? If a football league were secretly rigging games, should they be exposed? But wait…what if they created the most dedicated sports fanbase in U.S. history, shared revenue with the players and fans, and mandated helmets preventing CTE (effectively becoming the anti-NFL)? How does a public takedown taste in your mouth now?  The consequences for my characters don’t just change their lives. They change the world around them. And I never tire of debating those questions with my readers. Because, for my characters at least, there are no easy answers.

I wish you the best on your journey into the imaginary worlds you’re about to explore. You’ll glean more from it than you might think. Because while a chatbot can tell you how to negotiate for a raise, a novel can explain why you’re afraid to. Fiction, while absent of facts, does contain truth. And as a fiction reader, you’ll understand the truth of the human condition better than anyone.

PS: I’m always looking for my next great read. Share your favorites!