: Re: What can a novel do that film and TV cannot? I have enjoyed writing prose for years and have a few short stories penned. I would like to build up to a novel but believe I have identified

@Lengel543

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For the consumer it's a lot easier to skip back and reread a passage, skip a 10 page long monologue that's largely irrelevant to the story line (I'm looking at you, John Norman), and bookmark interesting places for future reference when reading a book than when watching a movie (even more so with television, where there is no way at all to pause and rewind, fast forward, etc.).

You also, as a reader, without the copious visual cues, can far more let your mind wander and imagine yourself a part of the world in which the story is set than you can with visual media (at least in my experience, ymmv). It leaves a lot more room for imagination on the part of the reader. I'm not getting the gender, sex, age, hair colour, where appropriate even species of the characters forced on me unless the author chooses to do so (and hopefully he won't do so without very good reason that's relevant to the story), allowing the reader to generate in his or her mind a world that's understandable, comfortable, familiar, and place him or her self in that world as a direct observer or even participant. You just can't do that with movies or television shows, and it makes (imo) those media less immersive than books.

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