What plays out on the surface—what the hero wants—is only half the story. The true soul of a novel lies in the hero’s need, which can also be called the internal goal, the life lesson, or the spiritual lesson. And by “spiritual,” I’m not necessarily talking about religion. Although your spiritual lesson certainly can relate to religion (as evidenced in countless popular novels like The Shack by William P. Young or The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini), it certainly doesn’t have to.
Internal story
