Like a dictionary, a novel is a book of words. But its words have a purpose and a goal. Life can be like a dictionary. Each event, each phase of life, standing on its own. That may have its interest, but most of us want life to be more than just a collection of random experiences.
Life can be like a novel.
That's when our lives seem to have a plot, to be moving toward a goal that's larger than ourselves. That's when we understand how our stories fit into the grand scheme of life as we know it. Most of us want our lives to be more like a novel than like a dictionary. The words of a dictionary need an author to fashion them into a novel, to give them a purpose, a plot. In the same way, the experiences of life need an author if they are going to be more than a jumble of loosely connected events.