The Author’s Version of Walking in Circles

I went for my daily walk today. It was threatening rain, so instead of walking my normal path down my street and back again, I decided to walk in the circle drive where my home and other homes sit. That way, if a downpour started, I wouldn’t get too drenched.

So around the circle I walked, and walked, and walked. And it got me thinking about writing. When you tell a story, you have to move the plot, and characters, and conflict forward. Circling or retelling the story again and again bogs the plot down and bores the reader.

But there isn’t anything wrong with not moving forward in a straight line. Sometimes you’ll zig and zag along the story path adding nuances and surprises along the way.  Because as much as the reader can be bored circling, they can also be bored by knowing what is going to happen along that straight path.