The River and the Rocks

Posted on by Don Paul Benjamin

Which came first, the river or the rocks? In the case of the natural stone stairway which leads from the shore of Surface Creek to our manicured lawn, the river existed first. Think of the flowing river as the context of a written story. Think of the rocks as the story.

In my accompanying photo, the rocks form a stone stairway which has been purposely constructed to have (from this particular point-of-view) a beginning (the lowest step) and an end (the uppermost step) with intermediate steps connecting those points.

Writing workshops and writing textbooks make much of the story arc—the literal rise and fall of the fortunes, emotions, or attitudes of one or more characters. This arc can be difficult to visualize and applying the arc to the writing task may be even harder.

Maybe the river and the rocks will help.

For example, a character may pursue a rising arc from “rags to riches” by climbing upward or a diminishing arc from “riches to rags” by beginning at the top and heading down. In the interest of drama, the character may start up the staircase, slip, and tumble into the river which—just like a sudden change of circumstances—will carry the story far from its original goal, requiring adjustments. The character might choose to return to the original quest by swimming upstream. Or the character might allow the river to dictate an entirely new and unexpected quest. A character, having reached the top, may decide to retrace steps to reexamine the past, even if that reexamination requires reversing the story arc. Or the character may stop halfway and sit for a period of introspection.

Whenever I’m stuck on my narrative, I think of the river and rocks. In fact, if I’m really stuck, I just grab a cup of coffee, walk out the back door, and sit by the water.

Don Paul Benjamin

Donald Paul Benjamin is an American mystery novelist. He was born in Greeley, on Colorado’s eastern plains. As a teen he worked on his high school newspaper. Upon graduation in 1963, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving three years as a military journalist, including a tour in Korea. Honorably discharged, he completed a teaching degree at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). In 1982, he earned a master’s degree in college administration at Oregon State University. From 1982-2014, he worked in Arizona higher education. In 2014, he retired to the wild Western Slope of Colorado, where he lives in the small town of Cedaredge, fishing and hiking in the surrounding wilderness. He recently married Donna Marie, his publishing collaborator, who’s a graphic designer and production artist. The two now operate “Elevation Press,” a company which helps self-publishing authors format their Microsoft Word documents into print-ready PDFs which can be submitted to a traditional printer or print-on-demand service such as Kindle Direct Publishing.
Category: Blog

2 thoughts on “The River and the Rocks”

  1. I’ve seen the trajectory change. I’ve never seen the water reverse directions only to return. Do you have an example of such a plot?

  2. Politicians have made water flow uphill from Grand Lake eastward and up over the Continental Divide to irrigate the Front Range, so I suppose anything is possible. And, of course, then there’s the ebb and flow of the ocean tide.

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