A Writer's Path is Covered in Gold

When you’re writing for an audience, how do you know that your writing will hold their consistent attention throughout their story? Will you vary your sentence length? Will you use complex figurative language? Are there dramatic twists and turns?

When Roy Peter Clark approached that question, he gave us the writing tool, “Place gold coins along the path” based on a parable by Don Fry. In this parable, you are walking along a forest path. When you walk a mile, you find a gold coin. When you walk another mile, you find another gold coin. So, you keep walking, knowing you’ll find rewards along the way.

In writing, those gold coins represent pivotal or otherwise impactful moments in your writing. You’ll give your story a strong start, of course. Then, as your story progresses, you’ll give your readers motivation to continue. Maybe there’s a piece of inspiring dialogue, a revelation, action. Maybe there’s a scene you can include, something to build out the world, that puts the plot on a brief pause. 

I’m going to engage in one of the exercises recommended in Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer using one of my favorite books, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. I will turn to a random page in, roughly, the middle of the book to see if I will find some gold there. 

Turning to Chapter 22:

“Lady Jane flew over the fifteen miles between Deerwood and the Port—through the Port. The way Barney went past traffic policemen was not holy. The lights were beginning to twinkle out like stars in the clear, lemon-hued twilight air. This was the only time Valancy ever really liked the town, and she was crazy with the delight of speeding. Was it possible she had ever been afraid of a car? She was perfectly happy, riding beside Barney. Not that she deluded herself into thinking it had any significance. She knew quite well that Barney had asked her to go on the impulse of the moment—an impulse born of a feeling of pity for her and her starved little dreams. She was looking tired after a wakeful night with a heart attack, followed by a busy day. She had so little fun. He'd give her an outing for once.”

We’ve named the car, so we’ve given her life, and we’ve bonded with her. Even for those who had never read the book, this paints a picture of Valancy and her relationship with both Barney and the experience he’s given her. 

Perhaps readers would understand how sheltered her life had been to feel so deeply about speeding, about the “lemon-hued twilight air”, and being given an outing. Notice that wording, “He’d give her an outing for once.” She did not take an outing. She did not go on an outing. She was given the privilege of one. 

That said, what I’ve struck was not just gold.

“Lady Jane” gave me my gold coin in the beginning of the paragraph. Then, “Not that she deluded herself into thinking it had any significance” was still. I held the coin in my hand, feeling the ridges, deciphering the meaning. How did Valancy know how others felt about her? 

The strength of this passage does not come from the “gold” by itself, but the context of that gold, the indicators of its significance. In this case, the context offered insight into Valancy’s perception of the developing relationship between herself and Barney. 

So, how do writers effectively build out the “forest path” that Roy Peter Clark and Don Fry introduced to us?

1. Leave gold coins. Give your readers motivation to keep reading.
   

2. Your gold coins shouldn’t come without reason. Rewarding your readers with an emotionally impactful scene (for example) that doesn’t have much relevance to your piece can create a frustrating experience for the reader, a promise that you didn’t fulfill.
   

3. Allow your gold coins to do something. Finding gold coins on a forest path sounds great, in theory, but if you can’t use them or have a greater need for something else, your gold coins won’t serve you the way you need them to. 

   
   

4. Your best material shouldn’t always be moved up. If you find a bucket of gold coins right at the beginning, there’s a chance that you’ll look for more. If you don’t find any more, you’ll probably content yourself with the bucket you have and leave the path.

Pace out the best of your material, and continue to give readers something to look forward to. Are the moments that you are using to build out your story (your plot twists, your figurative language, your impactful dialogue, your striking visuals) a means to serve your goals in writing?

Identify how your gold will serve you and how far it will take you. 

Do you want to learn more about how to employ this strategy in your own writing? Schedule a free consultation, and let’s talk! 

We can’t wait to hear from you, and we wish you all the best in your journey as a writer.