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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/6188
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

This poem is one of the best ever written, for my tastes, and is worth reading.

[http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/stevens-13ways.html](http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/stevens-13ways.html)

The poem has thirteen stanzas, each contributing its own elegant detail to the overall portrait of the blackbird.

Any stanza in the poem could stand on its own. Each one is beautiful. But together they make something truly perfect.

My point in bringing this up is that anyone reading the poem can see that each stanza has the same idea in mind, even if the detail and form vary. Each one helps to construct the blackbird. There's no hiding that, nor should it be hidden. It's the point of the poem.

From the sound of your story, there is no "making it not obvious to the reader." Your story is defined by its structure. If you're embarrassed by the structure and wish to hide it, perhaps its because you don't actually think it's a good idea, and are unhappy writing it. So stop! Change it!

But otherwise, stop trying to hide it. It's there, and that's that. Now focus on making the hole-centered adventures as engaging as possible, and the thematically significant changes in the protagonist's world as intriguing and thought-provoking as you can.

_There is no such thing as a **bad** novel structure._

There is only an author who made it work, or didn't. Can you make it work? Just because you can't, doesn't mean it can't be done. You're focusing on the wrong thing. Of course it's not _bad._ The real question is whether it's what you want, and what you're confident in writing.

* * *

I feel like many people may angrily contradict the statement I'm about to make, but really I never could understand this concept of asking other people "Do you like my idea? Is this good?" When I've written something, I _know_, innately, without asking anyone, whether it's good or not. Being a good writer, I am by nature an even better _reader_, and therefore it's plain as day to me whether I pulled it off right, whether my story is (for its target audience) almost indisputably of good quality. And I am a very harsh self-critic.

Am I alone in this sentiment?

What I mean to say, Alex, is that you should be able to answer this on your own. Read what you've written. How does it sound to you? Do you like it? Does it sound professional? Does it flow flawlessly? Are you distracted from the story by its structure?

I certainly respect the idea of asking other people for their opinion on your work. That goes without saying.

I'm just saying that I don't start asking for other people's thoughts until I'm very pleased with the work myself, and it doesn't sound like you are.

Original score: 1