Meander, Spiral, Explode

“If narrative naturally wants to flow toward its end but doesn’t want to get there yet the pleasure’s in the journey- it might hold back by strewing conflicts, boulders, along the way, as an adventure story might. But it might be bored by classic conflict, so instead lingers by flowing along an extravagant arabesque of detours: this is what meandering narratives do. A meander begins at one point and moves toward a final one, but with digressive loops. Italo Calvino says that digression is a strategy for putting off the ending. " ― Jane Alison, Meander, Spiral, Explode, p. 70