A few days ago, I read a book that I rated a 4-star out of 5. It was moving, engaging from beginning to end. So, my natural response was to order the second on the series, which only rated, in my opinion, a 3-star.

It would be a lot more dramatic if I ran it down mercilessly, giving innumerable reasons why it was such an horrendous disappointment. But, the truth is… it wasn’t.

It was mildly entertaining, always kept the Lord pre-imminent, and achieved a certain kind of resolution, I guess. (All I could figure was that the author was leaving things a bit open-ended for a next episode.) It just didn’t move me like the first one did.

So, what did I take away from it?

Mostly, it made me think that I need to be very careful not to let the minutia run the show in my stories. Give enough detail to make the story hang together, without going over every single little “snort and sneeze.”

I guess it was important to have read this story then, right? Because, I have no doubt that I am perfectly capable of doing the same thing.

Life and learning is certainly a journey, right?!