Where is this story going?

I'm not sure if I'm getting more sophisticated in my plotting, or just more sloppy.

I've always had a tendency to not be completely linear.  I've always been partial to flashbacks and parallel plots.

But now I'm being non-linear in the regular narrative.  Complicated back and forths, with quite a few characters.

I like it.  I feel like it works.  I guess I'll find out if it works when others read it.

I think this is just being more comfortable writing.  Not so worried about the "rules" or what I perceive to be the rules.  My general approach to things is to believe that rules exist for a reason, and you break them at your peril.

But I think in fiction, whatever works -- works.

It's amazing to me how each book takes on its own identity -- even in a series, I'll change tone and style.  But it's this internal dynamic that makes writing interesting to me.  Each time, I find that the story comes from inside and takes form without any reference to the outside world. 

It is what it is.  It exists as its own thing.