I don't like the analogy to writing a novel because in a novel you do want suspense, drama, surprises and generally a non-ordinary flow of the story. With source-code, you want none of that. The whole process is geared to remove it. And we should not deplore that but embrace it. Maybe there will be non-conventional things, because you have non-conventional requirements, or you're trying something new, but that should be the exception.