In this article I want to explore the relation between the process of writing computer programs with that of writing literary works of fiction. In particular I want to see what parallels can we trace from the literary theories presented by Umberto Eco in Lector in Fabula and Six Walks in the Fictional Woods, with the way we write programs today. The goal of this article is to ask the following questions: what can we learn as programmers from literary theory? What ideas can we incorporate from that discipline into our day to day programming activities, so we write code that’s easier to understand for other humans (or our future selves)? In this article first I will introduce some literary concepts that are key to these discussions, like those of Model Reader and the Encyclopedia, while trying to relate them to programming. Without further ado, let’s enter the woods and lets try to navigate the garden of the forking paths.