Hi Garrett, no problem.

This can be a tricky concept to grasp, and I have some photos of real life objects that should help make things a little bit clearer for you.

The contour curves get wider as we slide further away along a cylindrical form such as this roll of paper.

The contour curves are also affected by how the form itself turns in space, so if a form bends like this banana we have to consider how the form turns relative to the viewer when laying out the contour curves.

A good object to study to help understand the behaviour of contour curves is a slinky, with its circular cross section it makes a good example of showing how the curves get wider or narrower as it turns through space. I hope that helps.