So I’m writing this book.  And while I’m only finishing chapter one and there will be around ten at the end, I still need to have several pieces of the puzzle in my grasp before I start.

I had most of them.  But I didn’t have one. And, of course, not having it, I didn’t know what it would turn out to be.

Far be it  from me to actually think in terms of ‘theme.’  The very word makes me break out in hives.

And yet . . .

I was rereading Save the Cat Strikes Back, by the late Blake Snyder the other day and thinking about his ‘beat sheet’ and trying to put the pieces that I had into his scheme so I could see where the gaps were.  And I figured out where the piece was supposed to go and what it was supposed to do  – though I had no idea what it was.

It’s that little bit that Blake identified where someone says something important early on in the book that sets the stage for the story. It’s an inconsequential thing that you don’t realize is there but it shines a quick light on the theme (there’s that word again) that the story goes on to develop.

Me? Develop a theme?  Not likely.

And yet . . .

I sat there thinking about that idea – breaking out in hives — and then I thought, “Hey, I’ve already written that part. Let’s go back and see if some minor character accidentally and unknowing said something inconsequential but providential.”

And, believe it or not, one had!

Eureka.  And all that.

I recognized the possibility of the significant line last night.  But I didn’t see exactly how the words tossed out a theme until I woke up this morning and it was right there, staring me in the face. 

I could see it all then. I could see how that one remark related to the hero’s growth, how it related to the heroine’s, how the two reflected each other, and ultimately how the book had to play out to develop that theme.  I grabbed my computer (didn’t even reach for the Benadryl, though maybe I should have to be safe), sat down with it on my lap and started to type.

I typed a lot. It all made sense.  I didn’t finish chapter one, and I didn’t start chapter two. But now I have the whole emotional throughline of Nick and Edie’s story worked out.

Thanks, Blake.

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