SAVE THE CAT!

 

I’m guessing it was sometime around 2013 when the idea presented itself for a novel.  The fam and I were traveling up to see a particular doctor whose practice was in a quaint old house somewhere south of Cleveland in the country.  There were two different appointments to be had that day with a few hours between them so we decided to go out to find something to do with the kids.

We found a putt putt golf course out in the middle of nowhere.  We were the only people there apart from the lone employee at the front desk.  The setting was peculiar in its isolation and had a kind of lost melancholy feel to it.  The idea that surfaced from that experience was of a monk-like figure who has taken up habitation in this type of a place, but the putt putt has been long abandoned.

From this I brainstormed what the theme of the putt putt would be: Its decorating scheme, layout, and vibe.  I began jotting down ideas and notes in a notebook of these possible themes: Pirates?  Haunted House?  Outer Space?  Each idea got a subset of what structures might be a part of such a putt putt place and how I could tie it into the monk’s story in a creative or clever way.

I ended up going with the Outer Space theme because I’ve always had a fondness for Science Fiction since my first introduction to it in elementary school with Alexander Key’s “Rivets & Sprockets”.  When I ran out of ideas I doodled what I thought the putt putt course might look like.  The main character was going to be “Aaroneous Monk” and resemble my son with red hair, a long beard, and wearing a faded cassock.

Over the years I revisited this idea from time to time to see where it might lead and what ideas might pop out of my subconscious which I was sure was working on it outside of my awareness (or at least I hoped it  was).   When I came across books about how to write a novel I would buy them and read them through.  It all seemed too overwhelming and complicated to the point my frustration seemed to stifle any real progress.

After writing everything else except a novel over the past 13 years I’ve decided 2026 is the year to finally do it.  Part of this determination came from finally finding a book that can walk me through the process in a way that is organized and makes sense to me.  I found that book a few months ago in downtown Lancaster Pennsylvania in a very cool independent bookstore.  My daughter was competing in an indoor field hockey tournament there and while they slept in at the hotel Saturday morning I roamed the streets.  

The red cover caught my attention where it was sitting next to some other titles about writing novels that I’d already read.  The book title itself was inauspicious in that it was published under the umbrella of a “SAVE THE CAT!” series.  I flipped through it and was interested enough that I reserved it at my local library when we returned home.  As I made my way through it I realized most of the beats of my story were falling into the categories the author was describing in a way that a structure started to materialize before my eyes.  I could do this!  

When the book was due back at the library I used the speaker’s fee I’d received the weekend before from talking about my book of childhood stories (Flowers from the Dirt) and bought a copy of my own at our local independent bookstore.  For the first time in 13 years I feel like I can see a way forward.  I’ve organized the outline and essential structure with 3x5 cards drawn from the notes I’ve taken over the past several years and new ideas that have started to flow from working through the SAVE THE CAT! book.  It doesn’t have a title, but the opening scene and ending scenes have been worked out and I’m super excited about an Epilogue entitled “A Thousand Years from Now”.  All that’s left is that massive middle section that is about 95% of the rest of the book.

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