What a great quote!

I agree. It's one of those quotes I'll pull out when I'm in the middle of writing Act II and, as almost always happens, feeling lost. That experience brings new meaning to the phrase "getting lost in the story," not in terms of reading it, but writing it. But I think we do have to get lost in the story, that is yanked away from our outlines and preconceptions, in order to look around more closely to find story 'nuggets' we might otherwise miss. Which is why Gide's aphorism is such a great quote.