Work on draft 6 of The Ridge Runner continues. Since starting work on May 10th I’ve revised, rewritten or written for the first time more than 225 pages. Using the Revision History feature in Open Office 1.1 makes it clear how much the book has changed in such a short time.

I’m not alone in the sudden decision to change the perspective. John Irving ( World According to Garp, Cider House Rules ) handed over in his manuscript for his latest book recently had a change of heart at the last minute. The publisher and editor had accepted the draft, which was in first person, but he decided that the story was best served as a third person kind of tale. Now he’s revising it from the top down in a mad rush to make the deadline.

Maybe there is something to just going with the gut even if it seems incredibly inconvenient. True, this is the same gut that was pretty sure first person was the one true path. Ah well, don’t want to question myself out of a good story now do I?