Ch-ch-ch-changes

How many of you now have Davie Bowie's voice in your head from the title?

:-P

Sorry to disappoint you, but this isn't actually a music-related post.

I doubt anyone's noticed, but there are a few changes to the blog. I've nuked about 30 posts that weren't of use to anyone other than me, and decided to get rid of some less-than-stellar snips I'd put up. However, this isn't really a post about that, either...

I've been thinking a lot about the need for a great opening page - in part because I'm editing for the final time on Arclight, and in part because of Nathan Bransford's 1st paragraph contest. (I entered. Did you?)

I've changed the first page of Arclight, I don't know how many times, and I keep going back to the 2nd version. (I'm almost certain that's where it's going to stay.) I've had it as a flashback. I've had it as a (short) infodump, but I like it as instant immersion into the action of the story.

I've changed character names and event order and just about everything you can think of to tinker with in a novel. The word count has fluctuated, bottomed out, ballooned... there was even one horrifying moment this week when I accidentally deleted 200+ pages with a faulty cut/paste job. (I didn't even notice it until I glanced at my page count. THANK GOD for whoever invented the "undo" command.)

I've changed POV from 1st, to 1st present to 3rd, and now back to 1st present.

All in all, the only thing that hasn't changed is the story. I'm still working toward the same end, on the same plotline, that I started with at the beginning. I find this amazing, actually. All those variables, and the story itself remains a constant. I've known where the characters needed to go, the only thing that gave me trouble was how to get them there.

I'm curious to know if this sort of tinkering is something most writers do, or if I'm just fickle.

(btw -- since I mentioned beginnings, I'll point out the new page tabs at the top of the blog. Those are the 1st pages of the stories mentioned. All but "Blue" also have their query/pitch attached, if you want to read them.)