AGAIN?

I’ve just spent the last half an hour running through my posts checking for repeats.

I’d originally planned to write a piece about the relative importance of fairness to a story only to find that it’s a topic I’ve already dealt with about a year ago. Damn it.

So instead I turn my attention to the repeats.

No matter what the story, whatever the medium, there’s always the risk of coming across things that have been said before. There are only ever going to be so many stories but it’s the real problem that the one idea that you’ve had slowly germinating in the back of your mind for so long, has already been shown to the bright lights thanks to someone else.

Watching a new sci-fi show, my wife pointed out that the ‘XO’ character was very similar to the one in the new Battlestar Galactica, drinking problem and balding head in attendance.

Repeats will always be a part of what goes on in storytelling. We all go through the same worries in life as we try to look out for the ones we love, try to stay healthy and try and do the right things so why wouldn’t we have similar stories coming out of us all?

I shared a very welcoming post on Facebook recently which is a great comfort whenever I worry about just being another voice telling a worn out tale and I think it deserves being repeated here. The quote comes from Asha Dornfest.

‘I think new writers are too worried that it has all been said before. Sure it has, but not by you.’