New -new- new

Here we are in the new, spiffy Writer's Wavelength blog. So, what's so great about new anyway? As writers, we are often faced with the horrifying specter of new. Editors looking for a new voice or a new perspective on things. The adage "there's nothing new under the sun." The fear that our work simply rehashes what others have said. Why bother writing anything if there's nothing new to be said?

But writing is also about retelling the oldest story -the human story. It's a complex story, so there are always little details to add. Maybe it's like sewing or knitting. The format, the pattern may be the same, but that doesn't mean we stop knitting. When we write, we join a conversation that is as old as the Lascaux caves in France. The conversation of humanity. Does a story have to be new to be worth telling?