Anything New?

Too much thinking can be a bad thing.

In the lead up to Nano, and in light of all the sci-fi I've been watching and reading, I got to wondering, 'how do I come up with something new?'.

I mean, think about it. Star Trek, all of them, Stargate, both of them, Farscape, Oddessy 5, Firefly, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Point Pleasant, The X-Files, Doctor Who, Torchwood... and so on. Then there are the books, comics, artwork, none of which I'm not about to list.

There's been so much produced on so many subjects under the genres of sci-fi, fantasy and science fantasy, it's a wonder that anyone can come up with something new. It makes me think that the end is nigh for the industry. Then again, wasn't it Bill Gates who said that the world would only need six computers? And someone else said that everything had already been invented - can't remember who. But everyone has at least one computer and things are being invented everyday.

Every week, something new is published; some new idea is pitched to the television networks or movie studios. There are also the same ideas, but with a new twist, a new perspective on what has gone before. Something renewed, recycled, reused, or invented. I've seen it: I've thought of something brilliant only to discover the same idea in someone else's book - I get a bit pissy about that, but move on to something else after cursing and swearing.

We're a clever bunch as writers. We use the world around us to ask 'what if?', to listen into conversations and create alternative scenarios, we dream, we think, we plot and we plan. We create such worlds as never seen but in our imaginations; we share those worlds with those who appreciate the different.

Anything new? Why, yes, as long as I don't think about it too much.