"The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way"
About this Quote
The subtext is a rebuke to two lazy instincts. One is the writer’s vanity that equates originality with worth, as if the only noble sentence is unprecedented. The other is the formula trap: writing that hides behind inherited shapes (the cliché, the stock lede, the prefab moral) and calls it “clarity.” Davis threads the needle by framing craft as translation across time. An “old thing in a new way” is reporting that makes a worn story feel sharp again; a “new thing in an old way” is the discipline of giving novelty a stable container so it can travel.
It works because it shifts the measure of quality from topic to delivery, from what you cover to what you do with it. The secret isn’t secrecy at all; it’s permission to stop chasing the mirage of pure newness and start chasing precision, surprise, and recognizability in the same breath.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Davis, Richard Harding. (2026, January 16). The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-say-an-old-thing-134531/
Chicago Style
Davis, Richard Harding. "The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-say-an-old-thing-134531/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-say-an-old-thing-134531/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
