Comment by vasco
1 day ago
Not only I agree with you that I don't think I've had an original idea, even when I try to do artistic stuff it seems like the things most praised were the ones where I was trying to do something else and the good part came from failing to do the thing I was trying to do.
From interviews with successful creative types, that seems to be a common theme. Often, early on in their careers, they were basically trying to copy their influences, but the copy was imperfect in an interesting way.
(Also, often they're trying to copy multiple things simultaneously, which means their goal is something a bit more complex and interesting than a pure ripoff. But I think their originality really is related to the ways in which they 'fail', or, in more positive terms, the ways in which their own individuality forces its way through.)
That sounds like unintentional. Which still can be original. A happy accident.