Comment by retsibsi

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.)