Hi! Welcome to the 4 CreativeWheels newsletter — your weekly dose of insights on creativity and fuel for your creative journey.

Here we are! This is the 6th issue of 4 CreativeWheels. Only 4 issues are left for us to hit a 10-week streak. Before we reach the milestone, let’s first take a moment and appreciate what we’ve done so far.

In this week’s issue, we’ll explore the divide between originality and imitation and how we can use them both to be more creative.

Without further ado…

Let’s start the ride!

Main Wheel

Whenever I write, there is one thought that stalks my every move. It also appears when I do any form of creative work.

That haunting thought continuously whispers, "This ain't original."

Whenever I write, I fear that I've said something that's already been said.

But I know I'm not the only one who has dealt with this issue of originality and imitation.

From the day humans could create, imitation, originality, and creativity have been together.

They have all participated in the advancement of our civilization, especially in the creative world. Between the three, two combined leads to the main part. Those two are imitation and originality. And the one main rudiment is of course creativity.

Imitation and originality both lead to creativity in one way or another. However, their execution and use have raised long-standing discussions in the space.

These discussions have created a famous divide in the creative world.

Imitation has been having a negative connotation for as long as I remember. Except when one imitates a religious figure, the majority finds imitation to be a bad thing.

And I can't blame them. From the day human beings could create, there has been dishonest use of imitation.

When somebody creates something, they first get an idea. After getting the idea, they gather the courage to bring it to life. They plan and invest their time, energy, and attention to get it done. Then they display and share their work with the world.

The act of creation is connected to all the efforts one can or has given.

So, when imitation enters the picture, it sometimes removes some or every part of the effort in creation. But how?

Some individuals imitate others but give no credit.

Some people imitate others and take credit for their copy-and-paste work.

Others imitate, and do give credit, but continue to milk their source of imitation.

The initial effort of getting an idea, the following effort of gathering the courage to take action, and the essential effort of using your time, energy, and attention to execute the idea, are lost when you malevolently imitate.

The original creative gave to the world, the imitator took from the creative.

That's why imitation has had a close affair and connection to theft.

In contrast, originality has been having quite a good reputation.

Most of the time, when someone is original, the person is praised and applauded for it.

Compared to imitation, the use of originality is respected by the majority. Even when the original piece is bad in quality, there will still be appreciation for it.

However, how do we get to originality? Should we really despise imitation? And how can we work the two together to attain creativity?

Let's dive in. First off, what is originality?

According to my friend Google, originality is "the ability to think independently and creatively" or "the quality of being novel or unusual."

The Cambridge Dictionary defines originality as "the quality of being special and interesting and not the same as anything or anyone else."

Even though these are good definitions of originality, it's still hard to describe the word in a real-world setting.

We all are dependent in some sense. Everything is novel or unusual to some extent. And even when we are special or interesting, we still have similarities to others.

But does it mean originality is inexistent? Far from that.

We sense and can identify originality. We can't truly explain how it's original, but we just know it is.

Or else we would have never had this discussion and even have the word originality in the dictionary.

Originality is important to creativity. It's a north star for anyone who desires to make an impact. As Herman Melville beautifully stated, "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

So, if originality is the north star, what is the use of imitation?

There is a famous quote all supporters of imitation (honest and dishonest) love. The quote is from Pablo Picasso.

You probably have heard it, "Good artists copy. Great artists steal."

You can see why they love this quote. However, even for the challengers of imitation, you can't deny that there is truth in that quote.

Babies are solid (and cute) evidence to support the quote.

We all start as miniscule cells. Then the wonder of procreation happens in our mothers' wombs for around 9 months. When the time comes, we burst into the scene of life as tiny babies.

Tiny babies know nothing about the world. They are in fact, babies. They have no experience in eating, talking, walking,... in doing anything.

They are learning as they go. And their prime tool for learning is imitation. They copy their parents, family members, and close acquaintances. Heck, they copy Pepa Pig sometimes.

Even after getting some experience in living, leaving the glorious life of diapers behind, we still use that tool for learning.

We imitate even if we don't like to admit it. And we have a lot to learn from those tiny creatures.

When babies imitate, they mostly try to accurately copy their source. They observe and then replicate.

But as they continue to imitate, they no longer try to take everything from the source. They strive to make what they imitate their own.

And even when they try to accurately imitate their source, they successfully fail to do so because of their intention. Their intention for imitation is not to take credit for the work but to learn from it.

We all smile, laugh, or say "Awww," whenever we hear babies repeating what their parents do. We all know that the baby's intentions are lovely and honest.

And that's why the use of imitation is present and essential.

Similarly, for us non-babies creative, we can imitate other creatives with the intention of learning and making something from the source, our own.

Yes, it might not be original at first. Yet, the process is useful.

True and raw originality, without any ounce of imitation, is hard to get and understand. The reason is humans always tie everything to their experience. And when a creative work is incompatible with the bond with the human experience, the work loses value.

I could argue the work becomes obsolete. When we, human beings, interact with a creative work, we unconsciously relate it to something familiar.

It could be a memory of a cherished event. It could be an emotion. It could even be the state one is currently in. Hence, in one way or another, a human creation will always have parts that already exist. It will depend on the foundation made of what the human race has lived and learned.

So it's impossible to have a raw and truly original work that does not imitate something that already existed.

Even if a creative creates a 100% original work, the work will not make an impact. To understand the work will be a daunting task. And that's a disservice and is against the point of creation and creativity. We create to connect with others. Just like perfection, true originality is a destination we'll never reach.

However, this does not mean that originality is a myth. Originality is real and acts as a spectrum. And our aim as creatives is to be close to the end of the spectrum.

So, how can we use the two, imitation and originality, to get to, creativity?

No, you don't have to constantly copy.

1. Learn the fundamentals through imitation and go on to do something original.

Let's go back to Earth's cutest creatures.

Just like when you get a new idea and start a new project, babies don't know what they should do. They don't know the laws of walking, the rules of talking, and the regulations of eating.

They need to first learn the fundamentals. And how do they do that? Well, they imitate.

They observe and replicate what worked for adults close to them. But they do the lessons in their own style. Even though babies copy the process of walking from adults, they still walk like babies. Their ways are distinctive from ours.

Similarly, when you conceive an idea, imitate the people who came before you. See what you can learn from their work, and replicate it in your work, in your own way.

2. Transform and incorporate existing ideas into something new.

No, it's not the same as the first tip.

The first tip is to learn from the process of what worked and works and add your touch.

This tip is to use what exists already as a bridge to make something new.

For instance, baby Jimmy wants a new hat. He wants his hat to be and feel different.

He ditched his baseball hat and went to look for something special. In his search, he finds his underwear. He approached it, stared at it, and grabbed it. And he found his "Aha" moment. As you might expect, Jimmy's mom wasn't so pleased.

jimmy had an idea. He had a creation to bring to life. However, he couldn't come up with something original from the get-go. However, as Jimmy is creative and has probably read this newsletter issue, he took an existing item and made something new.

His new hat was distinct from his other hats. It stood out so much that his mom noticed it in a second.

As one of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs states, "Creativity is just connecting things." And if creativity is connecting things, originality is joining things in an entirely new way.

3. Make combinations of your strengths and a set of things that only you possess.

It's great to learn the fundamentals and take what already exists to make something new. Nevertheless, if you don't use what you have, and what you're strong at, the results won't be amazing.

We all have parts of weakness and strength. We all have something that others don't have. By default, those things make us unique in our way. They set us apart.

So, when we use them for our creative work, it automatically makes a difference.

But, we ought to combine them in ways that make them something more than the sum of the parts.

Let's all upon the tiny creatures again.

When babies want something, they don't just say, "I want this." No, they are creative and smart. Depending on the situation, they will use other components of their body to make the statement.

Sometimes, they will look at their parents with enchanting eyes and make their demands known. Sometimes they will raise their arms to their parents, lower both of their lips, and express what they desire with a melancholic voice. And sometimes, they do all of these things to get their parents' attention and reach their desired results.

They use their strengths and tools only they possess. They don't add them together, but link each one of them to make the combination that will lead to their goal.

As a creative, your desire is probably not an ice cream or a diaper change, but the formula is the same. Make combinations of your strengths and a set of things that only you possess.

4. Make things even if it's "laughable" or people overlook it.

It has consistently happened throughout the history of mankind. An individual has a novel idea. The person shares it with others. But because of the unfamiliarity, the majority laugh at the idea and label it as "impossible," "crazy," or "stupid."

Fortunately, in some instances, the individual didn't listen to those claims and gave their idea a try. And at the end, they proved the majority wrong.

We all love these stories. We love to hear them and tell them. Yet, we avoid being a protagonist of such stories.

Whenever we have an idea that doesn’t seem bright, we throw it away. Whenever we share an idea and people are disapproving of it, we leave it behind. And whenever nobody supports our idea, we forget about it.

This is why even after learning fundamentals, taking existing objects, and combining your strengths. you still can't be creative. Courage is needed.

When you've used imitation properly, people can't see the connection between what you've made to where you took inspiration. That makes your work original.

As you you've connected and crafted from different ingredients to create something, your work is creative. And when one's work is creative and original, it takes some courage to back it up.

We're so used to seeing the same things that whenever something novel comes up, we push it aside. That's why we ought to make creative pieces even if it's laughable or people overlook it. To abandon an idea or creation is to guarantee its disappearance.

Chef Gusteau, from Ratatouille, said it best, "Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great."

4+1. Have a baby's intention in the process

We've discussed the divide in the concept of imitation and originality. We've looked at why we tend to hate one and love the other.

We reflected on what is originality. And we explored how we can work imitation and originality together to attain creativity.

All of this can be done well, only when we again take the example of babies. It's easy to go on, apply the tips, and forget the good reasons. Reasons that can set a great atmosphere behind your work and attract a positive audience.

Imitate your heroes, people you actually respect and admire, and not just copy someone because of external status and metrics.

Moreover, don't take from your heroes and the world without giving something valuable back. Give something that the future generations will imitate to reach originality and be creative. In return, your work will be seen as even more original.

That's how you can have imitation, originality, and creativity walk together with you in your creative journey.

Nothing is new, but you can create novelty.

And as the late great Edith Wharton beautifully put it, "True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision."

Inspiring Wheels

Here are two (or more) creative works that you’ll not regret checking out:

• “Joker: Folie a Deux | Official Teaser” - Warner Bros | I know this is just a trailer, buuuut the artistry throughout the piece is top-notch. The shots are breathtaking. The pacing and sequencing are wonderful. The editing is outstanding. It’s like smelling the vapor of hot cookies before eating the cookies. A proper trailer this is.

• “The GOATness of Music“ - Degenerocity | This video, though comical, explains what we all know about music but tend to forget. Music is just different. Its impact is incalculable. [Warning: some of his jokes are not family-friendly. (They’re still funny though)]

Want to share this issue of 4CW with a friend, colleague,… any human being? Just copy and paste this link: https://4creativewheels.beehiiv.com/p/april-18-2024 😉 😃

Thanks very much for sharing!

Thank you so much for reading! 

As always, feel free to reply to this email & share your thoughts, stories, and any experience related to this topic. I’d love to hear them!  

C ya next Week! 

Embracing Creativity™,

Richard M.

Want to work with me? Contact me here