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When I started writing online, I went all in writing about my dreams of becoming a writer and how I was born to be a writer. After five or six articles, I was blank. I didn’t know what to write next.

I didn’t want to sound like a rant radio — who likes to read rants anyway? Maybe some people, but not me. Writing something useful became the next best thing. As I explored my strengths, I came up with digital writing, journaling, creative writing, children’s story writing, content marketing, and copywriting.

But every time I wanted to write something, it sounded like a rewritten version of something I’d read that morning. Yes, I read a lot on these topics too. It felt like everything worth being written was already written.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: All ideas brewing in your head are making an appearance in someone else’s mind as well. It depends on who picks it up first. Of course, if you write about it, it’s going to sound similar — with a few differences — because your experience will differ. And thank God for it.

I didn’t have to find a completely new topic after all.

The Originality Trap

Think about it: we’re all humans with similar expectations from life, but life throws us different experiences. You are unique; your ideas aren’t. So just mix them up to create something “unoriginally unique.”

Why are most movies love stories? Are they all the same? Original ideas don’t exist, but original stories do.

The myth of pure originality

On Reddit, I often see threads in business ideas or entrepreneurship communities:

“I have an idea, but someone has stolen it. What do I do”

“I have an idea, but how do I discuss it with business partners without the risk of getting it stolen?”

I used to think similarly. I kept my best writing ideas to myself, hoping to turn them into blockbuster…