It is difficult to think of an idea that nobody has thought of before.
Early morning light in the Channel. Pentax MX, Portra 800, Sep 2022.
Original thought is becoming rare indeed these days. Lucky for us writers, thoughts are mostly unshared and therefore unknown. But even if we only count the ideas that are written down, there is already a formidable array of published or communicated ideas out there. Writing anything original amounts to conjuring up creative energies which we didn’t know we actually possessed.
Advice I’ve received from more experienced writers than me is that if you’re about to write a cliche, don’t. If you haven’t got anything original to say, then don’t say it.
Cirrus and cumulus. Pentax MX, Portra 800, Sep 2022.
But what could ever be considered to be original? The idea of originality is that it can be traced back to a single source. Like a quality coffee bean, or a spring that bubbles up from the earth, an original idea simply arises from its creator, unique, fully formed and ready to quench the thirst of the seeker who has not yet found what it is they’re looking for.
Being original does not necessarily mean coming up with an entirely new concept. Any idea that we have is bound to be inspired by a bunch of stimuli we have experienced previously. Therefore it is impossible to conceive an idea in isolation. An original idea is actually an amalgamation of a bunch of experiences which we have processed. Ideas are not so much new as they are recycled. To claim ideas as our own is to display an inherent arrogance, a lack of humility in acknowledging the true source of our genius: everything other than our self.
Kunanyi, from Old Station Rd. Pentax MX, Portra 800, Sep 2022.
Nevertheless, it is possible to be original. It needs not be a new idea entirely. It simply needs to be a new idea for our audience, for the beholder, to whom it matters not if the same revelation occurred to a citizen of ancient Rome two thousand years ago. Things and ideas get lost, and they also get found. Coming up with an original idea may not be so much about finding something new, but rediscovering something very old indeed.
A.S. 15/10/2022, Lenah Valley