Let's Discuss: Being Original

(This was suppose to say being original but i was eating so my mind was in a different place)

Recently, one of my favorite bloggers TheBookBratz made a post stating someone stole her idea and how originality should be encouraged in the blogging community. And of course, we all know what comes next when someone tries to encourage something from the norm. 

While reading a lot of blog posts on it and responses to it, it made me think things like, is it okay to not be original? Where and when should we pin point on originality?

To my first question. No. I don’t think its okay to not be original. Even if you aren’t original, aim to be. 

Thats my problem with majority of the posts i’m seeing. “Oh its okay to not be original because every idea is from someone else’s” or “Oh top ten posts aren’t original so why are we talking about originality” or “All this originality talk is making me afraid to do this and that.”

And it really depresses me seeing stuff like this because as someone who’s soon to graduate (class of 2017 whoop whoop) and in preparations to write a college letter. I’m going to aim to be original. You think i’m going to write what my good friend Sally May did in her college letter she sent in last year and got accepted into Harvard?

No. I don’t care if Sally May wrote the best letter in all of the entire galaxy. I’m not going to copy her because of her success. And its a lot like book blogging and booktube. Because we all want success we feel the need to copy and thats why ideas get so popular and common.

However some do copy because its fun and informational like Top Ten Wednesdays and i won’t dismiss that.

Which brings me to my next question. Where and when should we pin point on originality? 

All the time.

But wait, i also take part in doing common blog posts so how can i say we should pin point originality, all the time?

The thing is for an idea that is widely popular and common its hard to tell who it originally came from so you can’t exactly give them the credit where its due.

But its fair to say that if there is an uncommon idea and you steal it then you either need some originality or some manners to ask.

Thats why i don’t know why this needs to be discussed. TheBookBratz had an uncommon idea, shared it, the person saw it and stole it.

Then another question comes up. What if you really thought of the idea yourself?

This made me think of the time i made a wattpad cover to my story and i kid you not i saw someone with the a very very very very similar cover. I got so mad i bombarded their messages and said “you need to take this down because its my idea. You used my cover and added some extra stuff to it.”

And then they said, “Um no? I made this cover myself.”

And it made me so mad because i just kept thinking, there is no way someone could possible have such a similar idea to mine and i even thought about taking my own cover down but i didn’t want to give them that satisfaction.

Then i later thought two months after their story got more famous then mine, but what if they really did have the same idea as me or what if i had the same idea as them?

Thankfully blogging is a lot more easier than wattpad. So if you’re truly in doubt and afraid to copy someone, google the title. 

I really wanted to talk about this because though its hard to be original. Always aim to be it. If theres a uncommon idea you saw and truly want to do the same, don’t be shady and just ask the person if you could the same thing. Because if really know someone and saw their uncommon and totally original idea and then proceed to take it, you’re not in category of people who “just happened to have the same idea.” You’re a thief and you’re going to be labelled one whether you’re a big or small blogger. 

Additionally, I really don’t like this whole “oh its a big deal because its a big blogger.” I’ve never ever thought of thebookbratz as a big blogger and just tweeted them like i would tweet anyone.  And thats the thing too. When you focus on thinking things like “oh wow he or she is a big blogger and this or that” you’re putting a wall between yourself and normal people. Thats why you fear doing an idea. It’s not because its original or not, we all probably did something we thought was original and later found out someone thought about it already.

You’re bound to copy someone unintentionally once or twice or even more than that in your life but you should want to be original. You should want people to go on your blog and have their own thoughts on why they like it. 

Original ideas is what us as humans come up with to progress and become better so aim to be someone who’s unique.