Content Can't Be Original But, Treatment Must Be

Creating original content is perhaps the most difficult thing in the world. I was reading somewhere the other day that, 'everything original has already been created by God.'

It's absolutely true.

Every story worth telling has already been told and every idea worth trying has already been applied by someone at some point or the other. Few scientific discoveries are without controversies. For each patent or scientific discovery that is lauded, there will at least be a handful of inventors who at some point will come out and say that they too were on the verge of discovering the same thing or that they had already discovered but, did not file for the patent on time.

This is not unusual because, everything worth discovering is already out there for millions of years. Man has been walking on Earth for a 1000 generations now and every story worth telling has already been experienced/ expressed by someone even if it is the most unique or one of its kind.

So, what makes the cut if every story has already been told?

You.

Yes, you are the USP of your story. How you tell it, what is your focus, your roadblocks, your perspective is what makes it unique.

The greatest storyteller of all time, William Shakespeare never used a single original story. He picked up some of the most well-loved tales from across the continent and adapted them with timeless dialogues and some of the most well-crafted scenes that have been put up on stage ever.

To his credit, he knew the pulse of the audience. He knew emotions made an impact on them. They could connect to them at the level of blood, sweat and tears. There were blood and wars, love and thunder, heads rolling and kissing on stage that made the onlookers throw rotten eggs and tomatoes at the actors in excitement. And made them come back again and again for repeat shows.

Needless to say that William Shakespeare who studied in a free school and was caught poaching a fawn from a rich man's estate retired a rich man himself - not to mention famous and influential and well-known.

I have always believed that Shakespeare's vast success is due to his great understanding of human emotions and being in touch with the common people of his time. Another interesting thing that Shakespeare's works showcase is that human emotions are timeless. The plays with their deep understanding of human nature remain relevant even till date.

Any good content should be treated as your creation. Creation is like giving birth or rebirth. When you create you are bound to put a lot of you in it. And that is what makes your creation exceptional. A lot of great works of arts were birthed by mistake or made unique because of the creator's quirk.
If it was not for cataract, we would not have seen the waterlilies by Monet as they are till date - masterpieces.

I rest my case with what I started with, to be a great creator, you have to immerse yourself in your work and make a difference in the outcome just by being you - just like I did in the image that I created for this piece.