How I produce content without having to be original

In an article I wrote at the beginning of 2021, I argued that the need to be “original” is vastly overrated, and I have since realized that it keeps on being a major roadblock for beginner content creators.

The fear of never being original and creative enough can be a huge hurdle to the already untrained will of the beginner. Questions such as “What should I talk about?” and “Has somebody already said this?” do more harm than good in the beginning. And when you are just starting out in any sort of creative profession, you look up to people better than you and think “Damn. These people are so unique, I can never be like this.”

The truth is that there are tons of frameworks and business philosophies that seasoned content creators use to increase their production rates AND quality. Do you really believe that a YouTuber who posts 2 videos a week, every week, for 3+ years, is original in every single one of them?

In a sense, yes they are, because the act of being you is original enough. But at the same time, there are specific trends and topics you see popping up all over different people’s works. For example, almost every productivity YouTuber has a morning routine video, most digital artists on Instagram do Draw This In Your Style challenges, and so on.

In this article, you will see the different ways in which you can overcome the originality problem and eventually, find your own brand of uniqueness along the way.

There are no unique messages, only unique messengers

We are living in the era of mass communications, so it is only natural that our ability to share ideas with each other has skyrocketed.

Currently, somebody on the side of the world can share their insights with you just as easily as the person sitting next to you. This jump in people’s ability to share their unique messages brought in inflation of uniqueness, so to say. And at one point, the major cool ideas started to seem like a distant past.

How can I create something original, which is not an intentional or unintentional revamp of an old thing?

Well, rest assured, because the truth about unique concepts is that there are very few of them in sight. You may think of some literature classics as primary examples of creative flow and mastery, and yes, they are. But most of them are also retellings of old stories, quite a lot of them coming from the Bible, just put in a modern style (or at least modern for the time).

Now, not to be condescending of the ancient masters, but let’s be honest. Mona Lisa is just a portrait. It may be one of the more enigmatic ones, but it is still a portrait nonetheless, and da Vinci didn’t need to reinvent the wheel every time he created something. And he created a ton of things.

So as you can see, concepts have been passed culturally through different art forms throughout the ages, and the uniqueness never lied in the core concepts and ideas. It was the unique messengers, the names attached to the masterpieces, that created the unique twist required for a certain piece of media to make a splash.

Niche it down

Let’s say your idea for digital content creation is to be an illustrator. I’m choosing this because it just so happens that it is my niche as well.

However, you instantly run into the issue of astounding competition. You are competing with thousands of people, better-equipped and more experienced than you, in a world where algorithms sneakily drive attention to the people already drowning in it, leaving amateurs aside from the spotlight. You look at all those amazing artists and think to yourself how you could never be as popular as them, since they are only getting more and more popular, no matter how fast you are growing yourself.

But there is a simple piece of advice that comes in handy in such conundrums - niche it down.

A niche is defined as “a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.”

And the reason I am suggesting this is that it helps you decrease the competition while simultaneously increasing your chances to shine. Imagine going into a room with 1 million people, already having conversations, being engaged with what’s going on, etc. It is very hard to then grab the attention of said million people without basically going in front of each and every person to fight for their attention.

It is a lot easier though to find a smaller room. Divide and conquer, as they say.

When you niche down to, let’s say, digital illustration of fantasy characters, you suddenly get more visibility within this particular domain. Yes, you may lose touch with those other groups of people, but you were never reaching them by posting your sketch online with the hashtag #art anyway.

It is not necessary to limit yourself to one niche either, but just keep in mind how people tend to form collectives. It is much easier to grab people’s attention when there are fewer competitors, and this would help you expand your horizons eventually. As you grow out of one niche and into another, you will be adding layers to your online identity, and the public likes layers.

Once again, you never need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to find a wheel suitable for you and start rolling.

Be a linker

The stereotype for a “guru” is associated with a sage, a person so far ahead in their spiritual journey that they seem impossible to reach. This so-called “curse of knowledge” is the reason why a lot of experts are not great teachers, They are so deep into their subject matter that they have lost touch with the fundamentals of what they are teaching, and thus many beginners lose track and motivation.

It is much easier for a Year 1 student to learn from a Year 2 or Year 3 student who is further ahead, but by just a few steps, rather than by a whole lot.

When you think that you can contribute nothing as a digital content creator, think twice. You know stuff, and some of that stuff is actually pretty recent things you may have gotten good at. So you are the perfect fit to be a teacher to people just a few steps behind you. Document, don’t simply create content. When you don’t feel original, just remember that a few notes from you on how you actually learned X can be peak originality for somebody in the correct moment.

And in terms of linking, yes, there is a ton of info outside, but not enough guideposts. If you can lead people to their desired info, even if you are not the original author of said info, you are still providing a pretty unique contribution to society. Good job!