Why am I asking this question? We all have the capacity to create something original. But what really, is this capacity? As a writer, I’ve always longed to write in a way that feels new or say something that hasn’t been said before. But I often find myself stuck in mundane places, wondering, “What do I really have to offer?” 

At some point, I began to ask: “Is originality only about novelty? Or could it mean something else?” What if originality isn’t always about being completely novel? What if it’s not about inventing something out of thin air, but about working with what’s already there—and shaping it in a way that only you can? With these questions, I decided to explore what it truly means to create original things. 

How did I explore this? First, I turned to music covers – original songs and music that artists reinterpret in their own voice and style. These weren’t just copied imitations. Rather they became known for their uniqueness, in reinterpreting music that was originally composed by someone else. 

Think of Jeff Buckley’s haunting version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ or Dolly Parton’s powerful take on Whitney Hourston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’. My personal favorite is Sofia Karlberg’s melancholic cover of Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’. These covers might have become more iconic than the originals – and possibly evoked something entirely different and familiar at the same time. 

What did I discover from this quest? As I listened to these covers, one thing became clear to me: most cover artists don’t merely copy the originals. Rather they use imitation as a pathway to create something that becomes uniquely theirs. 

It reminded me that every artist begins by imitating. And as those who desire to create new things, it is our imperative to study people more skillful than us, absorb their techniques to an extent that we internalise the art or the skill to a level until something new emerges from within us. It is not a forced novelty. Rather our originality evolves as we imitate, internalise and express. 

Why does this matter? It matters because all of us are wired to create new things. If cover artists imitate mindlessly, their music becomes a mere repetition of what more talented and skillful artists have created. But as they imitate by infusing their own perception of the music, creativity, skill and imagination, their reinterpretation becomes the ground for something original to emerge. 

This might be because originality is probably not about inventing from thin air – but about reordering or reinterpreting what has already been given to you, with your own unique gifts and skills guiding the process. Originality, then, is less in the final product, and more in the one who created it. 

So, can you be original while you imitate? Yes. In fact, imitation is the soil in which originality takes root. It is how we learn the language of creativity, before we begin to speak it in our own unique voice. As we engage in reinterpreting and reordering what we’ve been given by imitating those who mastered their art, something new will inevitably emerge, not in spite of imitation, but because of it. 

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Written by Roselina Vundi