Sunday, May 1, 2011

Fear of Unoriginality

My wife Laura's greatest fear is the notion that her ideas are unoriginal. That everything she writes, and everything she ever hopes to write, has already been said by someone else. And said better.

Readers, what ideas can you suggest to help her overcome this fear?

My gut view: no matter how widely you've read, it will never be enough to know for sure if some idea you think up has already been thought up.

Thus it doesn't really matter. Just shut up and write. Stop with the delaying tactics and the existential worry. Just put stuff out there, and let it be as original--or as unoriginal--as it turns out to be. You might surprise yourself.