Originality pays dividends for decades. If you invent a style that’s truly original, it’s notoriety compounds with each person that adopts that style. You see this often in art when a truly original artist enters onto a scene.

Consider Jean-Michel Basquiat. Love him or hate him, Basquiat was original. He was as original as original gets. Nearly four decades after his death, his spirit lives on because his originality is so widely mimicked. Today when we see someone melding elements of abstract expressionism with graffiti, we say… “That’s looks like Basquiat.” He never leaves the conversation.

Artists who aspire to be original are terrified of their originality being copied. But, this only enhances the legend surrounding themselves and their work.