Does Originality Matter?

Have you ever found yourself fretting about whether your work is “original” enough? In the minds of most people, it seems, originality or novelty is absolutely central to art. Indeed, for many, it is axiomatic that if some work is not “original” – if it is “derivative” or has been “all done before” – it lacks real artistic merit. Moreover, to characterise a work as “highly original” is itself to issue praise, quite apart from any other aspects of the work. I think that there is something wrong in such ideas, or at least confused or ambiguous.