The Origins of Originality

There is no originality. Everything that has been conceived has already been conceived of. But don't treat this from an ontological point of view. Treat it from the lower levels of literature. 

How can I say that? When there are numerous authors who churn out original content and make billions, as in the case of J.K. Rowling and such.

The premise for the Harry Potter series is not at all original. It is about a boy and his friends and of destiny.

We all have ideas of a boy. 

We all have ideas of magic.

We all have ideas of a stick or a wand.

We all have ideas of monsters, wolves, goblins, evil, power. 

In a nutshell that is what Harry Potter is all about. 

Before, distributing ideas even unoriginal ones was very hard. This made information and stories more expensive. From Gutenberg's time to the present, information is now over abundant that we seldom see something that makes the combination of ideas that we would deem as original. 

One could imagine people dreaming of unicorns and far away places in a distant and strange land. But what are unicorns but a combination of a horse, a horn and wings?

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Hence, in that manner of speaking, there's no such thing as originality. Everything that we think about or conceive comes from the things that we already know. 

You might argue about scientific discoveries and phasers, and microwave ovens and rocket ships and warp speed,  etc. etc.

The same argument applies. 

Phasers are merely combinations of laser beams, a gun and a stun gun.

Microwave ovens, came from the discovery of electromagnetic waves + oven.

The more complicated the concept the more that it is glorified. How do you make it complicated? Combine more concepts. The most important factor is not the amount of concepts combined - but the believability and the doability.

The same goes with writing but it's harder. Because words are easier to make. It's easier to say:

Horn + Horse + Wings + Flying = Unicorn. 

Right? 

The secret is in creating the image of a unicorn, it's relevance to the viewer, and your ability to make it come out of the monitor that your reader is reading to pierce their hearts in agonizing pain. 

Emotions and mental imagery are the keys to a compelling combination.