As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
While there is the ubiquity of information, the temptation is to mimic the methods of a person. This doesn’t work in the long run. There’s typically something integrated into their recipe for connecting to their audience. It’s the secret sauce, per se.
However, there are principles which underly success. When I see someone’s work that I admire, I am less concerned about how they did things and like to focus on what the core of their success is. Authors do this to me all the time. Their communication style or thought processes can reveal the depth of their substance and insight.
Music works this way. There’s a style and tightly unified recipe of sound that makes it connect or not.
As you are building your own thing, keep to the principles of what others are doing. You can make your own methods. It shows you understand something and can make it truly your own.
