Be an unoriginal essayist (5)
I believe the answer is:
retry
'be' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are verbs in their base form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for retry that I've seen before include "take second opinion on case" , "Put on trial again" , "Make a further attempt" , "Hear (a case) again" , "Advice following failure, initially" .)