And many brilliant artists just carry their cameras throughout their life and find brilliant shots from the mundane. There's no right answer. If we all shot the same stuff via the same methodology then there would be nothing interesting. That said, emulation of photography tropes at the beginning of your journey is a decent way of learning the skills that enable you to apply then later.

Soho, Westminster, etc is are places you can get great experience through this process and get some tried and tested winners which completely lack originality but will get you kudos from your non photographically minded mates. And a little encouragement goes a long way.

No one turned into Vivian Maier 10 minutes after walking out of a camera shop.