I agree, completely. I was once accused of plagiarism. (It wasn't, obviously - we both based our otherwise completely different stories on the same fairy tale, which all my *anonymous* detractors failed to realize, although it was in the author notes.) It was one of the most awful experiences to suddenly have these vicious reviews popping up in my inbox accusing me of stealing a story that I had, before that point, never been aware of in the first place. Since then, I have been extremely paranoid about sharing my work or letting others' work influence my own.
That said, I *know* I am influenced on a sub-conscious level quite often. For example, if I've been watching a lot of British comedies, my dialogue gets more irreverent and snappier. And I do the music thing too - Queen for happier scenes, NIN for angsty stuff, etc. I think it's impossible to avoid that entirely, and despite my paranoia, I know have to relax a bit sometimes and stay away from the hyper-sensitivity. I try to stay at the "extremely vigilant" level though.
Keeping my reading - fanfic and otherwise - broadly based helps. I don't think I'll ever write an S&M fic, but reading them definitely puts me outside of my customary Sess/Kag romance niche. ;)
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That said, I *know* I am influenced on a sub-conscious level quite often. For example, if I've been watching a lot of British comedies, my dialogue gets more irreverent and snappier. And I do the music thing too - Queen for happier scenes, NIN for angsty stuff, etc. I think it's impossible to avoid that entirely, and despite my paranoia, I know have to relax a bit sometimes and stay away from the hyper-sensitivity. I try to stay at the "extremely vigilant" level though.
Keeping my reading - fanfic and otherwise - broadly based helps. I don't think I'll ever write an S&M fic, but reading them definitely puts me outside of my customary Sess/Kag romance niche. ;)