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.
Oh, God, I can only imagine. It probably would've been enough to completely drive me from fandom, even if I knew I'd done nothing wrong.
I have been extremely paranoid about sharing my work or letting others' work influence my own.
I find when I'm on a real writing jag, I don't read others' work at all. It's like - I'm in the zone, but I'm also the most vulnerable to influence? LOL, if that makes any sense. When the muses are quiet - that's when I get most of my backlog read. For some reason, that's when I'm most secure in my sense of style and form.
What can I say? I'm weird :P
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
Music is an integral part of my process; it always has been, fanfic or original fic. I know I'm not unique in that, by any means :P but it does make me curious to see how the same music can influence people in different ways. After all, we all perceive the same song in different ways. I <3 NIN with a fiery passion, but I'd probably throw them on not for angst, but for something action-packed (or sexy, depending on the song, aheh).
Keeping my reading - fanfic and otherwise - broadly based helps.
There's research, and then there's everything else :) One day I'm going to redo my "author in her natural habitat" post, with all of my books. People might be pleasantly surprised.
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. ;)
Personally, I think S/K S&M fic misses the point when it comes to characterization, especially of Sesshoumaru, but that's my own background speaking :P (I've said it often enough, but fandom has been the best use of my degree in psychology EVAR, LOL.) I'm extremely picky about what I read in that corner of fandom, moreso than others - probably because I've been burned so many times by various inhabitants.
no subject
Oh, God, I can only imagine. It probably would've been enough to completely drive me from fandom, even if I knew I'd done nothing wrong.
I have been extremely paranoid about sharing my work or letting others' work influence my own.
I find when I'm on a real writing jag, I don't read others' work at all. It's like - I'm in the zone, but I'm also the most vulnerable to influence? LOL, if that makes any sense. When the muses are quiet - that's when I get most of my backlog read. For some reason, that's when I'm most secure in my sense of style and form.
What can I say? I'm weird :P
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
Music is an integral part of my process; it always has been, fanfic or original fic. I know I'm not unique in that, by any means :P but it does make me curious to see how the same music can influence people in different ways. After all, we all perceive the same song in different ways. I <3 NIN with a fiery passion, but I'd probably throw them on not for angst, but for something action-packed (or sexy, depending on the song, aheh).
Keeping my reading - fanfic and otherwise - broadly based helps.
There's research, and then there's everything else :) One day I'm going to redo my "author in her natural habitat" post, with all of my books. People might be pleasantly surprised.
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. ;)
Personally, I think S/K S&M fic misses the point when it comes to characterization, especially of Sesshoumaru, but that's my own background speaking :P (I've said it often enough, but fandom has been the best use of my degree in psychology EVAR, LOL.) I'm extremely picky about what I read in that corner of fandom, moreso than others - probably because I've been burned so many times by various inhabitants.
Now, non-fanfic S&M? I have no issues with, LOL!