I have this paranoia that I will accidentally steal ideas from books that I read or TV shows and movies that I watch, especially without realizing I've done so (see Helen Keller's experience with her story "The Frost King").
It was this reason that ultimately kept me from pursuing creative writing instruction in college. I was afraid of being "tainted" by formal training and wanted to keep my ideas "pure." (I promise you I am not really a narcissist...well, not that much, anyway.)
It's rare for any theme or idea to be truly unique, I believe, but I've been extreme about avoiding other fiction while writing. This is totally counter to the advice of some writers, but it keeps me feeling more secure.
I've been sticking to reading non-fiction works for the last year, and this practice had the interesting side effect of forming a springboard for new ideas for The Fracture of a Dream, ideas that I knew I could not have "stolen" from what I read, because I had to fictionalize them and put them into new contexts.
What do all of you think? Read more fiction while writing fiction? Don't read fiction at all? Read within your genre, or read outside it? I'm curious about what works for other writers.
Lia B.