Dream-Piper

Here is what I learned from admiring the work of others and being inspired by them... Always ask these questions:

How much of what you are doing is coming from yourself instead of the work that inspired you?

Is the work being made because you want to see someone else's ideas with your own tweaks in mind or is it being made from something that came from your interests and experiences?

Have you tried looking at what aspects you like from your inspiration, such as characters, plot lines, dialogue, designs, etc. instead of taking all aspects of it into consideration?

When you create your project, think about what makes you happy vs what you think is just really cool. I've been easily influenced by many a project (l.e. Soul Eater, Animorphs, Inuyasha, Eureka Seven, Avatar, ATLA etc.) and I have a story from each that was heavily inspired by one or more series. After looking back, I realized that while I greatly admired the ideas and saw my project through the lenses of someone else's work, it wasn't something that came from myself and what I loved.

I would look at a story and think, "This is such a cool idea! What if I made my own version of the characters and a similar world with a similar backdrop and message, but completely flip it around to make it mine? "

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but don't make something just to flatter someone else... make art from you, using others people's work as puzzle pieces that guide parts of your own work, rather than a full canvas.

Hope that makes sense in terms of advice!