I've just been struggling recently with this doubt that I could never think of ideas I've seen written on my own. If that sounds confusing to you, you aren't the only one.
Of course, I could sit down and be inspired by something another author wrote and write something in the same vein. That's not the issue. It's that now I've seen them, I can never have the idea off my own back. And that bothers me because I cannot take that back. It's done, it's fixed. And I can never know if I would have thought of it myself or not. Anytime I think of anything similar, it's just going to be based on what I read and not from my own creativity.
I know it's neurotic but has anyone else been in this position? I need some clarity on this, an external viewpoint you might say.