Just realized I’ve copied Lovecraft without meaning to
I’m in the early stages of outlining a novel. As a horror writer, it’s hard not use certain aspects of the writers I loved reading as a young man: Lovecraft, King, Ligotti….
But I realized that I was using a character who is confined to a mental hospital whose body has been taken over by an alien consciousness (like in The Thing on the Doorstep).
Just wondering what other people’s experience is with realizing the writing you’re doing has been sort of done before. The situations in my story and Lovecraft’s are quite different, and other than the mind-swapped character, the similarities between the two stories end.
At this point I just feel icky using the character, though; I’m not intending this work to be a pastiche. Any advice or experiences anyone could share that are similar to mine?