I received a review lately on Exodus where the reader stated that it was obvious that I had read David Weber and John Ringo. Guilty as charged. And Robert Heinlein and Poul Anderson and Jerry Pournell. And if you read my fantasy you may see Robert E Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Michael Moorcock, some Robert Adams, and a fight scene or two choreographed like R A Salvatore. And in the military aspects of my fiction you may recognize a bit of Tom Clancy and Harold Coyle. You, see, I didn’t learn to write by attending a Master of Fine Arts program, or by taking online classes (though there were some of those). I studied and obtained degrees in Psychology in College, and also studied and majored, at times, in Biology, Geology and Chemistry. I learned to write by reading for enjoyment and sitting my ass in a chair to write. Maybe that causes me to lack some of the polish of an MFA, but I know what I enjoy, and I try to do the same in my stories. If I enjoy something of the above mentioned authors it will enter my tool box without thought. It’s normally not a conscious decision what style to copy where. Just something I do. And as long as the readers enjoy it then I am accomplishing my primary task.
I have also had some reviewers say that I did something in a book that was done before, and therefore dismiss it. I mix and match themes, and sometimes do something similar to what was done in a book or movie, especially if I thought the original was really poorly done. I will also add some things from stories that I enjoyed, but in a new setting, and with a new mixture of elements. One reader noted this in a review, stated that, sure, I used themes that had been used before, but added some interesting new themes involving wormholes and black holes.
Some of my novels have been confusing to some readers. If both my series, Exodus and Refuge, I use a number of POV characters and jump all over the place. Also not an invention of mine, I credit the technique to both James Michener and Harry Turtledove. Michener told stories across centuries of time with different characters for each era. Turtledove, mostly, tells stories with ten or more viewpoint characters, each involved in their own part of a larger story, sometimes revolving around a major war. The scenes switch through the book telling the story from the progression of characters. Every once in awhile a main character will die, and his part is taken by a secondary character in his story. It can be confusing, but can also be interesting. Now I do listen to my readers, and to the reviews good and bad. That doesn’t always mean I’m going to make changes based on their suggestions, but it might. Hopefully I will keep progressing with my writing. I plan on doing this for a long, long time.