I'm a little scared by the thought that some people in the xf community might be suffering from the same problem that exists in the animation world, where basically many new creators have a creative reference point equivalent to that of a child born of incest.
To put it simply, most people who think, “I don’t like stories with humans,” consume only one type of media (and sometimes not even that, since they only know how to consume children’s content or works within a single genre), and as a result, when it comes to writing an “original” story, their only reference is that one type of thing and its “copies”—ideas that have already been taken and chewed over by someone else. That’s why it doesn’t feel interesting on its own, and for the most part, it’ll just be another clone repeating the same thing.
And I say this because it’s noticeable that there are authors today who are heavily influenced by the Erins’ work.
Now, I’m not saying it’s bad to build on something you like. Everyone does that.
What I mean by this is that when it comes time to write, that material is your ONLY reference in mind—and at most, the occasional similar story. As a result, the repetition of tropes, structure, conflicts, and characters becomes evident.
And well, it’s pretty obvious. If you want to write, you should also consume media in other formats, genres, and styles—even those outside the one you want to focus on writing, or that don’t “speak” to you.
Whether they’re TV shows, movies, books, plays, or real-life events, etc. Whether they feature humans or not, you need to familiarize yourself with these kinds of stories first before you start reimagining them in your own way.
Whether they’re horror, epic, fantasy, documentary, or anything else.
Having a broad understanding of all these worlds is vital for building your own unique one. Otherwise, you’ll likely never have any references or inspiration for future plots, conflicts involving your characters, their traits, or the world you want to create—some of which you’ve probably never even considered or that have never even been written about before. There are even subgenres and literary styles that probably haven’t been used in existing xenofiction yet—ones that could mean something very special if combined.
