Name your influences. Pretending you invented everything makes people wonder what you’re hiding.

Everything you make came from somewhere, and people who know the field can see the sources anyway. Claiming otherwise does not read as original, it makes the parts you genuinely did invent look questionable too. Naming what you borrowed has the opposite effect: it shows you know the territory and it puts your own contribution in focus. Originality is what you did with the influences, not their absence.

List the three things that shaped whatever you are working on and say them when you share it. Point people toward your sources rather than away. You lose nothing, and the people you credit often become the people who help you.