Why I'm Taking a Break from my Favorite Genre

Just a few quick things before my post gets underway...

1. I have a guest post today on Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year! It's about dystopian YA literature (which is what this post is about also, in a different way). 
2. You might notice I have a new background! If you were visiting between 8:30 and 10 ET, I apologize, because you got to see the Great Changing Background Spectacle of 2010. I have a graphic designer friend who is working on something custom for me, but she's in school, so I don't pretend that I'm the most important thing in her life. And my black background was getting a bit depressing. So I hope you like the new background! If you have problems reading it, etc., please let me know - nothing bugs me more than when I can't see content through a blog's background, so I won't be offended by the truth. 
3. Have you entered my 100 followers contest? It ends tomorrow! Enter to win two books on craft and some additional goodies.

OK, now let's get down to it...I have a huge dillema, and I am so upset about it. I've had to give up reading my favorite genre, dystopian literature, because I know reading it right now will make me absolutely crazy. Why?

My WIP is a dystopian YA novel. And, like most neurotic totally sane writers, I'm so paranoid that I'm going to read an idea that's similar to mine, have a major meltdown, and collapse in on myself like a dying star that I've decided my best course of action is to just avoid the genre altogether.

For awhile, I was OK with this. It meant I had to put off The Handmaid's Tale, and The Maze Runner, as well as some other dystopian books I've recently discovered that I've added to my TBR list (Life as We Knew It, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Unwind....just to name a few.) And I thought I could handle it. My experience reading The Giver while I was working on this project only cemented my resolve.

Then March 4 rolled around, and a little book called The Line by Teri Hall hit bookstores. I cannot tell you how excited I have been to read this book. It's been on my radar for quite some time. I probably would have run out today and immediately purchased it, except that The Line is a dystopian novel, and I don't want to break my rule.

Then I had a thought - what if August comes, and I'm STILL not done with this project? (Which would be totally unacceptable, according to the new Timeline for Success I've set up for myself, which includes attending SCBWI-LA with a completed MS.) Does that mean I can't read Mockingjay??!!! (I decided it does not. I already know that world, anyway. Besides, it's MOCKINGJAY. I'm even contemplating taking a day off work to read that one.)

Here's the great thing about this rule, though; as my list of dystopian literature to-read grows, so does my desire to finish this WIP faster. I want to be able to get back to the genre I love so well. I miss it. That doesn't mean I'm rushing through revisions, but it does light a fire under my butt to get them done.

Another great thing about this rule is that I'm reading a lot more contemporary novels than I might have otherwise. I just finished Thirteen Reasons Why, and next up is Some Girls Are (apparently I am trying to get in touch with my moody, tortured teen side - the side that makes you squirm it's so awful.) I would have read both of these books eventually, but it's safe to say they got moved up the pile because of my desire to stay away from any and everything that might remind me of my WIP.

So what about you? Do you try to read books similar to yours while you're writing? Or do you stay away from them, like me?