[Teresa Edgerton]

Everything you ever write will be influenced by things you read, see, think, feel, and do. So yes, the more you read, the more people you will copy -- but, you will no longer be copying their creations whole. You will, essentially, be taking smaller and smaller pieces from more and more sources, and combining them in ways that are uniquely your own.

If the only wizards you ever read about were Gandalf and Dallben, you would probably be unable to visualize a wizard without some combination of white beard, staff, book, and pig. But if you know Prospero, Väinämöinen, Math, Taliesen, Ged, Roger Bacon, Cornelius Agrippa ... the list of wizards in legend, folklore, and literature goes on and on, and a lifetime of study would probably not be sufficient to uncover them all ... then you come to understand more and more that the archetype "wizard" is not limited to any one set of features or characteristics.

And the same applies to any other character you may happen to write about. The more influences you absorb, the less likely you are to copy any one character exactly.