I feel like some of your colleagues could probably benefit from reading fanfiction, tbh. Just, some of them seriously suck and I've read fanfiction with better characterization... le facepalm.

It is absolutely not a question of talent, or if someone would ‘benefit,’ it’s purely a logistical and legal issue. 

It sucks, it’s not really fair, and every time I bring it up I get a ton of angry notes about it, but the publishers absolutely do discourage you from reading fanfic.