I would say it can hurt, especially if you want to write in a certain genre. For example, if it's a vampire book, going Bela Lugosi style will seem a bit old-fashioned. The words and phrases will seem odd. But Anne Rice's novels have a different take.
I was a lurker on the other one but the time gaps between posts were too long to bother about participating. I got an email the other day that the site had changed hands so I decided to lurk again. This time I've been more participative. As for my writing journey, a friend knew I wrote short...
I set it in a place I lived in for a few weeks. My wife loves cats so I used the location as a setting for a cat's refuge staffed by a friends and one of their daughters.