How do I choose the tradition I'm working inside?

You want to choose the tradition you work inside. You already have one. It was assembled by accident from what was nearby, and it is shaping every choice you make, invisibly, which is the only way an unchosen lineage can operate. First, find out what it currently is. List the ten works that actually formed your sense of what good means. Be honest rather than impressive — the television you watched at fourteen probably belongs on the list, and pretending otherwise leaves the real influence unexamined. Second, look at what that list is missing. Every accidental lineage has a shape: one century, one country, one temperament. The gaps are not failures; they are the available room. Third, choose three to add and read them properly, more than once. Adding to a lineage is slow. A book read once is information; a book read three times becomes part of how you see. Fourth, name your debts publicly. Fear of comparison keeps people silent about influence, and the silence makes the work look thinner, not more original. Fifth, work in the tradition rather than beside it. Answer the works you love. That is what a lineage is for. What are the ten works that actually formed your taste?