Writing and Legacy

Nobody knows how many words I've written. Even a fancy algorithm couldn't grep and count all those words. For that matter, how much writing can be done can hardly be known about anyone, except perhaps the kids who have been increasingly relying on digital implements. We leave traces of ourselves in our writing, from childhood to adolescence and onward. Doesn't it seem we have been putting these words down on the page, or screen, more these days and if so how much more? There are various levels of speech now on various networks and messaging systems, and the way you speak to a friend, as opposed to a group of friends, colleagues, strangers, varies in all these scenarios. When it comes to producing a written piece as a work of art, an autobiography, story or other, does this matter more or less than what we have written otherwise, for school regarding topics of academic interest?

I'm not sure people really care that much to read a story about a secret society of vampire bartenders, but then it doesn't quite come down to just legacy. People write to write, to figure stuff out, see what happens along the way, whether for work or not. But, as I've done less writing now than in the past three years for work, I want to be able to rest at night, knowing I've written something that is just my own, my own words, free of the trademarks, names and symbols that I've been processing through my brain, ingesting the terms and use cases, using more words, general words to formulate the reader's perception of whatever manmade thing or idea I need to describe, writing to ensure intended functionality, per design.

It is tantalizing to write that vampire story, or any story, and I suppose that even if I start now, it would take a long way for those brief words, a book, to become my legacy against those hundreds, maybe thousands of pages I have translated to English or edited. In the digital realm, if I were to vanish, my words are really someone else's or feeling only partially mine. Nobody sees my signature or handwriting in this place. Perhaps I should focus on publishing more in my own hand.

My boss asserted people don't read anymore. I get what he means. They read fewer books, fewer fiction than they did previously. While that may be true, it doesn't deter me from writing to claim a new idea, to win my mind back after years of writing for others (for a living, a good one I think).

Another thing: software code is writing. If I write a durable framework for music education - tracking progress allowing students to reference standard metronomes, falsetas, and educational resources in one dashboard. That could be just as worthwhile as a good vampire story, and in the case of software, few would even read the code. Even better : )