Day 5 of Supposed Crimes 30-day Challenge: What do you hope people say about you after you’re gone?
On the heels of yesterday’s look back, here’s a look forward.
My writings will be my legacy. This blog, my fanfics, my books. On the internet nothing every really passes away. I can search my name and my writings are the first things to come up. Perhaps if I had a more common name, or had used a pen name, the works I’ve created might eventually become disconnected from a person’s memory of me. But I do use my real name. When I was first considering publication, I believed it was important to claim ownership of my ideas so there would be no ambiguity that these are my thoughts, my feelings, and my stances on issues.
I’m not prolific. Just three novels in 13 years. I do put a lot of myself and my own point of view into each of my stories. I have chosen to put out into the world these writings as way to define myself in others’ eyes. A close reader should have some sense of who I am through my stories.
I hope most people who read my stories will learn I am:
- honest
- thoughtful
- loving
- supportive
I hope too, that they’ll say I was a realist, but never a cynic. That I presented a hopeful view of humans, their loves and other relationships. I’m okay with never being viewed as a societal commentator. But I would like to be known as someone who had quiet, acute observations of humans as individuals.
I know I’m not writing “literary” works, but I consider my content seriously and deeply. Maybe I should only hope my stories helped a person pass a few enjoyable hours, just as it has been my pleasure to write them.
But I do want to be a bit more than that. If a small moment in a story profoundly sticks with a reader for whatever reason, by that person I will be remembered fondly for creating that connection. That will be a fine legacy.
~ Lara
Lara Zielinsky 