Art and Culture # 120: An Interpretation of Longevity and Legacy in the Arts
Longevity and Legacy, in itself, is a twofold question that a writer can’t see beyond a few pages. The outcome isn’t that people don’t want longevity, but have different goals. For writers, being published is the start. The outcome is what will a writer do in order to find their place in the reader’s imagination. It comes as no surprise that feudal conviction, the monkey brain, can perform a few tricks in our brain. The damsel in distress, the man who must take up the mantle of responsibility to save said queen, but all of these ideas all have their place, but to carry out longevity with a reader takes a skill beyond the printed page.
Let’s say this fictional book comes out, amidst growing interests in video games, movies, and other pieces of media—starts to garner some attention. Cultural moments, like in 2024, require very little marketing and too much marketing. If a story itself is powerful, it takes so much more than one reader, or even four thousand. Longevity is when writers themselves don’t control what the singular outcome between popularity, talent, but also branding in each fictional market. But Legacy often gets confused concerning Longevity.
Longevity and Legacy, before the rise of Amazon self-publishing market place, where unknowns could be celebrities, was curated by critics who would make such a writer’s legacy happen. Legacy critics often have their rightful place, but can often be wrong about any writer’s said longevity. Longevity, by the Oxford English Dictionary definition, noun, has three meanings, “of person or animal, the fact or quality of living a long time; long life. Also duration of life.” For this argument, the “duration of life”[1] can be applied to a said writer’s life, but also creates a sunspot within the writer’s life. The writer himself can’t see his own longevity cause humans will all face death, at some point. And their work, before the rise of Amazon self-publishing, critics could kill a writer’s creative longevity. Without critical and commercial longevity, a writer will certainly lose interest in writing if the market, designed by media outlets who could end you, without knowing the real issue, can kill a writer’s longevity. In 2024, this is not the case. A writer can write as much or little and still create longevity in their career, and still be as important as they want. It doesn’t always decide who is famous or not, but what the writer will bring to their own craft, and what others see, too. As Terry Pratchett once said in Pyramids, “Seven thousand years is just one day at a time”[2] proves humorously the world itself is as long as it can be old as one can see time expand, like dough rising in a warm oven. But Legacy also matters.
Legacy, itself, is another powerful aspect that happens beyond the writer’s death. A writers death is far more fascinating than they are alive. It comes as no surprise that legacy is just as closely tied to longevity, but the connection is like duck taping electrical wire together without knowing what will happen. Like a spark that could create a fire, Legacy, itself, can fuel a writer’s longevity well beyond death. One definition of legacy, from OED, is a noun or adjective for “obsolete” but the verb also means, “to give or leave a legacy.”[3] To give or leave a legacy is the definition that fits perfectly. But to inherit a legacy of writing doesn’t match because writers are made by the words procured in their lifetime, leaving out critical bias, too. But as William Shakespeare once said in All’s Well that Ends Well, “No Legacy is as rich as honesty.”[4] Which for William Shakespeare, honesty is that spark that creates a story, book, or series that can be as honest as it should be entertaining.
Somehow, at the end of the day, the book itself becomes popular, creating longevity and a personal legacy for the fictional author, but even so, the outcome has no particular destination. Anyone, in the self-publishing era, stands to win or lose, either way. It’s just who can write the most, during such a busy schedule. Legacy and Longevity are up to the individual in the creative world, no matter if they are published with critical acclaim, and both definitions come as a challenge to both authority and cultural critics of the day. And sometimes, an inherited legacy doesn’t mean you are automatically a gifted writer without honesty. And to some, either definition could work, it’s just how much work will you put into your legacy?
(This short vid might not be about Creative longevity, but exercise also increases physical longevity).
[1] https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=Longevity.
[2] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/longevity.
[3] https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=Legacy.
[4] https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=allswell&Act=3&Scene=5&Scope=scene.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 21 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline Part 2: Chaos, The Data Chase, The Disintegrating Bloodline part 3: Solvè, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, The God of Curiosity, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One, City of Sand: Book 1: The Holy Terror, and The Voices Are Alive, and The City of Sand: Book 2: Jerusalem Ignited. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouisBr88881650. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His newest books, The City of Sand: Book 3: America the Free, is out now.