Dead-Hand Control

All writers are consumed by death, in at least two ways.

First: No story under the sun is ever truly new. Rather, they are all influenced by everything the writer has read. And everything the writer reads was either written by dead hands, or was influenced by dead hands, or was influenced by hands which were influenced by hand which were influenced by ... and so on until you reach death.

Second: Writers seek permanence in a way not all artists get to. Storytelling has an ancient pedigree of tradition. Of passing down tales. Remember us to the people, a grandfather might think to his grandson, as he tells a fable, half-remembered, though he knows it is based on Aesop's. Together Aesop and the grandfather seek immortality, for at least as long as the memory of grandson and his progeny sustains them. A Coco-like afterlife built on memory and story. His hands shan't die so long as people tell his stories. So long as the memory of man runneth not to the contrary.