Boasting in the Mead Hall

As I work on refining my identity as a writer with an eye on creating a writer’s platform, I find that it can be very difficult to choose the words to describe one’s self and one’s writing.  It’s easy to say why I like other authors – this one writes lyrical prose, that one explores the nobility of the human spirit without being trite.  Some of the things I admire in other authors are themes, styles and ideas I try to incorporate into my own writing.  But it’s hard to say that is what I do; that is what my writing is.

I think a part of this is that major religions of the world (from which even then non-religious have created parts of their code of conduct,) tend to view boasting as a vice.  Sure there is a difference between boasting and self-promotion, but sometimes it’s hard to tell where the line is drawn.

So I am going to work on embracing a facet of my Anglo-Saxon heritage: the appropriate use of boasting as a positive indication of character, bravery and determination.

Besides slaying Grendel in a wrestling match – (Oh, you’ve already done that Beowulf – well, darn) – I am preparing to write a description of my writing, testing it on those who have read my work for accuracy and then... Let’s to the mead-hall and let the boasting begin.