Welcome back to another bloghop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

Don’t forget to click the link to see what everyone else has to say on this week’s subject. It’s at the end of my post.

Do you take yourself too seriously when it comes to your writing?

Pretentious is an adjective used to describe a person, object, or piece of work that tries to appear more important, intelligent, cultured, or significant than they or it actually are.

It’s one that doesn’t apply to me. I like to think of my position as that of a very small fish in a very big ocean. There’s little to be gained by thinking that I’m the next big thing, or ascribing my lack of sales to anything more than non-existent marketing on my part, or an enormous selection of titles to compete with.

The real answer is that I can’t be bothered. I spent a lot of time and effort on marketing pre-COVID, and it burned me out. What was meant as a hobby became secondary to the act of trying to sell the results of it.

I also encountered people who did not have my best interests at heart. And that’s me in polite mode.

It all caused me more stress than I was prepared to accept, in return for a few sales.

Worse than that, my writing suffered for it, defeating the object.

Since I started putting words down, I’ve always written because I enjoy doing it. After a lifetime of responsibility, I can sit in a warm room and drink coffee, with no accountability or pressure to perform. There’s no ship and crew to keep safe, no weather to watch or E.T.A. to maintain. No twice-weekly message to the owners, saying, we’re still floating.

All I have to do is watch what’s going on in my head and write it down. I’m in the fortunate position that I don’t need the money, and I certainly don’t want the fame.

I can indulge myself, like I would with any hobby. I can get a better keyboard, a more comfy chair, nice coffee, biscuits. And there’s a product at the end of it, a paperback or eBook equal in quality to anything you can buy.

All made by me.

It’s something to leave behind. My grandson has expressed an interest in Sci-fi, when he’s a bit older, he might enjoy reading my efforts. We’ll see.

What do you think about this week’s subject?

Let me know by leaving me a comment.

While you’re here, please click the InLinkz link to check out what my fellow writers have to say about this week’s topic.

I’ll be back with another post on Thursday. See you then. Meanwhile, have a great week.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do.