What advice did I get from my father when I came back from the Vietnam War and told him I wanted to be a writer? He said to me, “Writing is a hobby for rich white boys.”
My father is dead now. I don’t want you to think he was wrong about everything. He was right about a lot of things. He had a great deal of street knowledge; but he was wrong about writing.
I renewed my library book: American Isis, The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath by Carl Rollyson.
When I was a young writer, I wish someone had given me the advice that Alfred Kazin gave to Sylvia Plath when he was teaching at Smith and she was a student there. He told her, “You don’t write to support yourself; you work to support your writing.”
So, the Old Soldier is saying to you. Put yourself into a position to make a living at something you love or at least like so that you can support your writing habit.
Then you will have the best of two worlds.
*****
This blog is for readers and writers who can appreciate serious writing and brazen sexuality in the same online publication. The blog is published near the University of Pittsburgh.
*****
Flash Fiction: Barbara’s Adult Video by Guy Hogan
Filed under: Commentaries, This Writing Life | Tagged: advice, art, blog, sexuality, struggling writers, Sylvia Plath, University of Pittsburgh, woman | 1 Comment »



Be Sure To Read Lori Schafer’s Erotic Flash Fiction
Woman As Art
Yesterday, I published “To All The Penises I’ve Ever Known” by Lori Schafer. It’s a fine story and she is a talented writer.
Lori’s flash fiction gives you a peek into what the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is about: good creative writing and brazen sexuality.
But this blog is about other things, too. I could count off a list for you, but that would be dry and no fun. Just explore the site. Start with the front page.
Lori’s story will be on the front page for several weeks.
Follow or take out a free subscription so that you don’t miss a single issue of the most exciting flash fiction publication on the Internet.
This is the Old Soldier reporting from Pittsburgh.
*****
The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a blog of creative writing and brazen sexuality. It is published near the University of Pittsburgh.
Related articles
Rate this:
Filed under: Blogging, Commentaries | Tagged: blog, creative writing, erotic flash fiction, Lori Schafer, Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, publication, sexuality, talented writer, University of Pittsburgh, woman | Leave a Comment »