Successful Blogging: Find A Routine You Can Live With

January 31, 2012 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Are you a serious blogger?  I’m a serious blogger.  My stats page this morning said that this blog has over 5,600 hits for the month of February; but I know if this blog is ever going to crack the 6,000-hits ceiling for one month I’ve got to have a routine that I can live with.

I mean, now that I’m retired, blogging is my full-time job.  It’s the best job I’ve ever had because I love what I’m doing and I’m the boss.

So, I’m going to get up early and publish at least two posts every day.  That’s my routine.  Now all I have to do is stick to it.

What’s your routine?

*****

Blog of the day once again

Image by the Italian voice via Flickr

Hello hello hello all my brother and sister bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  The Old Soldier has a new attitude and is moving to the attack.  It’s around 9:00 AM (when I actually wrote this post) and it will be sunny today with a high around 60.  Strange weather for Pittsburgh in February.

Writers have to do the mundane things in life just like everyone else.  So, my to-do list for today is to buy some 100 watt-light bulbs, deposit my Giant Eagle pension check into my savings account, call the Matriarch and return my book about Hunter S. Thompson to the public library.

I’ve already had breakfast (Ramen Noodles with a few pieces of cooked turkey and raw garlic and an energy drink) and I’ve already done my breathing and stretching exercises (karaoke tomorrow night at Del’s).  The sun is shinning and it’s time to take a hot shower and to see what adventures we can share today.

This is the Old Soldier blogging near the University of Pittsburgh.

*****

The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a news magazine about writing and sexuality.

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The Life Of A Senior Citizen Blogger

December 3, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Some Of My Old Photography Shot With A Disposable Camera In My Apartment

You could not imagine the Old Soldier’s happiness when he got a letter yesterday from the Social Security Administration saying that he should expect $346 around December 6, 2011 for all the money that was deducted for Medicare from his Social Security checks for the past few months.

You can’t beat that with a stick!

I fell behind in my rent.  Now everything is cool and the gang.

*****

How’s everyone doing?  The Old Soldier is doing great.  It’s a sunny, fall day outside and I have some money in the bank and maybe, just maybe I’ll stop in at Del’s Bar and Italian Restaurant in Bloomfield (Little Italy) a few blocks away for a few beers and see if inspiration hits me for another post.

Catch you on the flip side.  Peace.  Out.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Debbie Gibson And Blogging: Put Your Passion Into Words

November 29, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Debbie Gibson

Image via Wikipedia

What are you passionate about?  Gardening?  Politics?  The environment?

A lot of writing skill goes into being the best blogger that you can be.  Every blogger wants an audience.  That’s why we blog, to connect with other people.  I would argue that if you are good at written language you will find an audience; but it will be the passion behind your words, your passion for what you blog about, that will allow the readership of your blog to grow.

For when we are truly passionate about a subject we want to learn everything we can about it.  Your readers will sense and appreciate this commitment to excellence.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

*****

How’s everyone doing?  The Old Soldier is at his workstation blogging away and beep bopping to a Debbie Gibson video on the local music television station.  Remember Debbie Gibson?  Whatever happened to Debbie Gibson?

Now she’s only in my dreams.

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Beans And Rice, Veterans Benefits And Flash Fiction

November 8, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Veterans' Stand Down 2011

Image by ct senatedems via Flickr

Can you believe it?  Sunny and the high around 68 in Pittsburgh in November.  You can’t beat that with a stick!

It’s around noon and the blogging day has begun.  I love my job as a full-time blogger.  Of course, if I was not retired I could not be a full-time blogger.  I finally got through to the office of veterans benefits and should be receiving the forms that I have to fill out for a military pension in the next few days in the mail.  So, I don’t have to go downtown.

The Old Soldier is on a vegetarian kick again.  This time it’s beans and rice.  I had a small bowl this morning with a couple of cans of beer.

Now that the blogging day has begun, and the forms for my military pension are in the mail, I can turn my full attention back to the writing of flash fiction and how I can help other writers to get published in the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, the most dynamic flash fiction magazine on the internet.

The Submissions tab is at the top of the page.

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Blogging: Do You Give Your Readers What They Can Use?

October 24, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Are you a serious blogger?  I’m a serious blogger.  By serious, I mean learning everything you can about publishing a blog that has a growing readership.  One of the best ways to learn about serious blogging is to learn from the people who have blogs that get hundreds or even thousands of readers every day.

The readership of the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is definitely growing.  No, it doesn’t get hundreds of hits a day; but the hits have finally gone over 100 every day.

The big-time bloggers say you have to give your readers information, products or services that are useful.  Well, my target reader is the aspiring writer.  So, now when a writer submits a story to this magazine and the story has issues with grammar, punctuation and spelling I will correct the issues myself.  Usually, I would reject a story with issues.  No more.

How about you?  Do you give your readers what they can use?

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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This Magazine Will Help You Write Great Flash Fiction

October 19, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
The Cathedral of Learning as viewed from the F...

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The mission of the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is to help you write flash fiction.  I’m the Old Soldier.  I got my MFA in fiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006 when I was 59 years old because of flash fiction.  I was awarded a fellowship that paid for my MFA because of my flash fiction.  I’m doing all this bragging to say that I know a lot about flash fiction.

Now I’m retired, a full-time blogger, and I blog about flash fiction.

If you like to read or write flash fiction, this blog is for you.  If you write flash fiction, send me something.  The submissions tab is at the top of the page.

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Cool Ways To Promote Your Blog

October 12, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

The Old Soldier has just come back from his walk on this dreary day in Pittsburgh.  I picked up the City Paper, the free weekly that covers the local political and cultural scene.  There was an interesting article about Occupy Pittsburgh, the new local anti-corporation movement; but there was nothing in the article that I could use for the PFF Gazette because the local movement is really in the embryonic stage.  The group is still trying to figure out when and where to hold its first protest.

*****

I have a few things to say about promoting your blog if you have a blog.  Just to make things simple I’ll tell you how I’m promoting the PFF Gazette.  I’m active on the site of a professional blogger who makes his living from blogging and I’m active in a community of flash fiction writers.

In other words, you want to find someone in your niche who is much more successful than you are and then learn from them.

The owners of Sonny’s Tavern, one of the places where I hang out and sing karaoke at, have allowed me to put up flyers to promote the PFF Gazette.  And just today the manager of my apartment building allowed me to put up flyers on the bulletin board in his outer office and in the lobby.  You know, the flyers say Short Story Submissions and then down below are strips with the URL of the PFF Gazette so that people can tear the strips off and check out the blog.

Now I’m thinking about putting up flyers on the campuses of the colleges and universities in the city.  And since I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006 with an MFA and the campus is only a 15-minute walk away, I may as well start there.

Does that give you any ideas about promoting your own blog?

*****

Flash fiction writers can click on the Submissions tab at the top of the page to submit their short stories for publication in the most dynamic flash fiction magazine on the internet.  Send me something.  Good luck.

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Here’s One Of The Secrets To Successful Blogging

October 11, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
On 6 December 2002, Josh Marshall's talkingpoi...

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No doubt you want to know what the Old Soldier’s definition of success is.  We will get to that in a moment.

Hello, everyone!  The Old Soldier is about to catch the evening news on public television.  But before I do I would like to put up this post.

You know, the Old Soldier is constantly picking the brains of bloggers that are far more successful than he is.  How successful are these bloggers?  They get thousands of hits every day.  And they all agree that a successful blogger must have a target reader.

My target reader is the aspiring writer.  And my definition of success is at least 100 hits a day.  Well, the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is finally getting over 100 hits every day; and guess what?  My definition of success  has changed.  Now the Old Soldier’s definition of success is at least 200 hits every day.

If you are a blogger, do you have a target reader in mind?

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Blogging: It’s Okay To Take A Break

October 4, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Exterior view of a section of the Phipps Conse...

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The Old Soldier use to beat himself up whenever he missed a day to put out an issue of the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  But the fact is that every blogger sometimes needs to step back from the computer, to give attention to other areas of life and then to come back to the computer renewed and recommitted to blogging.

Down time can be a good thing.

*****

If you are a writer, check out the Anything Goes tab for non-fiction and the Submissions tab for fiction.  Both tabs are at the top of the page.

Keep reading and keep writing that flash fiction.

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Helping You With Your Creativity

September 27, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Hello hello hello, my brother and sister bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  Yes, the Old Soldier spent another night on the sofa when he has a perfectly good bed to sleep in.  I bet a psychiatrist would love to interview me about why I do it.  I don’t know why I do it except to say that when I wake up in the morning I have more to blog about then if I sleep in my bed.  (Yes, you’re right.  I sleep alone.)

I don’t try to understand it.  All I know is it helps my creativity.

Now here is something that is sure to help your creativity: the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  If you are a blogger or a writer, you can’t beat it with a stick!

There are over 2,400 posts on this blog.  The posts deal with sexuality, blogging, writing, fiction and life in general.  This blog is here to inform and entertain you.  It is here to inspire and offer support.

*****

A new blogging day has begun.  What adventures in writing will we share today?  Keep reading and keep writing that old flash fiction.

*****

Well, as usual the Old Soldier scanned the AOL Front Page today before opening up The Gazette.  There was politics as usual and the world-wide financial crisis and someone’s breast popped out on Dancing with the Stars.

What caught my attention was that Rihanna had gone topless somewhere and that Jennifer Jackson was the first black woman to show up in Playboy naked.  Of course, I was just scanning and I did not investigate either story.  I’m just stating what caught my eye.

Let the blogging day begin.

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Don’t Blog For The Masses, Blog For The Individual

September 26, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

This Is Some Of My Old Amateur Nude Photography

In my constant search for information that will make me a better blogger, I came across the idea that a blogger should not blog for the masses but blog for an individual.  And this idea came from the saying, changing the world one person at a time.

I like the concept of blogging for an individual.  The masses are just a statistic.  An individual is a real person.  I don’t know how to blog for a statistic.  I do know how to blog for an aspiring writer.  Even when I address the many, I have that aspiring writer in mind.

*****

Hello hello hello, my brother and sister bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  It’s around 10:30 AM on a partly sunny day in Pittsburgh.  The high is supposed to be around 80, one of the last warm days of the year.

I hope everyone is doing well.  The Steelers won last night and the Old Soldier gets his Social Security check on Wednesday, but I don’t know how much it’s going to be because Medicare may take the first month’s premium out of it even though I have filed papers to have it paid for by the State Health Insurance Assistance Program.

But the blogging day must go on.  What adventures will we have together today?  I thought I would include one of my old amateur photos in this post.

Keep reading and keep writing that flash fiction.

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Why Do You Read This Blog?

September 21, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

The Old Soldier finally made that phone call to see if he was eligible for a deferment or a forbearance for a student loan.  Come to find out, I’m eligible for both.  It was silly of me to be embarrassed.  The call probably went to a call center over seas anyway.

Well, my brother Lloyd is on his way down to my apartment.  I just got finished talking to The Matriarch on the phone.  She has settled back in at my sister’s home and she said Lloyd was on his way.  Lloyd plans to pick me up and we will go visit my other brother who lives in an assisted living facility because he’s an alcoholic and if he is left to his own devices he will end up homeless again even though he has plenty of money.  He has not had a drink in a couple of years.  He just goes to doctor appointments and stays at the facility.  It’s not much of a life but he was wandering the streets at night in the winter  with no place to sleep, living in shelters before some of the family got him into the facility.  Well, now you know where the Old Soldier gets a lot of his ideas from for his flash fiction.

But as far as I can tell, my family is not unusual.  It’s dysfunctional like most American families.  Maybe that’s too harsh a judgement.  I and my family have skeletons like most American families.  The difference is that most families don’t have a flash fiction writer who is a blogger as a family member.  Have I no shame?  Apparently not much.  The only thing that I can offer in my own defense is that I tell a lot of dirt on myself, too.  If you can’t get the truth from the Old Soldier about what it’s really like to be a writer, why the hell would you want to read this blog?  At least that’s the way I see it.

Keep reading and keep writing that flash fiction.  If you are a writer, send me something.  The Anything Goes tab at the top of the page is for non-fiction and the Submissions tab is for flash fiction.

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Computer Problems, Football And Ice Cream

September 18, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Block of Neapolitan ice cream.

Image via Wikipedia

What a morning it has been for the Old Soldier.  I take being the editor/publisher of the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette seriously; but what can a blogger do when his computer refuses to cooperate.

Now it’s one in the afternoon and only now am I able to put up the first post of the day.

*****

How’s everyone doing?  The Steelers should be coming on soon.  I had the television on this morning while I tried to figure out what was wrong with my computer.  I got so frustrated that I treated myself to two cups of Neapolitan ice cream for breakfast to keep my spirits up.

Well, everything seems to be working now.  But the game is coming on and I still want to visit me old 92-year-old mum in the hospital before it gets too late.  So, I don’t know how much blogging I’ll get done today.

I’ll give it the old college try.

Take a moment to make a donation to this site.  The donation tab is at the top of the page.  Thank you.

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Confessions Of An Under Achiever

September 17, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Well, I did not catch an online writing assignment this morning.  My computer is downloading updates and it’s running slow.  The assignments on the site that I freelance for a penny a word usually come in between 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM.  I was online in plenty of time and kept checking back for the assignments, but it’s first come first serve and only about 20 assignments come in every morning.

I’m competing against hundreds of other writers for those 20 assignments.  So, some days I get an assignment and some days I don’t.  Today I did not.

*****

How’s everyone doing?  Today in Pittsburgh it will be partly sunny with the high only in the 60s.  I have only two things planned for today: to do some blogging and to visit me old mum in the hospital.

Late yesterday afternoon, I stopped in at Sonny’s Tavern for three draft beers.  It was very relaxing.  The drafts cost $6.00 and I could only leave the bartender a $0.60 tip.  I sure will be glad when my military pension kicks in later this year.  I’ll still be poor, but I won’t be as poor. 

I was watching the evening news on the Public Broadcasting System yesterday.  Over 40 million Americans now live in poverty.  It’s my own fault that I live in poverty.  I made a lot of bad life choices when it came to money and employment.  I did get a good education along the way.  It’s not easy to get an MFA.  Now at the age of 64 I do the best I can.  Which means, be the best blogger that I can be.  Finally, now that I’m retired, I’ve found my niche.

*****

If you are a writer, send me something.  There is an Anything Goes tab at the top of the page for non-fiction and a Submissions tab at the top of the page for flash fiction.

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Hemingway’s Six-Word Flash Fiction Story

September 7, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Ernest Hemingway's 1923 passport photo

Image via Wikipedia

Part of the Hemingway myth goes that he wrote a six-word flash fiction story.

For sale.

Baby shoes.

Never worn.

If this is true the story has the classic form of flash fiction.  There is the setup, the buildup and the payoff.  And as any well-written flash fiction does, it implies a great deal.  It implies that there is a back story that in some way involves a man, a woman and the death of a new-born baby.

That my friends is great flash fiction.

*****

Hello, bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  It’s not even 7:00 AM and the Old Soldier is already on duty spreading the gospel of the flash fiction genre.  What adventures will we have today?  Well, let’s get started.  Keep reading and writing that flash fiction.

*****

Please take a moment to support the PFF Gazette with a $2.00 donation.  The link is at the top of the page.  Thank you.

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