We all have angels and demons inside. Let your angels and demons out. Pin them to the page.
It’s around 8:00 AM in Pittsburgh. It’s overcast and the snow on the slanted rooftops that I can see has not melted yet; but it’s supposed to be sunny today in the mid 40s.
Good morning my Flash Fiction Fanatics. The Old Soldier is going to treat himself to a six-pack of beer today as soon as Armand’s in Bloomfield opens at 10:00 AM; but first a word on the things we writers keep inside. And what do we keep inside? Well, for one thing we keep a lot of pain inside. I know I do. But what we writers have to remember is that our readers keep a lot of pain inside, too. Life does not guarantee happiness. But you better believe you’re going to get the pain. I know it’s a hell of a philosophy, but in 64 years no one has proven me wrong.
Use that pain. Put it on the page. Use it to build characters and to write storylines that readers can relate to. They will know exactly where you are coming from.
And don’t forget the happiness. That will make the pain easier to carry.
Welcome to my blog where writing flash fiction and creativity is a given. This is the Old Soldier starting off the blogging day in Oakland near the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
Writing Fiction: How Well Do You Know Yourself?
March 1, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazetteImage by scatterkeir via Flickr
Do you write fiction? What’s your subject matter? What’s your specialty? I would say my specialty is sexuality.
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a lot about money, what having it did to people and what not having it did to people.
A writer can have more than one specialty. Fitzgerald wrote a lot about youth and romance, too. He would mix youth, romance and money all together for what the world came to know as the classic Fitzgerald short story.
I write about more than just sexuality; but sexuality is definitely one of the ways that I explore the lives of my characters.
Even if you think you don’t have a specialty, you probably do.
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Hello, it’s the Old Soldier with flash fiction stories and articles for you along with a running commentary on life and writing in general. I hope you like my little blog. It’s for bloggers, readers and writers. Make it your home for flash fiction entertainment.
This is the Old Soldier blogging near the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
“A Porn Star Is Born” is at the top of the page.