The Joy of Flash Fiction

Photo by The Prototype on Unsplash

Happy Monday, my friends, and Happy Labor Day to my American subscribers! Hope you are enjoying the long holiday weekend.

I turn sixty-five on Wednesday and being a sort of milestone birthday, it has me thinking of how long life can be and how many changes we go through, how many iterations of our “self” and how we see the world. I know I am not the same person I was when I was forty or even fifty. I often say I got a late start as a writer, but in fact I was always a writer, even as a child. Still, I didn’t write with any regularity or serious intent until I was forty, meaning I’ve been at this for twenty-five years now. And I’ve been teaching for nearly twenty. What has changed?

I think mainly it’s been my feelings around success and achievement. I’ve gradually come to believe in only one thing: the work itself. I’ve had successes and “failures” (though my feelings around the idea of failure have changed, too). But nothing brings me more joy than creating something new.

Last year, I barely wrote at all. I was depressed and creatively stuck. So far this year I’ve written a ton. The shift happened when I gave myself permission to write whatever the hell I wanted to. So the new work is…looser, weirder, more risk-taking. I’m not thinking of results when I write anymore. I’m not thinking of places I want to publish or awards I’d like to earn. I’m not thinking of how many “likes” I’ll get on social media platforms. I’m just having fun, messing around, trying new things.

It’s that deathbed thing. I don’t want to be thinking: I wish I’d let myself have more fun.

I’m sixty-five (nearly) and I just don’t care anymore. About so many things. I only care about loving my life and writing things that please me. I’m trying my hand at speculative fiction! I’m writing poem-y things. I’m very slow to send things out, but I will, eventually. I have a story coming out in October with Ghost Parachute. A real risk-taker the editor loved.

I’m not here to rack up kudos (though kudos are nice!), I’m here to keep living and becoming. If I had looked into a crystal ball when