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LISP 4th Quarter 2020 Official Selection, Flash Fiction, 'We Love the World' by Paul Lightfoot
Can you please tell us about your daily life? And - When did you start writing? How often do you write?
Painting was my main preoccupation, but then I started using text in the paintings, phrases pointing out quirks of life, and these quickly became Flash Fiction stories before I even knew what Flash stories were. I saw them as postcards. The stories then took precedence over the image and became the image, and now I write more than I paint. This opus life, though, needs feeding, literally, and so I’m a handyman. Perhaps I can say here that the paintings have an instagram page, www.instagram.com/paulspost What I’ve done and do daily has been and is varied, but how often do I write - not enough.
What's the best thing and the hardest thing about writing a Flash-Fiction?
I think these two questions might have the same answer; a moment in time flashing into the imagination, that flips into an idea and purpose. Desire being the inspiration of all beginnings.
How did you come up with the idea for your LISP selected story? Is there a story behind your story? And, how long have you been working on it?
The story, ‘We Love The World,’ was originally much shorter and for a painting. Its purpose is one of conservation, and it’s irony not meant to be mocking. A lot about us and our attitude to the environment is double edged.
Can you please give us a few tips about writing a flash-fiction story?
Wish I could, I’d be leaping forward. I do find that painting and writing have strong similarities in the making of them, but that might just be me. I write quite quickly, but then the piece takes a lot of going over and rewriting, until finally I can’t bear to look at it. Then a month later I’m once more looking at it and it all starts up again. Then another month, and another month … And then there’s a piece that’s written and finished inside an hour. ‘We love the world,’ as seen in this competition has been a slow burner.
What's the best thing and the hardest thing about writing competitions?
Winning.
Lastly, do you recommend the writers to give it a go on LISP?
Hey, I’ve been picked out as one of the, ‘Official Selection/Finalists,’ (Proud emoji.) And so yes, I recommend it. Had I won I’d highly, highly, recommend it, and sing it’s praises from the roof tops. (Smiling, happy little emoji.)
