Revisiting Ben Franklin

Don't be fooled. The guy on the left, looking a bit like Ben Franklin, is me. And the quote is one of my favorites, especially in this political season.

In addition to writing mystery and suspense novels, I've written and performed a one-man play based on the life of Ben Franklin. I'm gearing up to do performances of the play this summer (right around the 4th of July).

While I've done the play before, I've been in the process of brushing up on the lines and I find new bits of wisdom in Franklin's words from 250 years ago. (He was born in 1706 and died in 1790.) We just passed his 310th birthday.

He was quite a character in every sense of the word. I can't think of anyone in history who achieved success in so many different fields as Franklin. I've been reflecting on the process I went through in selecting the material to show the arc of Franklin's life and to give the audience that sense of his accomplishments.

The truth is that one cannot possibly sum up a man's life in an hour and a half. I can only give audiences a glimpse. I can also hope that their exposure to the play will make them curious to learn more about the man who many consider the "Grandfather" of our country.

I always try to incorporate time for a "talk back" following performances, since it gives audiences an opportunity to ask questions. It also give me a chance to mention several of his accomplishments that I did not have time to include in the play.

Doing these one-man play performances is something that I could not have imagined myself doing for most of my life. But, as I like to say, "Life's a Mystery."

Writing is Hard

The more I write, the harder it becomes. I know that's counter intuitive. With more experience comes a more critical eye. I'm much harder on myself now than when I started out.

I still recall the sense of accomplishment when I completed my first honest-to-goodness novel. It was about 40,000 words (no WAR AND PEACE).

I allowed a few people to read it. They were friends, so they wanted to be kind. I think the most encouragement I received was, "Well, now that you have that first one done, you should try to write another one."

I found that first novel stuffed in a drawer years later. I started to read it and couldn't get past the first few pages before realizing what a piece of @%&$ it was. Valuable lesson learned. 

Not counting the manuscript that ended up in a drawer (it was disposed of in the trash eventually), I'm currently working on my eighth novel. Six of those are part of my Brad Frame series, and the other two are standalone novels - like the one I'm working on now. I've had the blessing to be part of a couple of critiques groups over the years. Each person who reads and comments seems to have a different take on the material. As a result, I now find that as I write I'm examining each sentence the way members of my critique groups might look at them.

The process of continuing to write and listen to feedback from critique groups has made me both a better writer and and pickier one.

Ultimately, it is the judgement of the readers who will determine my success. I hear from those who have read my books and tell me that they are going to try and get their book club to read one of my books. That's great. I found it curious to read a recent review of FINAL JUROR in which the person noted that I was trying very hard to achieve the style of _____ (and she named a specific writer). Except I've never read anything by that person, so I certainly wasn't aiming to match their style.

Any fellow writers care to comment on whether they have also found writing to be more difficult the more they write? Please feel free to share your comments..