Benjamin Franklin Returns: IWSG

Hi, Friends. It's time to unleash our writerly insecurities and support each other's craft. Our good friend, Alex J. Cavanaugh, launched this group years ago and it's still going strong.


My head is swirling with lots going on, including a soon-to-be-released novel, so I'm cheating with this post. I'm bringing back my most popular IWSG post of all time. He's legendary. He's inspiring. He historical, so historical that he's 225 years old. Ladies and Gentlemen, let's warmly welcome Mr. Benjamin Franklin!

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 Ben Franklin strolls on stage, decaying and fraught with cobwebs, yet extremely polite.

 

Robyn is too anxious to talk. Trembling, she takes a large stride towards him but then slips and falls on her butt at Ben’s feet. Oh *bleep*! God, I mean *bleep!* I’m so sorry. Ben chivalrously helps Robyn stand up. A red-faced Robyn extends a hand to offer a formal greeting. Ben instead confers a fist-bump and Robyn reciprocates. They then bump hips playfully and plop down into their respective La-Z-boy recliners.

Ben: Not to worry, a slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

Robyn:  Um, yes, well my tongue slips too, but only on very rare occasion. *Bleep!* Oh sorry, I think I’m just nervous. I mean, you’re Ben Franklin, philosopher, author, inventor, American diplomat and all-around hero who’s been dead for 225 years.

Ben: My dear, fear not death for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.

Robyn: Good point.  On behalf of all Americans, Ben, I wish you a happy Independence Day. We have so much to thank you for. I don't know where to start.

Ben: No need for platitudes. Where liberty dwells, there is my country.

Robyn: I see. Well this is my Insecure Writer’s Group Post for July, so I'd like to ask for advice for all of us writers who struggle with insecurities.

Ben: Certainly.

If you would not be forgotten
As soon as you are dead and rotten,
Either write things worth reading,
Or do things worth the writing.

Robyn leans in closer to Ben's face, appearing to listen intently. Instead, she is lost in a heated sexual fantasy involving Ben, a feather-dip pen, and no electricity --with not a thought to the fact that Franklin died 225 years earlier.  

Ben continues, with clarity but no logical string of thoughts:

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.

Beware of the young doctor and the old barber. 

Interrupting (she likes young doctors), Robyn says: Thank you so much, Mr. Franklin. I hope to see you again, frequently and often. She flings her hair back, stands up, gives him a wink and nuzzles Ben's arm as she escorts him off the stage and towards a nearby Motel 6. 

 

Ben Franklin continues:

By my rambling digressions, I perceive myself to be growing old.

He’s a fool who cannot conceal his wisdom..

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Dear blog friends, whether or not you celebrate Independence Day, may you appreciate our countless freedoms – including and especially our limitless opportunities to express ourselves through writing.

Keep writing things worth reading and doing things worth writing.

YAY FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY! WOOHOO!

Happy July 4^th!

Thank you, Ben Franklin ~ 1706-1790. May you continue to rest in peace.

The italicized quotes above were found at www.quotationspage.com, jpetrie.mywebluga.edu, and www.goodreads.com/author/quotes.