18Q Erik Gordon Bainbridge

Erik Gordon Bainbridge

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?

It chose me. I resisted doggedly, but it ultimately prevailed over the allure of a competing muse.

2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.)

Education:

undergraduate :German

graduate: Computer science & screenwriting

Work:

Website and computer database consultant.

3. When did you ‘know’ you were a writer?

I began writing around age ten, when I “published” a handwritten neighborhood newspaper. By high school I was writing stories and short dramas. I intended to become a novelist, playwright, or screenwriter, but life intervened and after high school graduation I completely stopped writing fiction. I didn’t resume until my second time in graduate school, where I studied screenwriting.

4. How would you describe your style of writing?

Fairly straightforward, with carefully crafted sentences and dialog. The fun part of writing is waking up in the morning with the words pounding my brain, screaming to be freed, but 99% of my writing time is spent editing and re-editing until I’m happy with how the words flow. I regularly go back and read portions of my writing aloud to myself, constantly editing to make words flow more smoothly and to tailor dialog for each character. I write screenplays, novels, and short stories. Novels are my favorite form, but probably only because I’m not in a position to produce my own films. I love the sparseness and discipline of writing a screenplay, but the business of Hollywood leaves me cold.

5. What is your writing process?

I first work out details of who my main characters are and a general outline of the story. Then I write the final scene. Starting with the final scene gives me a clear direction for the story. After that, I let my characters guide me from start to finish within the framework of my overall outline.

6. What was your path to publication?

After many rejections, I added a publishing arm to my web consulting business and published my first novel myself, in hopes of selling enough copies to attract a good agent for my next novel.

7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?

Wearing tee shirts that promote my book, and handing out eye-catching business cards. They lead to interesting conversations and most importantly to sales. You can see (and buy!) my tee shirts and other merchandise promoting my novel at www.cafepress.com/marinwebworks.

8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer?

How my characters take over after I begin writing the story, and how much they can surprise me. I feel like a mere scribe recording their lives.

9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?

My best ideas come from my dreams. When that fails, I go for a walk in a nearby redwood grove that some consider sacred. Rarely do ideas fail to flow there. I carry a micro-cassette tape recorder to record my thoughts.

10. What is your proudest writer moment?

Receiving a student screenwriting award at the Northern California Emmy Awards ceremony. I had to stand in front of top television people and say my words of thanks. It was there, standing on that dais in a rented tux, that I finally committed to being a writer.

11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing?

The best advice wasn’t specifically about writing, but is very relevant. It came when I was an undergraduate, from a retired couple who were both non-writers and who tried to persuade me that the most important thing in life is to follow our dreams. My dream was writing, but I ignored their advice for too long.

12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?

I don’t recall any. This probably means it’s yet to come. Uh-oh!

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?

I already had my own business, so the business side of writing hasn’t been a challenge. The challenge for me is promoting my work and myself. This has always been one of my biggest failings, and it’s my biggest challenge as a writer.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?

I can’t say I have a philosophy about it. I write in the early morning, doing much of it before sunrise. That’s when my ideas flow most freely and I am most creative. When I have time to write later in the day, I mostly do editing. If I have any philosophy about it, it’s to keep my mind and body healthy and active, and to maintain an ethical center to my life.

15. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun?

I take part in online virtual worlds (Second Life and There) and I direct public access television shows. I love mountain biking and just being outdoors. I used to play piano and keyboard, but I gave it up for writing. My passion for music is nearly as strong as my passion for writing and competes too strongly for my time and creative energy. I expect I will someday take up music again, but only after my writing allows me to give up working.

16. Who do you like to read?

Currently, the science fiction of Ursula LeGuin and some science fiction of Orson Scott Card.

17. What’s your advice for new writers?

a) Show your writing to people outside your circle of family and close friends. Learn to listen objectively to their criticism, and don’t take it personally. Encourage them to be honest with you. b) Keep your writing projects on a scale you can reasonably hope to complete. It’s better to have one good, completed short story than a magnificent novel or screenplay that you swear you will finish someday. c) Don’t listen to what anyone else tells you about how writers should live and write. What frees one writer may block another. Experiment to find out what works for you.

18. What are you currently working on?

My second novel. The underlying premise is something I ordinarily would avoid writing about, but it fascinates me so powerfully that I was unable to resist.

Erik’s 18Q