An Interview with Gorman Bechard

Gorman Bechard is a successful screenwriter, novelist, and filmmaker. He has published five novels, his latest UNWOUND, is a dark thriller written under the pen name of Jonathan Baine. Gorman Bechard is also a successful screenwriter and has made such popular movies as FRIENDS (WITH BENEFITS), and THE KISS.

How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Started in high school...probably at the age of 14 or 15. Just really liked story telling. It was a lot more interesting to live in my imagination than in the real world.

What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

First story was BURNT TOAST...written in High School. No never published. Even my first novel, THE IN-BETWEEN WORLD was never published. But I struck gold with my second, THE SECOND GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. Of course, I had already written a number of scripts at that point that had been made into feature films, such as PSYCHOS IN LOVE.

How did you get published? How were you able to write full time? What is your success story?

I submitted TSGSET to 60 publishers over a 4 month period. Got 59 rejection letters...and one great phone call. One was all I needed. I kept working until we sold the movie rights to the novel in the summer of 1991, a few months before the book was published, and have been writing and making films full time since.

How do you stay motivated to finish a novel?

It's my job. I treat it as a job. I just sit down and write. But honestly once I start, it becomes an addiction. I want to find out where my characters are taking me. Because most of the time I honestly don't know.

How do you get your ideas?

I listen to everything that's going on around me. Ideas are EVERYWHERE! In every headline, every commercial, in what you overhear on the train. There're literally too many great ideas that I know I'll never have the time to get to.

What would you tell people who are interested in writing creatively? Where can people start?

Stop talking about it. Pick up a pencil, or open a blank Word document...AND JUST START WRITING. You have no excuse. And set yourself daily goals. Fifty words, two hundred, whatever...but DO NOT allow yourself to go to bed at night until you've met those goals...EVERY DAY!

How do you get over writer's block?

There's no such thing. It is just an excuse that lazy writers, or people who aren't writers to begin with, use. It angers me when people claim writer's block. I feel they should forever lose the honor of calling themselves a writer.

To learn more about Gorman Bechard, check out the official Gorman Bechard website. Or to read more interviews, go to the main writer interviews page.