Pursuing story writing or stage acting is challenging. Accomplishing both simultaneously is even more difficult. A local man has gone against the grain, though, and successfully lives a life of storytelling and performing.
Creating the Story
Gary A. Braunbeck discovered his creative writing side in sixth grade when he, ironically, failed a spelling test. Thankfully, the teacher was kind and offered extra credit if Braunbeck could use the exam’s words to create an original story.
“Everybody in the class sort of groaned and turned their eyes up to god and said, ‘Why me?’ and I grabbed up a pencil and started writing,” Braunbeck says. “The next thing I knew I had written two and a half pages.”
Braunbeck describes the extra credit work as a dreadful mystery where a man keels over after seeing a ghost in a photograph he took.
If you’re able to lose yourself in the (script) and how the character portrays themselves … you can actually feel something of an organic change in yourself. ... It’s almost as if you’re outside of yourself, watching this other person take over your body. … Once you do have that experience, it’s something you’ll treasure.
Today, Braunbeck has more than 20 published novels and hundreds of short stories in genres including horror, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance and poetry. His interest in such a range of genres stems from watching a variety of cheesy movies as a child with his father, and his consistent inspiration derives from continually reading and interpreting everything.
“You have to read multiple genres or you just keep writing imitations,” he says. “You’d be surprised how much inspiration can pop up (when reading). … It’s not like you wait for inspiration to strike, you have to create or find your own.”
As for writing, Braunbeck says he thoroughly enjoyed creating his collection of poetry and short stories, titled Rose of Sharon, and that it truly reflects his writing style. He also enjoyed writing his novel, Keepers, because it features several genres including horror and fantasy
“I let (Keepers) dictate where it went,” Braunbeck says. “If you sit down and say ‘I’m going to write sci-fi or horror,’ you will inconsequently start graphing typical themes.”
Taking the Stage
Shortly after discovering his love for writing, Braunbeck discovered his passion for acting in high school.
Through the years, Braunbeck has worked for theater groups, gained a certification for stage combat and fight choreography from a stunt coordinator at Universal Studios, and even acted as an extra on the ’90s drama The Sentinel.
“If you’re able to lose yourself in the (script) and how the character portrays themselves … you can actually feel something of an organic change in yourself,” Braunbeck says. “It’s almost as if you’re outside of yourself, watching this other person take over your body. … Once you do have that experience, it’s something you’ll treasure.”
Braunbeck still acts and participates in local theater, but overall prefers being an author.
“I worked on and off professionally as an actor for several years, and I found that there is a certain transient lifestyle. And one of the things I like about writing is that you stay put. I mean, occasionally you get up and go eat,” Braunbeck says, laughing, “but you always come back to the computer.”
Lydia Freudenberg is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemedigroup.com
