Writer’s Craft – SASFest—TREBOR HEALEY

How do we, as writers, choose what story works best in what form? These are of course questions of character and conflict, and how much we need to develop them, or how large our array of characters and conflicts will be in a given story. Setting is a consideration as well, in terms of how much time will elapse and how many places will we be juggling in a given story. Additionally, we might ask how any story idea we have could be adjusted to fit in each of these distinct forms. Sometimes experimentation can reveal how best a story wants to be told. We often don’t know until we start writing. We will discuss plotting, outlining and thematic issues – both by starting small and expanding the scope of a story, as well as by starting big and condensing or reducing a story to get to its essence.

 Trebor Healey teaches creative writing for UCLA and has authored several award-winning novels, a recent novella and numerous short story collections.