February 15, 2020 | Raymond Obstfeld - "All Fiction Plots Fall into These Six Templates"
Raymond Obstfeld, the modern-day JD Salinger, will be the featured writer and guest speaker at our SCWA February meeting!
Raymond Obstfeld is a multi-time NY Times Bestselling author of fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels. His works cross genres from crime fiction, to YA fiction, black history, essays and thought, television, film, and much more. Raymond has probably helped, taught, and inspired countless writers become writers with his week-long seminars, ongoing classes, and summer-long literary sojourns to Cambridge University in England.
Raymond is a recognized expert on theme, plot, setting, and character, and is a regular writer in the green room for the tv show Veronica Mars.
Raymond Obstfeld has taught literature and creative writing at Orange Coast College since 1976. He's written over 50 published books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. He's written a dozen optioned screenplays and recently sold a television show to Warner Bros. He's co-authored several non-fiction and fiction works with basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He co-authored a graphic novel about Mycroft Holmes and was a writer on the reboot of Veronica Mars. Currently, he is writing two history documentaries for A&E.
Plotting is one of the most difficult aspects of writing. Understanding these six theme-based plot templates will help an author ask the right questions when plotting their story. It's not just about what they do, but about why they do it.