Billy Ray on Writing Hope in Dark Times, and Building Future Worlds
From Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators by Jeff Utecht & Tricia Friedman
March 22, 2026 · 16 min · Season 9 · Episode 340
About this episode
Tricia speaks with acclaimed screenwriter Billy Ray about his transition to YA fiction and the themes of hope and community in storytelling.
What does it take to write a story that faces darkness without surrendering to it? In this episode, Tricia speaks with acclaimed screenwriter Billy Ray about his move into YA fiction with Burn the Water, a future-set story shaped by Shakespeare, political urgency, and a deep belief in young people's capacity to lead us forward. Their conversation explores community, imagination, hope, and the discipline of creating when the world feels bleak. Billy also offers a sharp look at his writing process, including what changed when he moved from screenwriting to novel writing, and why he sees writing less as inspiration and more as problem-solving. In this conversation, you'll hear: Why Billy Ray believes community is at the core of everything he writes How Romeo and Juliet and The Hunger Games helped shape Burn the Water Why setting a story 400 years in the future opened up new creative possibilities What it means to write for teens living through uncertainty and disenfranchisement Why hope is not passive, but something we practice How writing can help us process emotion, perspective, and possibility What surprised Billy most about shifting from screenwriting to novel writing Why he…
People in this episode
Host: Tricia Friedman
Guest: Billy Ray
Topics covered
- writing process
- young adult fiction
- community
- hope
- creativity
- storytelling
- future worlds
Keywords
- Billy Ray
- writing process
- young adult fiction
- hope
- creativity
- community
- future worlds
- screenwriting
- novel writing
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Burn the Water, Romeo and Juliet, The Hunger Games
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