Expecto petronum! QUESTION : why do wizards wave their hands to make magic? Damien lays out the strange connection between writing and magic, and how the two meet in our wonderful, wonderful hands!
Author Archives: Damien Walter
The highest art of story?
Premiere! Read on for details. After five years teaching creative writing at universities, and a decade leading writing workshops in schools, libraries, prisons, care homes and more, I saw a problem in how we teach writing. The Rhetoric of Story is my answer to that problem. Across seven lectures I layout my best understanding ofContinue reading “The highest art of story?”
Five years. 555 runs. Five Lessons.
From zero experience, to three 10k runs a week, then back down to a regular 5k distance, running has changed my life. And taught me some valuable lessons. It’s coming up for five years since I left the UK and began “digital nomading”. This time has been occupied with two stories, building my writing practice,Continue reading “Five years. 555 runs. Five Lessons.”
The pro-writer’s guide to Upwork and Fiverr
Lots of people dream of building a pro career that also feeds their creativity. Online freelance platforms can be a big part of making that happen, IF you know how to profit from them. I was surprised and more than a little honored to look at my Fiverr profile last month and discover I wasContinue reading “The pro-writer’s guide to Upwork and Fiverr”
The key to writing a great short story
All great stories have momentum. Every line of a great joke is building up to its punchline. Every scene of an action move is screaming towards the final fight. Every beat of a stage tragedy is building tension to the revelation of a flawed character. The literary short story, made famous by authors from AntonContinue reading “The key to writing a great short story”
The thematic genius of Iain M Banks
I spent years searching, after I first read the Culture novels of Iain M Banks, for other space opera novels that equalled them. And this is what I discovered. Nothing else in the space opera genre even comes close to the Culture. Nothing. Zip. Nada. As Theodore Sturgeon said, 90% of everything is crap. ButContinue reading “The thematic genius of Iain M Banks”
The top 5 Iain M Banks novels
Over three decades after they were first published, the Culture novels of Iain M Banks are more popular than ever Our first image of Iain M Banks’s Culture universe is a man drowning in sewage: a stark precedent for what was to come. And 30 years after its first publication, Consider Phlebas remains a novelContinue reading “The top 5 Iain M Banks novels”
Science Fiction vs SciFi vs SF: what is the true definition?
If there’s one thing science fiction fans love, it’s an argument. And if there’s one argument they love more than all others, it’s the attempt to define what science fiction actually is, and what is or isn’t included in that definition. In perhaps the all time most fiercely contested fight over an acronym ever, fansContinue reading “Science Fiction vs SciFi vs SF: what is the true definition?”
Yes, The Bible is science fiction
There’s a theory of education called “learning thresholds” which I wrote about for my post-grad certificate, back when I was treading the academic path. It’s an idea I use widely in my professional life today, for reasons I’ll get to. A learning threshold is a point on a learning curve where a paradigm shift inContinue reading “Yes, The Bible is science fiction”
Damo’s top scifi novels to rewire your consciousness.
The great psychedelic philosopher Terence McKenna called scifi the “gateway drug to enlightenment”. It’s a description that perfectly expresses the role scifi has played in my life. If If see the world differently from many people today, it’s because of the scifi books I read from a young age. These are the scifi books thatContinue reading “Damo’s top scifi novels to rewire your consciousness.”
Retiring from social media to spend more time with my books
The problem with switching off the internet when you’re somebody who professionally writes stuff on the internet is…you see the problem there, right? Alcoholics often gravitate to heavy drinking workplaces, and people fascinated by human communication IE writers IE me and my kind are drawn to social media like cats ro catnip. I am fortunateContinue reading “Retiring from social media to spend more time with my books”
There’s a great gamer novel to be written. Ready Player One isn’t it
There have been many great American novels. The Grapes of Wrath. The Great Gatsby. Underworld. The idea, at this point in literary history, has become a kind of self referential in joke. The great American novel is what young, over-intense MFA students yearn to write. But it’s still useful as an indicator of whatContinue reading “There’s a great gamer novel to be written. Ready Player One isn’t it”
Damien Walter 