Just caught the first episode of Westworld. I suspect it’s a show I’ll be writing about more. Some first thoughts, not so much about the show, as about why I think it matters. Science fiction is the art of metaphor. It gives us ways of thinking and talking about things we can’t otherwise easily talkContinue reading “Quick thoughts on Westworld”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
Game of Life: the coming attention economy
I like this story in The Independent about China’s plans for a social scoring system. In this world, anything from defaulting on a loan to criticising the ruling party, from running a red light to failing to care for your parents properly, could cause you to lose points. And in this world, your score becomesContinue reading “Game of Life: the coming attention economy”
The minimalist worldbuildng of Diana Wynne-Jones
Guest blogger Jean Lee explores the world-building of Diana Wynne-Jones. The classic British children’s author was a master of creating fantasy world’s because she knew when to keep it minimal. Learn more about the inner workings of storytelling with the Rhetoric of Story. My grandfather adored the study of little things and how they worked.Continue reading “The minimalist worldbuildng of Diana Wynne-Jones”
Doctor Strange : Nope, Buddhism won’t give you magic powers
SPOILERS AHEAD. It’s a familiar story by now. A straight white male – and it almost always is a straight white male – is living a kind of ordinary life when BAM! Events transpire that send Mr. Straight White Male on an epic adventure through which he gains Incredible Powers of magic and / orContinue reading “Doctor Strange : Nope, Buddhism won’t give you magic powers”
This exercise will make you a stronger writer (WARNING: it’s hard.)
My experience, during 6 years teaching creative writing to university students, is that most writers don’t want to do this exercise. To be fair, it’s hard work. But it’s also the single best way I know to develop your skills as a writer, or any other kind of storyteller. “But Damo,” I hear some folksContinue reading “This exercise will make you a stronger writer (WARNING: it’s hard.)”
Twitter is the protocol for human psychic communication
I’m a writer. And so, of course, I’m on Twitter. Somedays it feels like 90% of Twitter’s users are writers, and that I suspect is a big part of Twitter’s problem at this time. Problems which have lead in turn to the possibility of its sale to Google, or Salesforce, or Disney, or please dearContinue reading “Twitter is the protocol for human psychic communication”
The first rule of contract negotiation for writers
The reality of life as a jobbing writer is that, like anybody running their own business, you have to do a lot of negotiating. Which for writers, all too often, means getting walked over. The Society highlighted the case of Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon, who has not received any royalties from the television andContinue reading “The first rule of contract negotiation for writers”
Non-Aristotelian storytelling is a thing. Just don’t expect it to box office.
To make sense of the world we tell ourselves a story. That’s the starting point of the Rhetoric of Story. As storytellers we imitate the kind of story the human mind tells naturally, which makes our stories seem real to the audience. It’s a conjuring trick, but one with some truly wonderful uses. The first personContinue reading “Non-Aristotelian storytelling is a thing. Just don’t expect it to box office.”
Learn a lesson from the slush pile
”the experience of reading mounds of badly written fiction gave him an an indelible lesson in what constituted badly written fiction” 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami There’s a lot to learn from awful writing. But the slush pile isn’t even awful. Awful writers, like great writers, don’t tend to submit their work to contests or openContinue reading “Learn a lesson from the slush pile”
The shameful joys of the franchise novel…and why the force is with them
Snobby attitudes to sci-fi and fantasy can mean missing out on great stories amid popular book series – a publishing genre that is sure to grow. Make of it what you will, but it’s a plain fact of publishing life that more people will read the latest Star Wars franchise novel than all the booksContinue reading “The shameful joys of the franchise novel…and why the force is with them”
Story is the operating system of human consciousness
If you want a well paid stable career today you do one of two things. You learn to work with computers. Or you learn to tell stories. On the day I graduated university in 2001, with an allegedly useless degree in Media and Arts, I had precisely zero pounds in the bank. Luckier than today’sContinue reading “Story is the operating system of human consciousness”
Damien Walter’s Extra Special Blog EXTRAVGANZA
My blog turned 10 years old earlier this year, and is barrelling towards it’s 1000th post (this is post 990). To celebrate this cornucopia of anniversaries, I’m announcing the next week will be dedicated to an EXTRAVAGANZA of blog posts. Here’s some of what to expect! Write Better Sci-Fi Stories…with this simple idea. Transrealism: theContinue reading “Damien Walter’s Extra Special Blog EXTRAVGANZA”
Damien Walter 