My general approach to productivity is: if I don’t remember to do it, it’s probably better undone. But I do handwrite a ToDo list every couple of weeks. Not to remember things, but to forget them. A swirl of tasks in the mind gets in the way of more creative thinking. Writing them out asContinue reading “DAMO: Rebranded”
Category Archives: Writing Journal
Rhetoric of Story weekend sale!
A year ago I began recording a set of 7 talks for the Rhetoric of Story. This week I recorded the seventh. The large gap between the 6th talk, recorded last September, and the 7th talk, came for a simple reason. I got very sick in January. I’m fine now, but while I was recoveringContinue reading “Rhetoric of Story weekend sale!”
Yes, I will be at WorldCon 75 in Helsinki
I’ve never done a WorldCon, and I’ve never been to Helsinki, so damn it I’m going to tick off both these ambitions in a single weekend! I’ll be at WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, 9-13 August of 2017. And I’d like you to be there also. So if you’re hesitating (I know it’s a reasonably majorContinue reading “Yes, I will be at WorldCon 75 in Helsinki”
This is my 1000th blog post
And I have nothing very special to say. I started this blog ten years ago to help me write more. It has done exactly that. So, to all my readers over the years. Thank you. Today I’m starting a new journal. 2017 is an exciting year for me, for reasons I can’t share quite yet. ButContinue reading “This is my 1000th blog post”
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”
I read the Sad Puppies. It was not a pleasure.
For the last few years, the Hugo awards for science fiction have been campaigned against by a group of writers and fans calling themselves the Sad Puppies – mostly male, very white, and overwhelmingly conservative. Unhappy with sci-fi’s growing diversity, the Puppies have deliberately block-voted for certain titles to get them nominated for Hugos at theContinue reading “I read the Sad Puppies. It was not a pleasure.”
The Ted Chiang movie adaptation is on the way
Ted Chiang is, without any argument, the best science fiction short story writer of the last decade. He’s almost unknown outside the SF community, and is one of the humblest guys you will ever meet. Now there’s a film coming based on his work. Chiang is a clinical prose stylist, and a rigorous conceptual think.Continue reading “The Ted Chiang movie adaptation is on the way”
It’s about the story, stupid!
What is a story? You arrange some words on a page, speak some sentences aloud, place some images in a sequence, or even string them together at 24 frames per second to make moving pictures. Words and images, that through some near miracle… …make us believe they are real. As real, when done well, asContinue reading “It’s about the story, stupid!”
Stories are selfish.
No, not shellfish. SELFISH! If one thing is certain about life, it’s that each of us will only ever see it through our own eyes. Go to the ends of the earth, climb the highest mountain, take a rocket into orbit. It will still be you, your eyes, your ears, your hands and other senses,Continue reading “Stories are selfish.”
Big Dumb Objects. Sci-fi’s USP.
We humans love things we can’t explain. Witness the vast array of outlandish claims made about Stonehenge, from ancient calendar to alien stargate, when in all likelihood it was just a big clock or an early marketplace, a neolithic branch of Tesco. When the unknown is also alien, the mystery only grows more magnetic. ThinkContinue reading “Big Dumb Objects. Sci-fi’s USP.”
I don’t just want a woman to be Bond, I want a woman to KILL Bond!
Why should we cast a woman as the next James Bond? To prove that women are dangerous and corrupt too. A woman actress as Bond isn’t a fantasy. It’s a chance to give Bond more realism. A new rumour seems to pop up every week – Idris Elba will be the next James Bond! No, AidanContinue reading “I don’t just want a woman to be Bond, I want a woman to KILL Bond!”
Will the book be replaced…by the block?
An interesting article over at Rhizome speculates on the future of Blockchain as a disruptive technology within publishing. What does the verb “to publish” mean in a society where every thought, movement, and moment is recorded and stored? Let’s say that publishing is the act of making something public and drawing attention to it. AndContinue reading “Will the book be replaced…by the block?”
Damien Walter 