Category Archives: Writing & Publishing

How Philip K Dick’s 1960’s masterpiece nailed politics in the 2020’s

Is Europe welcoming desperate refugees, or being invaded by economic migrants? Is Donald Trump a serious President, or a clownish attention seeker? The Man In The High Castle reveals the most basic truths about our era of competing narratives. * In 1947 the forces of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan swept to victory over Europe andContinue reading “How Philip K Dick’s 1960’s masterpiece nailed politics in the 2020’s”

Rhetoric of Story – Part 3

Other – the web of relationship This lecture in the Rhetoric of Story introduces the third of seven foundational elements of storytelling – the Other. The key ideas introduced in this lecture are: how do stores that travel through time? as humans we are fascinated by the relationships between people. archetypal relationships repeat again and again inContinue reading “Rhetoric of Story – Part 3”

Rhetoric of Story – Part 1

Change – where all story begins and ends The first full lecture in the Rhetoric of Story introduces the first of seven foundational elements of storytelling – change. The key ideas introduced in this lecture are: the quality that helped one story live for over 5000 years our brains make sense of constant change byContinue reading “Rhetoric of Story – Part 1”

Who will write the 21st century myth?

When Damien Walter asked Twitter to name the greatest 21st century myth he got an unexpected answer – from Neil Gaiman himself “When the 21st century myth comes along, we will know.” Neil Gaiman My new course is Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy, writing the 21st century myth. Pre-enrollment has already attracted almost 4000 studentsContinue reading “Who will write the 21st century myth?”

David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and Booker nominee, is a true geek

David Mitchell is one of the world’s most successful literary novelists. He has been twice nominated for the prestigious Booker prize, and his novel Cloud Atlas was adapted to the Tykwer and Wachowski film starring Tom Hanks. He’s also a huge sci-fi fan with a long love of geek culture. Damien Walter sat down with the bestselling author to discuss his SF influences, which D&D character type he plays, and the future of the novel in a multi-media age.

Altered Carbon was always doomed

Two years ago I predicted Altered Carbon would fail after one season and get a second only because Netflix had already invested in the CGI assets….it seems I was right. Altered Carbon cancelled after two seasons via The Verge Imagine somebody wrote a novel about the cat and the fiddle, and the cow that jumpedContinue reading “Altered Carbon was always doomed”

The 3000 year old sacred story that inspired Star Wars

Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker was a dire end to Disney’s reboot. Would the new movies have been better had they respected the tradition of spiritual storytelling that inspired them? A week out from the premiere of a new Star Wars and there is barely a word to describe the public excitement preceding theContinue reading “The 3000 year old sacred story that inspired Star Wars”

The problem with Isaac Asimov’s Foundation

Apple are making Isaac Asimov’s FOUNDATION for tv with David Goyer at the helm. All the signs are it’s going to be a disaster. Come and chat with me on Instagram. TRANSCRIPTION So I’ve just watched the new trailer for Isaac Asimov’s foundation series brought to us by none less than Apple themselves as oneContinue reading “The problem with Isaac Asimov’s Foundation”

Learn the form, master the form, break the form.

“Learn the form, master the form, break the form.” Study a martial art of any kind and you’ll likely learn this lesson. First you learn a form – a kick, block or grapple. Then you master the form form – you practice it thousands of times, in different variations, and put it into practice againstContinue reading “Learn the form, master the form, break the form.”