I don’t consider myself a true fan of many things, but I am an unapologetic Iain (M) Banks fanboy. Which is an easy thing to be. Banks is a brilliant, brilliant writer. A storyteller in the class of Neil Gaiman, with the muscular prose abilities of J G Ballard, and the conceptual imagination of anContinue reading “5 things that can go HORRIBLY wrong adapting The Culture”
Category Archives: Writing & Publishing
The shattered realities of William Gibson
Subscribe FREE on YouTube to get every episode https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTLDbr7fXm6Rh17OFIAEeDg To get the most from the episode, read Count Zero by William Gibson http://amzn.to/2Dbr8o9 Read the essay and get my annotations here https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-have-toffee-16453880 Ambient background music by UUriter track Homeland Cassette http://amzn.to/2FPCvnC Join my full course in the Rhetoric of Story (use code STORYFREE) https://www.udemy.com/the-rhetoric-of-story/learn/v4/?couponCode=STORYTEN
Why did the Last Jedi fail?
My profound disappointment in The Last Jedi. CONTAINS SPOILERS.
After Patreon: we need a Bill of Rights for creators
We live in amazing times for human creativity. There are more opportunities, for more people, of more backgrounds, to create than ever before. I think when we look back on the early 21st century, we’ll recognise it as the turning point into a creator culture, in which we value people for their creative talents, overContinue reading “After Patreon: we need a Bill of Rights for creators”
Beyond the Rhetoric of Story
Since I began work on The Rhetoric of Story, a little over a year ago, the success of the course has far exceeded my expectations. Since launching on Udemy, the course has been in the top 12 of writing for 4 straight months! To date over 1600 students have taken the course, and they’ve hadContinue reading “Beyond the Rhetoric of Story”
A sad truth. Readers will always steal from writers.
This is a little story about volition. Specifically, the choices writers make about how we share and “monetize” our work. It’s a sad little tale, but please read to the end for the moral. “there’s an extra irony here, that these were writers, who no doubt stomp around the internet chanting Pay The Writer wheneverContinue reading “A sad truth. Readers will always steal from writers.”
Odd Gods
Gods are an irresistible subject to writers. They were, after all, the first characters, in the first stories. “In the beginning was the word” is both true, and a clever way for ancient scribes to improve their job security. God is, when all’s said and done, whoever is writing. I found myself writing these storiesContinue reading “Odd Gods”
Creativity Is A Wild Mind
“Creativity is a wild mind & a disciplined eye.” ~ Dorothy Parker Read more Dorothy Parker. Learn the Rhetoric of Story, course code STORYTEN.
Can you name a story where nothing changes?
Two old tramps stand in a field. One struggles to take off his boot. The other does nothing to help. They talk, but they don’t listen. They are are waiting for somebody. Whoever it is does not arrive. And that, folks, is the whole of Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett. Beckett’s play is oneContinue reading “Can you name a story where nothing changes?”
Watch Blade Runner 2049, then read this.
Spoilers. Watch first, then read. Blade Runner is a diamond of a movie. A broken genius crazy novel, adapted into a mashup noir / scifi screenplay, directed by an auteur who had his main sight on other projects, vandalised by a studio who didn’t know what they had, with its best lines of dialogue improvisedContinue reading “Watch Blade Runner 2049, then read this.”
Five questions the new Blade Runner must answer
Any Blade Runner fan who doesn’t have mixed feelings about the Blade Runner 2049 sequel probably isn’t much of a fan. Hollywood sequels have a bad track record of course. And while the presence of Harrison Ford might encourage some to hope for a sequel as mighty as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many ofContinue reading “Five questions the new Blade Runner must answer”
Westworld didn’t deserve those Emmys anyway
If you really want to divide people into two opposing tribes, and judging by the political divide between Conservatives & Liberals it seems that we do, then this is the real dividing line. People who treat culture as absolute. vs People who see culture as a construct. Pop quiz. Is America a real place? OrContinue reading “Westworld didn’t deserve those Emmys anyway”
Damien Walter 