There’s a story of a lazy Buddhist adept, whose name escapes me, who was made to teach a lesson by his master. The student never paid attention in class, or did his chores around the monastery. But when made to teach, he gave a long lecture on compassion, that remains a high Buddhist teaching toContinue reading “Why teach writing? To learn of course.”
Category Archives: Writing & Publishing
Game of Thrones is epic fantasy for social justice warriors
Game of Thrones and Hilary Mantell’s Wolf Hall offer two different takes on how social justice overpowers aristocratic elites. In the age of Trump, we need these social justice metaphors more than ever. The cosmetic similarities between Game of Thrones and Wolf Hall are not hard to list. Both occupy a similar period in history,Continue reading “Game of Thrones is epic fantasy for social justice warriors”
How do stories work?
The Rhetoric of Story isn’t a writing a course. It’s the answer to a question that has fascinated me for over a decade. How do stories work? How do a few words on a page, some flickering images on a screen, convince us for a time that we are a different person, living a differentContinue reading “How do stories work?”
Game of Thrones: 6 predictions for season 7
Just watched episode one of season 7 and RAWWWWR that’s some powerful storytelling. George has been skillfully setting up these epic conflicts, getting us emotionally invested in every one, and now they’re all about to pay off. Ice and Fire are ready to clash at last. The only question now is, what twists will GRRMContinue reading “Game of Thrones: 6 predictions for season 7”
The poetics of SF
Science fiction is scared of language. It’s practitioners come, in bulk, from the numbered disciplines. Physicists. Engineers. Coders. The number is absolute. Seven is seven is seven is seven. It’s not six and it’s not eight. This is the whole point of whole numbers.
Is another world possible?
I grew up with these words, “another world is possible”. On the two council estates I lived on until I was 18. At the radical bookshops I found in my late teens. In the ant-capitalist protests I joined in my 20s. Working for New Internationalist, then Amnesty. And now, I see the idea has madeContinue reading “Is another world possible?”
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”
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!”
Damien Walter 