writing – Damien Walter

Why is it not such a good idea to “walk away” from tech platforms like Amazon, Facebook etc? A number of people responded with their own decisions to walk away from these platforms after my last post on Walk Away Syndrome WAS. I’m not here to critique anyone’s personal decisions made for their own healthContinue reading “You should buy your books on Amazon”

10 Science Fiction books to read in 2025

Become a member of the Science Fiction community to continue the discussion

Website – https://damiengwalter.com
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/DamienWalter/membership
Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/DamienWalter

Subscribe to the Science Fiction podcast feed for long-form commentaries on these video essays

https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/

Join the Science Fiction community on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197/

Follow Damien on
Twitter – https://x.com/damiengwalter
Bluesky – LINK https://bsky.app/profile/damiengwalter.bsky.social

Transrealism: the first major literary movement of the 21st century

A Scanner Darkly is one of Philip K Dick’s most famous but also most divisive novels. Written in 1973 but not published until 1977, it marks the boundary between PKD’s mid-career novels that were clearly works of science fiction, including The Man in the High Castle and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and hisContinue reading “Transrealism: the first major literary movement of the 21st century”

You can be creative, or productive, but not both

We love the idea of productivity, but most productivity systems are killing our creativity Here’s a familiar event many artists will have encountered. You hit some creative milestone. Your new book is finished maybe, and a well-meaning friend responds, “I wish I had time to write / paint / sing / INSERT CREATIVE DREAM.” Yes,Continue reading “You can be creative, or productive, but not both”

The 4 skills of the full stack writer

A stack of 4 core skills are key to success as a freelance writer. Mastering them unlocks huge opportunities. I landed my first paid writing gig when I was 14. I had a paper route, and one day the local Indian restaurant invited me in, made me a chai tea, and asked how to getContinue reading “The 4 skills of the full stack writer”

Why writers have more to learn than ever

We live in exciting times for writers. There are more ways then ever to tell stories, and huge audiences hungry to consume them. It may sound strange if you’re not used to the idea, but the story is a kind of technology. Like the sword, or the motorcar, or the computer, the story has evolvedContinue reading “Why writers have more to learn than ever”

The improvised word leaves space for you

Improvisation is a powerful part of art. Dancers, musicians and actors – those things we name the performing arts – all learn to improvise as part of their craft. Their work is temporal and transient. Once the move or note is performed it is gone forever. A recording of Miles Davis playing Kind of BlueContinue reading “The improvised word leaves space for you”

Writing and the attention economy

As a writer you are asking for the most valuable commodity your readers have. Time. Each of us gets a finite portion. No sum of money can buy us any more. And the demands on it are ever greater. The novel evolved at a period in history when the constituency of its readers had muchContinue reading “Writing and the attention economy”

Why Sense of Wonder sucks

Many writers of fantasy fiction describe their work in terms of its ability to evoke a ‘Sense of Wonder’ in the reader, and go out of their way to find sources of ‘wonder’ to energise their stories. This is self-defeating in the most serious kind of way. Stories that attempt to create a ‘Sense ofContinue reading “Why Sense of Wonder sucks”