Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy

Writing the 21st century myth

4.45 (76 reviews)
Udemy
platform
English
language
Creativity
category
instructor
5,306
students
9 hours
content
Sep 2021
last update
$84.99
regular price

What you will learn

Writing new myths for the 21st century

Description

Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy

Writing the 21st century myth


A journey into the mythic storytelling of scifi & fantasy with writer and storyteller Damien Walter on a hunt for the 21st century myth.

For as long as there have been humans, there have been stories. Stories to help us understand our mysterious universe and give meaning to our lives. Stories to give us comfort in darkness and inspire us to reach for the light.

Science fiction & fantasy are the most popular stories of the 21st century. On the cinema screen, in our Netflix streams and in video games, billions of us watch, read and play the amazing stories of scifi and fantasy.

Damien Walter, writer on sci-fi and geek culture for The Guardian, BBC, WIRED and graduate of the Clarion writers workshop, leads a journey into scifi and fantasy storytelling.


Five Star Reviews


“I loved the course. Damien has simplified the complexity of stories for me.” Kim Davis, The Rhetoric of Story


“This was excellent. Rather than teaching the mechanics of writing, this is about how to tell a compelling story.” Mark Lemke, The Rhetoric of Story


“This course was absolutely amazing. I started this course as my job was slowing down for the covid-19 pandemic and ultimately finished it at home after being laid off.” Cory Ellis, The Rhetoric of Story


“I found this course informative, exciting and inspiring. As a 75 year old, new to writing this has motivated a new journey of which i am looking forward to with enthusiasm.” Brian Cummings, The Rhetoric of Story


“Wonderful style of teaching and great use of "practicing what you preach". Each lecture itself feels like listening to a story.” Maral Asdjian, The Rhetoric of Story


“Damien clarified for me exactly what I was missing - the essence of the story.” Grzegorz Kopeć, The Rhetoric of Story


“With relevant examples, Damien has literally broken down complex ideas into easy, digestible content.” Shivani Deshmukh, The Rhetoric of Story


“Damien is a very engaging teacher and he makes the complexity of this subject accessible and thrilling. I have no background in literary studies. And English isn't my native language. Even so, I followed all the lessons without significant hassle.”


“simply full of insightful tips and advices - there's not a dull or pointless moment in the whole class.” Juuso Sallinen, The Rhetoric of Story



Science fiction is our modern mythology

As science transformed how we saw the universe, life and human existence, our old myths died. We began a search for new myths to give meaning to the modern world, myths we call science fiction.

From Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and a thousand stories beyond, great storytellers have crafted new myths for the age of science.

But as we grow into the 21st century, even the modern myths of science fiction are getting old. The need for the myths for our fast changing world is greater than ever.



Who will write the 21st century myth?

When Damien Walter asked Twitter what was the greatest myth of the 21st century, he got a surprising answer, from the storyteller Neil Gaiman himself.

Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Avengers - all the smash hit sci-fi & fantasy franchises of today are myths of the last century, their values are those of the past 20th, not the future 21st century.

When a truly 21st century myth is written, we will know it.

Who will write the 21st century myth? Will it be Neil Gaiman? Will it be any of the great new writers of today?

Or will it, perhaps, be you?



Damien Walter wrote the long running Weird Things column for The Guardian, and has interviewed legendary SF authors including Harlan Elison and Neil Stephenson. He studied with World Fantasy award winner Graham Joyce, and is a graduate of the Clarion writer’s workshop lead by Neil Gaiman and Kelly Link. His writing courses have over twenty-five thousand students online.


As featured in:


The Guardian, BBC, Wired, The Independent, Buzzfeed, Aeon



The advanced course for fans and creators of science fiction and fantasy

Join a growing community of passionate fans and creators on a journey to write new myths for the 21st century.

  • Talks - open talks looking at classic works of science fiction & fantasy and the myths they gave to the world.

  • Workshops - deep dive discussions and writing craft sessions to open up the mythic imagination.

  • Interviews - with leading creators and industry professionals.

  • Feedback - the chance to get your stories read and to develop further with critical feedback.

  • Certification - create your 21st century myth and receive course certification.



Join the course in Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy today on Udemy

Content

Introduction

Trailer
Introduction

Man As Machine

Frankenstein - how a teenage goth invented science fiction
Science fiction is our modern mythology

Essays

The 8 tribes of scifi
Write better scifi stories with this simple idea

Screenshots

Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy - Screenshot_01Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy - Screenshot_02Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy - Screenshot_03Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy - Screenshot_04

Reviews

Charles
September 16, 2023
The depth of thought and experience as displayed by Damien Walter is compelling. And his delivery is mesmerizing. I have to rate this course as five out of five!
Ellen
May 12, 2023
I like the part about the eternal question and splitting it up into the quadrant. It helps guide the process of thinking about what humans get out of a myth.
Mark
May 3, 2023
Exceptionally good quality content and well put together video material. Thanks! It's very intriguing.
Maria
March 4, 2023
I find the talks compelling and interesting. This exceeded all expectations. It's helping to give an appreciation of what science fiction is and with help me as I write my favourite genre. I want to write a myth that will be remembered!
Randolph
October 19, 2022
Parts of this course are outstanding, but it's overshadowed by an overall sense of being incomplete. Some lessons end mid sentence and never get resolved. He promises to cover Tolkien multiple times, but never delivers. How can you talk fantasy without Tolkien? The worst thing is there are no resources to download. Not a single PDF for the whole course. Does he expect everyone to go back and review the whole course if they forget or are unclear about something along the way? He mentions lots of sources, but not even a bibliography? That seems shocking considering he's a journalist. His delivery is good. The video quality is mostly good. He needs some help with audio levels since some lessons are loud and others so quiet you can barely hear him with the volume cranked. Seriously? How did he not edit this? What had the potential to be a great course is almost a throwaway since he didn't care enough to finish the course. The last lesson even ends mid-sentence. Hopefully he will go back and edit the course and fill in the missing pieces. The potential is there. Maybe he will take enough pride to finish it someday.
Russell
May 17, 2022
I feel like a first year university student who has walked into a doctorial study group, it's only week one and I'm struggling with understanding what everyone is talking about.
Bernard
May 17, 2022
Hello I do appreciate this couse because of the carefull pronounciation and intonation of the teacher this is great for international students (I am french) . This is real double course , both on litterature and on english speaking .
JD
November 27, 2021
Too much exposition and history during the early modules. I’m interested in the teaching aspect from the instructor’s perspective. We can research the history of “myths” on YouTube.
Shannon
July 1, 2021
Absolutely the course for where I am at right now, not another this is the way to craft course; but, here is how you ask the right questions with your story. This course is a collection of "workshops," or, simply put, a collection of videos the author strung together. The content is superb; but, if you are put off by poor editing and bad transitions...you may not feel as though this production is worth the time. The course is great and worth the time, but it could use some touchup and trim work.
Derek
February 8, 2021
I tend to dig Damien's insights into genre, and so far his knowledge and history of this genre serve the course well.
LyleHopwood
January 2, 2021
Yes, this is an insight into why stories work and is applicable to new stories I may write in the future.
Ashraful
August 25, 2020
Broaden my thinking and perspective for fictional stories. Damiens words were very much bold and energetic thus I was able to feel the emotion and the meaning of creative thinking.
Abhinav
August 25, 2020
Really good explanation, perfect use of sound effect for making your attention deep over topic! Worth it !
Augustin-Ionut
August 24, 2020
interesting points of view. thank you for your work, hope I will write again someday, and my writings will be sci-fi this time... my childhood dream - to become a sci-fi writer.

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udemy ID
8/11/2020
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8/24/2020
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