Surreal Writing

catian · Feb 17, 2012

Would you quote surreal writing alongside fiction?
Ok let's change this again sorry.
There are stories or plots that have a surreal feel to them although they may not fit into any genre.
Would you still classify 'surreal' as 'fictional'?

Libbie · Feb 17, 2012

First of all, I don't understand why any of that makes your writing surrealist.

Second, what do you mean by "quote alongside fiction?" That doesn't make any sense to me. Quote where? For what purpose?

catian · Feb 17, 2012

Libbie said:
First of all, I don't understand why any of that makes your writing surrealist.

Second, what do you mean by "quote alongside fiction?" That doesn't make any sense to me. Quote where? For what purpose?

what I meant is that some stories can have an element of surrealism and may not fit into any present genre.
Would it be right to compare surreal to fiction?

Libbie · Feb 17, 2012

Fiction is a narrative that is not factual -- as opposed to nonfiction, which attempts or claims to tell a factual narrative. The style of the writing does not make a piece fictional or nonfictional. If your stories are made up, then they are fiction. If they are not made up then they are nonfiction, no matter what kind of interesting writing techniques you employ.

The word surreal implies irrationality -- that is, things happening which cannot logically happen in everyday life. Magical realists are one sect of fiction writers who often work with surrealism. One author in particular whose writing can be described, I think, as "surreal" is Haruki Murakami. Merely avoiding killing off your characters or writing interlinked stories (which is a cool idea!) doesn't automatically mean something is surrealist. If you have immortal characters but your settings and plots are otherwise rather straightforward, your writing probably falls more into the "fantasy" camp than the "surrealism" camp. It's hard to describe the difference between the two if you've never read surrealism before and compared it to fantasy. You ought to read some surrealism to see how it's different. It has a distinct quality of otherworldliness that sets it apart from more traditional fantasy writing. It's more like the kind of thing you'd experience in a dream than in a fantasy novel.

jaksen · Feb 17, 2012

Are you talking about quirky, offbeat writing? As opposed to Dali-type surrealism? Or paranormalism? What about some of Gaiman's writing - he's sometimes hard to define.

But any type of surrealism is still fiction, isn't it?

Dr.Gonzo · Feb 17, 2012

catian - mindfucking me since Jan 2012

Say what now? You mean, like, general fiction?

kuwisdelu · Feb 17, 2012

Err, unless the surreal thing actually happened, it's still fiction.

Surrealism can influence or be used in fiction from any genre. It can also be considered a genre unto itself.

Drew Wiltsey · Feb 23, 2012

If there are elements of science fiction or other prominent genres then perhaps you could go with them, but in general surrealism falls under fiction or lit.

Paul Auster and Haruki Murakami are authors that include a fair amount of surrealism in their work but their books clearly belong in lit.

HoneyBadger · Feb 23, 2012

I think you've nailed surrealism down.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

Dr.Gonzo said:
catian - mindfucking me since Jan 2012

Say what now? You mean, like, general fiction?

I mean surreal.
Fiction is a genre and has specifics.
Surreal lurks between real and not real.

Laure de Sade · Feb 23, 2012

Fiction is a very broad genre. Surreal fiction can be a sub-genre.

Old Hack · Feb 23, 2012

catian said:
I mean surreal.
Fiction is a genre and has specifics.
Surreal lurks between real and not real.

If you're writing about something that really happened, but that something had elements of the surreal, then you're writing non-fiction.

If you're writing a story that you've made up, which has elements of the surreal in it, then you're writing fiction.

SF/F is a genre; so is romance, crime, thriller, western, etc. All these genres are fiction. Fiction on its own isn't a genre.

kuwisdelu · Feb 24, 2012

catian said:
I mean surreal.
Fiction is a genre and has specifics.
Surreal lurks between real and not real.

Umm. What the homicidal kitten said.

Fiction is not a genre.

Did you mean contemporary or something? Are you confusing "real" with "realistic"?

cara · Feb 24, 2012

Surrealism is a subgenre, like fantasy and scifi are subgenres of speculative fiction. Generally it would probably be a hybrid (two genres mixed i.e. surreal and fantasy).
Check out Haruki Murakami for some ideas on surrealism.

DancingMaenid · Feb 24, 2012

I think you can only call "fiction" a genre in the very broadest sense, in that it refers to a story about fictional events, generally told in prose (though that last part could be debatable). It has very little to do with the style in which the story is told.

Both fiction and nonfiction can have surreal elements or be told in a surreal way. Same with poetry, drama, or any other written medium, I think.

tmesis · Feb 24, 2012

catian said:
I mean surreal.
Fiction is a genre and has specifics.
Surreal lurks between real and not real.

I share the confusion of the other posters. My best guess is that you're confusing "fiction" and "genre fiction". Surreal writing may assuredly fall under the category of "fiction", though perhaps it's more prevalent in literary fiction than in genre fiction.

MJNL · Feb 24, 2012

This thread is kinda surreal.

And I mean that in a good way.

blacbird · Feb 24, 2012

Give us all an example of something you consider "surreal" writing, so we can all understand your question.

Because right now, I don't.

caw

Libbie · Feb 25, 2012

What Honey Badger said.

catian said:
I mean surreal.
Fiction is a genre and has specifics.
Surreal lurks between real and not real.

This is the ONLY specific in fiction: The story is made up. It is not true. It never happened. Beyond that, anything goes.

All these books you may have read (hopefully) are equally and legitimately fiction: To Kill A Mockingbird, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Anne of Green Gables, Ender's Game, Pet Sematary, Watership Down, Lolita, Ramona Quimby Age 8.

All fiction, because they're all made-up stories.

You simply don't understand the definitions of the words you're using, and that's what's confusing you. Crack open a dictionary and you will set yourself to rights.

catian · Feb 25, 2012

kuwisdelu said:
Umm. What the homicidal kitten said.

Fiction is not a genre.

Did you mean contemporary or something? Are you confusing "real" with "realistic"?

Oh right.
I understood fiction as a genre as oppose to non-fiction.
Oops. There is something learned today.
Thank you for correcting me.

Real as oppose to unreal.
Is real not the same as realistic?

SomethingOrOther · Feb 25, 2012

Libbie said:
(hopefully)

Libbie said:
Twilight

catian · Feb 25, 2012

blacbird said:
Give us all an example of something you consider "surreal" writing, so we can all understand your question.

Because right now, I don't.

caw

Here is a link:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7041947#post7041947

Surreal here being that Bittersweet and Melody are words and characters at the same time but that it is it.
They are not real characters like in human characters we are used to in books.
The words were chosen in particular to represent them in their meanings and extend on what they mean to use when we use the above two words in real life.

catian · Feb 25, 2012

SomethingOrOther said:

Is that a surreal picture? Haha.

catian · Feb 25, 2012

MJNL said:
This thread is kinda surreal.

And I mean that in a good way.

It is indeed.

HoneyBadger · Feb 25, 2012

catian said:
Oh right.
I understood fiction as a genre as oppose to non-fiction.
Oops. There is something learned today.
Thank you for correcting me.
Real as oppose to unreal.
Is real not the same as realistic?

Real: a book about Charles de Gaulle, based entirely on fact and historical documents, with nothing created in the author's imagination: non-fiction.

Realistic: a book about a French general who later became the president of France. The details are supported by facts and historical documents and he does things that real people do, but that no one person did: fiction.

Surrealistic: a book about a French general who leads platoons of mudpies into battle with a jug of milk. Some facts may be historically accurate, and he does some things that real people do, but there are elements that are impossible: fiction.

catian said:
Here is a link:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7041947#post7041947

That's not really surreal. Had the zebras been real zebras, then maybe. If BitterSweet and Melody were dogs, yeah, but if they're people, then not so much (though people can certainly be in surrealist novels.) What that is, in my opinion, is fiction written in a whimsical manner. The style could maybe be said to be surrealistic, but the content isn't.

Surreal Writing

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Caped Codder

Wonderfully Irreverent

Revolutionize the World

I make book covers

terribly loud, emotionally distant

Such a nasty woman

Revolutionize the World

New kid...seven years ago!

bibbidi bobbidi boo

A Little Lost

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

-

terribly loud, emotionally distant