Freudian Slips?

Nolita · May 1, 2007

Still writing. Wondering about dialogue. People do have these slips. Now I understand anything is bad if overused. But 1-3 slips, well placed, good to use? I'm thinking it could help with the rythm, and make a few conversations, maximum, more natural, more human.

Also, when I write one, I'm thinking I should just let it sit on the page. Let the reader get their own giggle from it, like the novel's equivalent of a dvd easter egg. Am I right about that? I have read slips in novels before, but the author(s) told the reader it was a slip. Wouldn't it be more natural to just have the character slip, and let the reader's mind go where it will?

ccarver30 · May 1, 2007

Hmm, I don't think I have ever read a slip before- although I think I would find it hilarious!
Films, tv and books always have people speaking the way people DON'T really speak. I think that putting in this element may make your characters more real... just my opnion. Good luck!

Higgins · May 1, 2007

Like what?

Nolita said:
Still writing. Wondering about dialogue. People do have these slips. Now I understand anything is bad if overused. But 1-3 slips, well placed, good to use? I'm thinking it could help with the rythm, and make a few conversations, maximum, more natural, more human.

Also, when I write one, I'm thinking I should just let it sit on the page. Let the reader get their own giggle from it, like the novel's equivalent of a dvd easter egg. Am I right about that? I have read slips in novels before, but the author(s) told the reader it was a slip. Wouldn't it be more natural to just have the character slip, and let the reader's mind go where it will?

I was remembering the one from Postcards from the Edge (1990, it is certified L in Iceland):
"All the mommy in the world won't make me..." or something like that.

There's also the thing that's vaguely like a slip -- sort of a two-party running misunderstanding where they are talking about two different things but don't know it. Those are always fun.

There's also the possibility that roles as a whole can be slightly off so that say one guy is a jet test pilot with no hope of a jet in his future and the other guy is say a renegade Byzantine mercenary pretending to be the local sherrif so that neither can quite get into their roles and it shows.

sfecphory · May 1, 2007

If your novel uses humor to good effect, and if your speaking character did it a lot (like the Tourrette's used in Motherless Brooklyn by J. Lethem) then it might work, but I think that only 2 or 3 slips in a novel would strike me as odd. I would fear that it would be distracting, and if not pointed out (left as an "easter egg") that it would appear to be a typo.

Devil Ledbetter · May 1, 2007

It depends on the scene, but I wouldn't explain the slips. Just have them, and let the readers who get it enjoy them.

Devil Ledbetter · May 1, 2007

sfecphory said:
If your novel uses humor to good effect, and if your speaking character did it a lot (like the Tourrette's used in Motherless Brooklyn by J. Lethem) then it might work, but I think that only 2 or 3 slips in a novel would strike me as odd. I would fear that it would be distracting, and if not pointed out (left as an "easter egg") that it would appear to be a typo.

That's a good point. In The Poisonwood Bible, the oldest sister is constantly using the wrong word to hilarious effect. Talking about the lifetime commitment of marriage, she says "that's why they call it monotony." I'd have been quite insulted if Kingsolver had pointed out that her character meant to say monogamy.

Higgins · May 1, 2007

Monogamy

Devil Ledbetter said:
That's a good point. In The Poisonwood Bible, the oldest sister is constantly using the wrong word to hilarious effect. Talking about the lifetime commitment of marriage, she says "that's why they call it monotony." I'd have been quite insulted if Kingsolver had pointed out that her character meant to say monogamy.

Monogamy comes in for a lot of slippage as in Jane Campion's movie Sweetie, where the heroine is rumored to "believe in serial monogamy"...

Nolita · May 1, 2007

Thanks, I'm sure I'll get more feedback on the idea(feedback's good).

I'm also thinking about situational slips. Where there's unintentional double meaning. Oddly, my mom's the inspiration. Just the other day, she was asking a friend if he and his wife were still trying to have a baby. He looked discouraged, but said that they were.

My mom blurted out "You'll get your baby, just keep it up", the sentence was followed by a lot of stammering and blushing on both sides, with me muttering about "it's not my business, erase-erase-erase".

As you all know, slips happen all the time, in real life. I wasn't planning to force slips in, if they don't want to be there, they don't want to be there. But they surely would make things more interesting.

I was thinking they would come in handy during intense moments. Not during action sequences(sorry for movie ref, not sure of the term for novels), so much as when it's quiet, but there's a lot of tension, maybe bordering on too much tension. To sort of break up the tension and keep things moving.

I just don't want to force them in with a hammer. If they don't fit, they don't fit.

Nolita · May 1, 2007

sfecphory said:
If your novel uses humor to good effect, and if your speaking character did it a lot (like the Tourrette's used in Motherless Brooklyn by J. Lethem) then it might work, but I think that only 2 or 3 slips in a novel would strike me as odd. I would fear that it would be distracting, and if not pointed out (left as an "easter egg") that it would appear to be a typo.

So you mean like a running gag? Not heavy handed mind you, but for continuity's sake? And to make sure the readers get it? Cool. I was worried about over using them, like in Elmore Leonard's rules with the exclamation points. Maybe I'm worrying too much. Elmore's not God. He's not the only author to come up with a list of rules. I'll just do my best and use rules for editing

. I have a feeling my first draft will be twice as long as it needs to be anyway.

JoNightshade · May 1, 2007

I think a single slip is fine as long as you have another character notice it in SOME way. Otherwise it's going to seem like a typo. For instance, have so and so give your slipper an odd look.

Higgins · May 1, 2007

Slippery Slips: Signorelli

Nolita said:
So you mean like a running gag? Not heavy handed mind you, but for continuity's sake? And to make sure the readers get it? Cool. I was worried about over using them, like in Elmore Leonard's rules with the exclamation points. Maybe I'm worrying too much. Elmore's not God. He's not the only author to come up with a list of rules. I'll just do my best and use rules for editing . I have a feeling my first draft will be twice as long as it needs to be anyway.

Thinking it over, there may be reasons for avoiding just slipping in a few slips and hoping that they work. The problem is that in a written context slips don't stand out as well as they do when spoken. The slips I can recall are from movies and slips just may not work all that well in writing without some explanation. Plus, real slips can be a bit complicated (like the supressed Signorelli in the example from the Psychopathology of Everyday Life which involves recalling a railway journey in Bosnia (hence the overdetermined "BO" that gives you some scrambled Botticelli for your Signorelli). It might be better to have a more slippery atmosphere without simple slips: people who worry aloud about their former roles in defunct TV shows, gestures that the MC misunderstands, things the MC doesn't catch at the time but gets told about later. Then if there are slips they can be savored and decyphered gradually and explicitly.

Sassee · May 1, 2007

Sokal said:
The problem is that in a written context slips don't stand out as well as they do when spoken.

That's true. Especially after you've been reading online chat for years... people read right past typos or intended slips, automatically translating them to the correct word or phrase (because typos happen so often it's ridiculous). I would say have the other characters react in some way to the slip of the tongue, sort of like you explained how your mom got all embarrassed about her slip. It'll help people notice your play on words a little easier.

Elektra · May 1, 2007

Sokal said:
Monogamy comes in for a lot of slippage as in Jane Campion's movie Sweetie, where the heroine is rumored to "believe in serial monogamy"...

Serial monogamy is a bona fide sociological term. It refers to a person who marries and divorces repeatedly.

Higgins · May 1, 2007

Not serial polygamy?

Elektra said:
Serial monogamy is a bona fide sociological term. It refers to a person who marries and divorces repeatedly.

Wouldn't that be serial polygamy? Oh, dear. I thought it was a joke. Or maybe the joke is that the heroine's officemates find serial monogamy to be a bit deviant.

Nolita · May 1, 2007

Sokal said:
Wouldn't that be serial polygamy? Oh, dear. I thought it was a joke. Or maybe the joke is that the heroine's officemates find serial monogamy to be a bit deviant.

Nope, no such thing as serial polygamy. Think about it, you have one wife, then get another, and so on and so forth. No need for serial polygamy.

Serial monogamy is different. It's where someone perhaps wants to settle down. They really do, but they just can't. They hear the call of the wild and must heed it's call.

It doesn't just apply to marriage though, can be someone who goes from serious relationship to serious relationship, never fully tying the knot.

About slips though, I get it now. If one pops out, just have another character look at them funny(I'll use adjectives when I need them

). Or I could have stammering, or the other character holding in laughter, a bunch of ways I can go.

Thanks a bunch. You've been a big help. Oh I hope nobody reads that as sarcasm. I really do mean it. I'm just a baby at this whole writing game(in case you didn't guess), so I'll be really annoying, but hope nobody minds too much.

tjwriter · May 1, 2007

JoNightshade said:
I think a single slip is fine as long as you have another character notice it in SOME way. Otherwise it's going to seem like a typo. For instance, have so and so give your slipper an odd look.

Nolita said:
My mom blurted out "You'll get your baby, just keep it up", the sentence was followed by a lot of stammering and blushing on both sides, with me muttering about "it's not my business, erase-erase-erase".

What Jo said as shown in your own example with your mother's comment followed by your reaction would work fine for me. I like little things like that thrown in.

As long as it's not forced or excessive, I don't see it hurting anything.

Freudian Slips?

Nolita

ccarver30

Nicole Castro

Higgins

sfecphory

Devil Ledbetter

Come on you stranger, you legend,

Devil Ledbetter

Come on you stranger, you legend,

Higgins

Nolita

Nolita

JoNightshade

has finally arrived

Higgins

Sassee

Momma Wolf

Elektra

Don't Call Me Sweetheart

Higgins

Nolita

tjwriter

Emerging Anew