Surrealism

sunandshadow · Feb 25, 2009

Go me, first post in a new forum! ^_^

Question - Does surrealism go here? Does anyone here write surrealism?

I would like to take my fantasy in a more surreal direction but I have trouble making my mind work that way because for the most part I'm a pretty literal-minded, analytical, logical thinker.

Wayne K · Feb 25, 2009

I'm second and that's two number ones.... right?

jvc · Feb 25, 2009

I'm ... hmm, where am I?

jvc · Feb 25, 2009

sunandshadow said:
Go me, first post in a new forum! ^_^

Question - Does surrealism go here? Does anyone here write surrealism?

I would like to take my fantasy in a more surreal direction but I have trouble making my mind work that way because for the most part I'm a pretty literal-minded, analytical, logical thinker.

I did try this a few years ago, but I don't think I achieved what I wanted from it and abandoned it pretty soon after. Not an easy thing to do. For me, at least.

Fenika · Feb 25, 2009

Didn't you hear Jed, this is your new room to moderate. Good luck

jvc · Feb 25, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
Didn't you hear Jed, this is your new room to moderate. Good luck

Oh yeah, right, very surreal. Next on the list is me being made a mod for the P&CE board. Now that would be surreal. And I don't think there's enough aspirin (or whiskey) in the world for that

Although I did hear you were hosting the Elizabeth Bear chat all by yourself. Good luck with that :tongue

Fenika · Feb 25, 2009

Actually, Mac wouldn't dare trust me. I'm safe

I will let he know you want in on the PCE action though.

(I'm sorry, I'm derailing, I'll stop. ~~But this was a slightly silly thread to start with~~)

ETA: I didn't mean that to be offensive, I was just referring to the silly nature of the first line of the OP. Either way, I need not shoot off my mouth while feeling goofy. Sorry.

Aristocrazy · Feb 25, 2009

I plan to read the Molly/Malone Dies/Unnamable trilogy by S. beckett someday... supposedly it could be very inspirational to my WIP... someday I'll get the courage...

jvc · Feb 25, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
(I'm sorry, I'm derailing, I'll stop. But this was a slightly silly thread to start with)

Yep, I agree with the stopping the derail part. But, come on, Baha, seriously, just because you may think the thread is not to your liking, or silly, it doesn't mean the OP didn't have a valid question. This is a new forum, give it a chance. Don't discourage; encourage instead. Much better that way.

Gray Rose · Feb 25, 2009

Yay!! It's here! It's happening!!

Back to the thread though: I think that reading in the genre helps with writing the genre. Perhaps we need a separate thread for bibliography?

sunandshadow · Feb 25, 2009

jvc said:
I did try this a few years ago, but I don't think I achieved what I wanted from it and abandoned it pretty soon after. Not an easy thing to do. For me, at least.

What I want to achieve is moving my theme more into the foreground and illustrate it with vivid memorable imagery. Make the experience of reading it be like a memorable dream. I'm not sure if one's own writing can ever feel dreamy and mysterious though, because you always know why you put each element there and where you plan to take it, not to mention the inevitable dissatisfactions with passages that didn't turn out quite right.

sunandshadow · Feb 25, 2009

Gray Rose said:
Yay!! It's here! It's happening!!

Back to the thread though: I think that reading in the genre helps with writing the genre. Perhaps we need a separate thread for bibliography?

I still have recommendations from a thread in the novel-writing forum that I haven't worked my way through yet, but it might be a good idea to have reading lists of surreal and slipstream classics to sticky in a Basics thread like the one in the sff forum.

Pthom · Feb 25, 2009

We need a moderator to assign duties: FAQ, Bibliography, Publishers and agents, etc.

Let's wait till Shweta wakes up and then nominate her.

Gray Rose · Feb 25, 2009

How about a Bragatorium?

Yes, let's

Pthom · Feb 25, 2009

A Bragatorium is paramount. It is very popular in SF/F. Every genre forum should have one.

indiriverflow · Feb 25, 2009

This post is not a post.

Polenth · Feb 25, 2009

I write some surreal short stories. My main problem is I don't know where to submit them. Most magazines that take surrealism want it dark, and I write light/whimsical stuff.

sunandshadow · Feb 25, 2009

Polenth said:
I write some surreal short stories. My main problem is I don't know where to submit them. Most magazines that take surrealism want it dark, and I write light/whimsical stuff.

Is your writing process any different when writing a surreal piece than a non-surreal piece?

Fenika · Feb 25, 2009

Gah, I meant silly toned! Not silly topic!

No offense was meant

jvc said:
Yep, I agree with the stopping the derail part. But, come on, Baha, seriously, just because you may think the thread is not to your liking, or silly, it doesn't mean the OP didn't have a valid question. This is a new forum, give it a chance. Don't discourage; encourage instead. Much better that way.

Shweta · Feb 25, 2009

My guess would be that surrealism is its own genre, but belongs here anyway because a) it's falling into AW's interstices and b) it's sounds like the surrealism Polenth writes, and the use of surrealism sunandshadow wants to try, aren't genre-central anyway.

sunandshadow · Feb 25, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
Gah, I meant silly toned! Not silly topic!

No offense was meant

No worries, I guessed what you meant.

Sharon Mock · Feb 25, 2009

I'd say surrealism definitely fits. Slipstream--at least as I understand it--owes a lot to the Surrealists.

I have... not done that much with outright surrealism, actually. My story-with-gratuitous-squid comes closest, I guess. And I'm not sure the thought process was much more complicated than "Ooh, I could have... squid. Squee!"

I can't help but shake the notion that I'd be much better off if I let myself be a little more surreal and a little less tied to logic and rationality, however.

Polenth · Feb 26, 2009

sunandshadow said:
Is your writing process any different when writing a surreal piece than a non-surreal piece?

Not really. I sit down and write stuff and see what comes out. It follows a logical pattern, within the boundaries of the story world. For a surrealist story, the boundaries are simply much wider (or more unusual) than other sorts of story.

Surrealism

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