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DiscussionSurrealism in writing
Maybe surrealism is the wrong word. But I'm wondering how people balance keeping things not quite literal, for a weird or alien or spooky or uneasy effect, with keeping them interesting.
I'm thinking about how, despite the rich potential for symbolism, I generally hate dream-sequences, visions, and so on, in fiction. They make me switch off. So I wonder about how to write one that wouldn't make me switch off, and could actually capture something of the feeling of a dream.
So, over to you! Have you ever tried to tackle this? What did you do?
Thanks! It's useful to have a quick reference list. Yeah, I was thinking odd word choices and juxtaposition could be good if I can get them to look like a slight failure of execution at first (if I can keep it slight!). Word choices are harder to keep subtle, I think, but hopefully there are some that can work and juxtaposition may be a bit sneakier. I was thinking I'd like a moment where the reader goes "hm, did this character really 'weird verb'?" and it has a double meaning so asking that question works as a lightbulb moment. I'm also playing with the idea of having a landscape where the intensity of "off" varies depending on how near a character is to a certain landmark... Or maybe using a few words that rhyme with another that goes unspoken to prime a reader to think of it, or a cluster of words with similar shapes on the page? Weird experiments! :D
I like it!