DISCUSSION -- February 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Jo Zebedee]

I adore The House of The Spirits. I also have loved Marina by Zafon recently, or the Shadowof the Wind series.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Great choices, Springs! I'm going to enjoy clowning about with this one

pH

 

[Luiglin]

Magical realism eh? Mardi gras hmmmm? Now that is a challenge for the Dark Lord and his lowly Minion lol.

 

[Michael Colton]

The Wikipedia article is not very helpful with the genre. It continually contradicts itself, has nonsensical sentences, and periodically makes statements essentially saying that magical realism is not so much a genre but a theme. I really have no idea what it is about and I don't own any Rushdie. It vaguely sounds like some of King's "Weird" rather than "Horror" books. Is that remotely close to the mark?

 

[Mr Orange]

michael, have a read of teresa's post on the previous page. i think she explains it very well. or at least i hope she does, as thats what i based my story on!

 

[Abernovo]

@Michael Colton I'd agree Teresa explains it reasonably well, although it's difficult to define.

Magical Realism is one of my favourite genres/styles. My go to author is Angela Carter (not just because she wrote MR), but Isabel Allende, Laura Esquivel (go @jastius for mentioning her work) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez epitomise the Latin American side, for me. Joanne Harris, Louis de Bernières and Iain Banks have also written MR to varying degrees.

Perhaps looking up authors and their works (in precis form - you only have three weeks! ) would be more effective than trying to find a definition a genre that likes to play with definitions of what is real and what is not. A bit like trying to explain why you got a hunch, without saying your inner voice spoke up, cos that just sounds slightly nuts, even if it isn't.

 

[Dan Jones]

Love the choice of theme and genre!

A splash of carnival colour is just what we need in these cold, wintery months

As for Magical realism, some really great stuff is out there, but I'm a real big fan of the genre, some of my favourites books might be considered MR. John Fowles's The Magus is just fab, Salman Rushdie has already been mentioned and, one of my all time favourite authors, Umberto Eco, likes to dip his toes into MR every now and then.

Right, I'm off to curry some goat!

 

[Luiglin]

Mine is in. Hopefully it won't be disqualified as I've taken magical realism in a slightly different way.

OK I've reworked it to get the Dark Lord in but I think it works.

 

[Dan Jones]

@Luiglin I like it! I'm pleased ol' Darkie is getting some action at last.

I can see some really strong stories coming this month. Such a good category.

 

[Luiglin]

Cheers DG

 

[Anne Martin]

I think I spoke too soon about my story. My absolute bare minimum version came in at 225 words. I've cut it virtually to death, and it almost loses its MR-ness. Being a "literary" form, MR depends on character development and atmosphere as much as it does a plot. I'll have another bash at it tonight and then decide whether it is worth posting.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Luiglin, loved your story. Laughed out loud at the image.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Glad the theme's going down well. Now, if only I had any sodding idea whatsoever. Or time to write the non-idea for that matter.

 

[Luiglin]

Cheers Kerry.

Springs ... I've got no sympathy whatsoever

 

[Juliana]

Nice first entries! No idea what to write yet, but it's snowing outside, the roads are all closed, so I might just look for inspiration in the snowflakes.

EDIT: So, I just knew those snowflakes would be inspirational. I'm in. A little darker than I'd originally planned, but hey!

 

[Azzagorn]

So my understanding of Magical Realism is Constantine or The Dresden Files ( Correct me if I am wrong). Should a good one.

 

[HareBrain]

So my understanding of Magical Realism is Constantine or The Dresden Files ( Correct me if I am wrong).

In Constantine or Dresden Files, the magic is understood to be magic, supernatural. In MR, it's part of the everyday. To the people who experience it, it is not separate from the mundane; it is part of the mundane.

This description is pretty good, I think.

 

[willwallace]

In Constantine or Dresden Files, the magic is understood to be magic, supernatural. In MR, it's part of the everyday. To the people who experience it, it is not separate from the mundane; it is part of the mundane.

This description is pretty good, I think.

That article explains MR pretty well, I think, but I'm still feeling unsure on how to convey an idea in 75 words.

 

[ratsy]

Spring! What have you done!!!!

I have an idea, but not sure how to pull it off. Will take some work

 

[Michael Colton]

In Constantine or Dresden Files, the magic is understood to be magic, supernatural. In MR, it's part of the everyday. To the people who experience it, it is not separate from the mundane; it is part of the mundane.

This description is pretty good, I think.

That link combined with what Teresa said has answered my question as well. Much appreciated.