DISCUSSION THREAD -- December 2023 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge

[The Judge]

A Festive Month brings us a Festive Challenge, thanks to November's winner, Cat's Cradle! (Let's hope it brings in some cheerful stories for once!!)

Theme: HOLIDAY(S)​

​

Genre: MAGIC REALISM​

And the Challenge thread is here DECEMBER 2023 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge -- READ FIRST POST!!

Good luck, everyone!

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Thank you, TJ! Good luck all, CC

 

[Astro Pen]

Wow, that is a challenge for 75 words because one has to establish a normality before bringing in the magical.

 

[sule]

Wow, that is a challenge for 75 words because one has to establish a normality before bringing in the magical.

Not necessarily; magic realism is in a lot of ways about the co-existence of "normal" reality and the supernatural.

Magic realism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The section "Authorial Reticence" contains this phrase: "absence of explanation of fantastic events; the story proceeds with "logical precision" as if nothing extraordinary had taken place."

So bring in the magical!

 

[paranoid marvin]

My understanding of M.R. is that -paradoxically - it is less magical and more fantastical. So Harry Potter wouldn't be M.R. whereas Edward Scissorshands would.

It's a challenging genre, but will generate some interesting entries I think.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

...one has to establish a normality before bringing in the magical.

That's one way of doing it, yep. Also though, I think it can be that the magical is assumed to be part of normal life, so you can also just take it as a given. Or maybe neither is aware of the other. We can do this!

 

[paranoid marvin]

That's one way of doing it, yep. Also though, I think it can be that the magical is assumed to be part of normal life, so you can also just take it as a given. Or maybe neither is aware of the other. We can do this!

Yes, the fantastical becomes the mundane. Paddington Bear I think is a good example of the magic realism.

 

[Astro Pen]

I was thinking more of Tarkovsky's Stalker as a classic example of magical realism.
It's a normal world but in the protagonists minds it is mystical
( Though I am prepared to be wrong on that )

 

[Lacedaemonian]

Let's hope it brings in some cheerful stories for once!!

​

Ahhh too late ha ha ha

 

[Guttersnipe]

I was thinking more of Tarkovsky's Stalker as a classic example of magical realism.
It's a normal world but in the protagonists minds it is mystical
( Though I am prepared to be wrong on that )

Everywhere I read about it, it's classified as sci-fi. Which isn't to say there could be magical realism elements.

Films I'd recommend for magical realism would be Beasts of the Southern Wild, A Little Princess, Amélie, and Big Fish. For novels not adopted to screen, pretty much anything by Salman Rushdie. Also, Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel García Márquez.

 

[Astro Pen]

Everywhere I read about it, it's classified as sci-fi. Which isn't to say there could be magical realism elements.

Films I'd recommend for magical realism would be Beasts of the Southern Wild, A Little Princess, Amélie, and Big Fish. For novels not adopted to screen, pretty much anything by Salman Rushdie. Also, Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel García Márquez.

Thanks @Guttersnipe. I searched a bit and found this which concurs with my opinion.

Criterion Review: Stalker

★★★★★ Arguably Andrei Tarkovsky’s finest masterpiece, the Russian director’s 1979 film Stalker is the culmination of a career-long preoccupation with memory, trauma and the relationship between subjective perception and physical reality. Following a mysterious disaster that rendered a small town...

cine-vue.com

 

[THX1138]

@Astro Pen I found Stalker (1979) on YouTube and downloaded a copy. Very interesting.
So, is Stalker Magical Realism or more Psychological Realism? Just asking. They seem kind of close to each other in a way.

 

[mosaix]

Does Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' fit the bill?

 

[THX1138]

Does Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' fit the bill?

I would think so. Sci Fi in a world of the hidden, that is there despite.

 

[Provincial]

I have always viewed magical realism as normal ‘alternative reality’ fiction, fantasy rather than SF and not a true genre in itself. For the purposes of this challenge, I intend to assume that my reader will expect the story to be based on normal reality, with my 75 words (hopefully) providing the fairy dust.

 

[Provincial]

@Astro Pen I found Stalker (1979) on YouTube and downloaded a copy. Very interesting.
So, is Stalker Magical Realism or more Psychological Realism? Just asking. They seem kind of close to each other in a way.

I would say it is magical realism, because of its ending. But maybe I’m interpreting it too literally. I haven’t read the book yet, I think it might have been reissued recently.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

I hope it doesn't seem tacky to enter so quickly, when I set the prompts this month. I'd been planning to take a week away from the internet in early December, but I had my story idea yesterday, and it'd drive me crazy thinking about the thing and tinkering for the next week, which I'd do if I didn't post now.
I've enjoyed the stories so far. Happy writing to those yet to enter, and I hope everyone has a nice run-up to the Holidays, CC

 

[Ursa major]

the co-existence of "normal" reality and the supernatural

Or, as many may suspect about the PoV character, the co-existence of reality and the stupor-natural....

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I thought that the sub-genre of magical reality was perfect for this month's topic. Or at least my interpretation of what the genre is ha ha. I was far too ambitious with my idea but I honestly don't care. Really enjoyed writing it. That's the beauty of these challenges, they force you to contemplate genres and topics outside of your comfort zone. Seriously considering expanding my idea into a short story.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

That's the beauty of these challenges, they force you to contemplate genres and topics outside of your comfort zone.

Perfectly said!