Writing a surreal, dreamlike setting?

Question

I am working on a concept for an existential horror / comedy, similar to works like the DHMIS TV show and Little Runmo. I already have a collection of strange, dreamlike entities; like an organic vending machine, for example, or a sort of fruit that produces an infinite stream of water. I need some help on how to best create a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere, though. Thank you in advance for your help!

Answer 1

There isn't a best surreal environment, nor is there a best method to create a surreal and dreamlike environment. There are methods to help you rattle your imagination in the hopes that something you can use shakes free.

Its important for any creative exercise that you suppress the Inner-Critic, that voice in your head that says this doesn't make sense or this isn't good enough. It's very important that you learn to suspend judgement and let your creative juices stain the page. When you are done, then you examine the results and be all judgey. Chances are you won't like what you make, but you'll find little bits and pieces that surprise you and that you can use to construct better ideas.

1. Grab random writing prompts off the web and do them.

2. Make a list of 12-20 concrete objects -- bar of soap, hand sanitizer, pickle jar, and so on. Repeat #1, incorporating one of the objects from your list (selected at random). It seems strange, but this method of constraining ourselves creatively -- having to a use a bar of soap in a paragraph about the byzantine empire -- activates the same part of our brain we use to solve puzzles. It changes how we approach any problem. It tricks our brain in to being creative on demand.

3. Borrow from the Oulipo movement to constrain your normal thinking. Pick a single vowel, then write a sentence or two (or as many as your can) describing something or someone's motivation or a place or a time using only words that contain that one vowel. Again, the constraint frustrates one part of your brain while activating other parts of your brain. Again what you make might not be useful but it will likely contains elements you can build on.

4. This one needs more than one person -- hopefully you have friends. It's derived from a surrealist drawing exercise and for writing is known as the 'The Exquisite Corpse'. People write a sentence or half a sentence and pass it on to someone else to complete, who passes it on to the next person. Each contributor can only see what the previous person contributed. The paper is folded to hide other people's contributions. After enough writing, the page is unfolded and read. The results are often surprising and amusing. There are many variants of this method, as well as online versions.