About How Absurd

Post 1832:

I’d say that my favorite kinds of stories are absurd. Not completely ridiculous, but definitely full of quirks and characters that are a bit too strange.

A lot of writers want hardcore realism. It has its place. Usually in reality. These are stories, and if they’re not a little different than reality, what’s the frigging point?

I like a real town or a real city where things that could actually happen happen to people that could actually exist—with a twist. The plot needs to be just a little off center. The characters should be lifelike but not normal enough to be confused with anyone else.

This is my personal taste. And I think I like this kind of fiction because it is hard to get right. Quirky does not mean a character will do anything or the plot will go anywhere. That’s cheap and gross and for people that don’t want to work.

Nah. The absurdities have to be earned. If a character behaves ridiculously, we need reasons that make sense. Not sense in our world, but in the world of the story. This is hard to pull off. Sometimes absurdly so. That’s why so few try.

The funny thing is, writing anything is absurd. Might as well lean into it.

Cheers and see you after.