Sara’s 2024 Workshop – Add a Little Magic!

Magic realism or magical realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.

It features magical or supernatural features against a real world or otherwise mundane setting.

Despite including certain magic elements, it is generally considered to be a different genre from fantasy because magical realism uses a substantial amount of realistic detail and employs magical elements to make a point about reality, while fantasy stories are often separated from reality.

British novelist and critic David Lodge defines magic realism: “when marvellous and impossible events occur in what otherwise purports to be a realistic narrative.”

Magical realism portrays fantastical events in an otherwise realistic tone. It brings fables, folk tales, and myths into contemporary social relevance. Fantasy traits given to characters, such as levitation, telepathy, and telekinesis, help to encompass modern political realities that can be phantasmagorical.

Possible settings Factory,  Farmyard,  Post Office,   Supermarket,  Terraced house, A major A road, School, Office, Playing field, Public house, Bedroom, Bathroom, River, Rowing boat, Park, Cruise ship, Hotel, Grocery, Fish and chip shop,	Possible characters An adolescent/geriatric questioning their soul/gender/sexualityA jaded worker, fed up with life who gets a revelation one dayCarpet salesmanDriver
Special powers Becoming other, invisibility, power of flying, can see inside people’s hearts/minds, telepathy, telekinesis, Seeing the future at a particular time,	Possible plots Wake up one day and everything is changedA strange discovery in one of the settingsA trauma releases a new power

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The Workshop

Read the openings of Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie – which do you prefer? Why?

Find at least one example of how one of the writers makes their description so vivid.

Pick a setting and a power and go for it with your own ideas.

If you’re still a bit stuck,

• apply either one of the characters to it
• use one of the plots
• Kick start some dialogue using one of the 20 openers

Dialogue Starters

1. Your voice. It’s different. You’re different.
2. I said it first. It’s mine.
3. Is this your first time here?
4. What are you reading?
5. We need to come up with a new strategy.
6. You should have come to the funeral. Mother was expecting you. She was very disappointed.
7. You always say that you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but can you handle the truth?
8. Is that all?
9. Things haven’t been right between us ever since that night in
10. I wasn’t sure you remembered me.
11. Please, I can explain!
12. This is a very big favour you’re asking.
13. Were you careful? Did anyone follow you? A lot is at stake here!
14. There is something in her eyes… I’m telling you – she has superpowers!
15. Your wife has been in an accident.
16. You pay more attention to the Persian rugs than you do to me. They are just things!
17. I was looking forward to our romantic evening.
18. Doctor Jones, please come at once. I have never seen anything like this.
19. Despite the rumours, I am sure that there aren’t any ghosts in this large Victorian house.
20. I didn’t mean to kill him! I only wanted to scare him!

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Sara Burgess – April 2024

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“Magic” by Bohman is licensed under CC BY 2.0.