How do I realistically write unrealistically?

[UltimaBahamut93]

Confused by the title? Let me explain, although I'm having a hard time putting it into words. So much of my ideas and style are influenced by anime and manga. Artists use what I would call embellished exaggerations, to enhance what is happening. A character might deflect an attack but the residual impact causes the ground to shatter, or an opponent might be able to perform impossible feats of acrobatics during a fight defying physics. Someone might get hit with a spell that shows the character flying dozens of feet backwards and crashing through a wall that would realistically kill someone, only to be able to get up and continue fighting, or maybe the main hero wields a weapon so comically large that it would break all realistic usability. I love these things. I love animated works because they can stretch and exaggerate reality in order to convey and enhance on a deeper level imo.

My hesitation is my inexperience as a writer. I am worried that if I try to write with these embellishments, it would come off as someone who is inexperienced and doesn't know how things work. I want it to be very clear to the reader that I am not striving for realism. But rather the unrealistic flavor that I add to the story would be there for not just aesthetic but also emphasis.

If anyone has played a Fromsoftware game, you've probably heard or thought that the art direction of these games is like stepping into a painting rather than trying to mimic realism. The world isn't trying to make logical sense, rather I think it is first and foremost trying to convey theme and emotion. I just recently replayed Bloodborne. The game revolves around lovecraftian gothic horror and the enviroment screams that. I want to write about worlds that cause the reader to have an emotional response by using exaggeration, but without completely having

I want to write my stories that invoke similar concepts and styles, but I don't want it to come across as someone who just doesn't understand reality. As someone who is poorly imagining things without thought as to logical function. I feel like I'm failing in trying to accurately describe this to you. These things are accepted in visual formats without much second thought, but how can I transfer these "particle effect" techniques into a written format, and have the reader understand that I am not striving for realism but rather embracing the freedom of creativity in fiction? How can I ask the reader to accept "unrealism" without asking them to abandon logic entirely?

 

[skip.knox]

>I am worried
This describes a more or less constant state of being a writer. We all experience it. So, worried? Don't worry about it!

As for the realism angle, you said you are familiar with manga. I'm not, but I do think there are some purely literary versions or adaptions; that is to say, not all manga is illustrated. Since that's what you mean to write, you should go read it. Stay away from movies, games, and graphical stories in all forms. I mean, enjoy them as entertainment, but don't look there for models because they all rely on visuals to supplement the words. You won't have that.

If you market your work as clearly in the spirit and tradition of manga (and its relatives), then your readers are going to come with certain expectations, the same way a fantasy or romance reader does. That will help. If you packaged your story as hard SF, then a hard SF reader will likely take you to task for your unrealistic realism. It's a matter of finding the appropriate audience.

Meanwhile, don't worry about it. First write something. Right now you are worrying about nothing, because you have created nothing. Get the words down. Then you can stare and glare. You'll have plenty to worry about. Right now, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[WTFisReality]

I think the biggest thing to keep in mind for you is to understand, that in the beginning of your stories and in the blurbs, even the book cover, and title, these are all opportunities for you to set expectations. You're problem isn't as big of a problem as I believe you think it is. As long as you can effectively set expectations.

What you wouldn't want to do is make everything as realistic as possible in the beginning of your story and then all of a sudden start exaggerated everything and going full unrealistic. That would confuse the reader and probably disrupt the story you're trying to tell.

So in conclusion, set expectations, and you'll be good to go. You can write however you want just let the reader know what they're in for so it doesn't throw them for a loop.

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

[WTFisReality]

>I am worried
This describes a more or less constant state of being a writer. We all experience it. So, worried? Don't worry about it!

As for the realism angle, you said you are familiar with manga. I'm not, but I do think there are some purely literary versions or adaptions; that is to say, not all manga is illustrated. Since that's what you mean to write, you should go read it. Stay away from movies, games, and graphical stories in all forms. I mean, enjoy them as entertainment, but don't look there for models because they all rely on visuals to supplement the words. You won't have that.

If you market your work as clearly in the spirit and tradition of manga (and its relatives), then your readers are going to come with certain expectations, the same way a fantasy or romance reader does. That will help. If you packaged your story as hard SF, then a hard SF reader will likely take you to task for your unrealistic realism. It's a matter of finding the appropriate audience.

Meanwhile, don't worry about it. First write something. Right now you are worrying about nothing, because you have created nothing. Get the words down. Then you can stare and glare. You'll have plenty to worry about. Right now, you have nothing to worry about.

Yeah exactly this, expectations are a big deal.

 

[Genly]

As a reader, I was just thinking about one of the reasons (among many) that I enjoyed reading LOTR. The interactions and reactions of the main characters were solidly grounded in mundane, realistic detail while all of this crazy stuff was happening around them. Maybe that is one way to get the reader to accept unreality.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

A common (but not super usable) hat trick in anime (and other media, but especially anime ESPECIALLY shonen) writing is the rule of cool.

If it Sounds Cool, and Also Makes Sense, then it doesn't really need to do much else. The make it make sense part is the trickiest part of the problem, but it can be done for even the most nonsensical things. Like eating some random fruit turning you into a rubber man or finding seven dragon balls to grant a wish.

Think of all the technobabble Mech anime/movies throw at us. We're not expected to ingrain the information into our brain 100%, only enough to understand what's going on. Do I need to know how a hydrothruster compondupiter 2000 works to understand what it does? No, just from the name alone I can grasp that it's water based thrust providing technology. As a viewer/reader I don't need to understand more than that, if I were a Pilot I'd have to know the piece of hardware in and out, thankfully I'm not.