Surrealism in art, poetry, and literature uses numerous techniques and games to provide inspiration. Many of these are said to free imagination by producing a creative process free of conscious control. The importance of the unconscious as a source of inspiration is central to the nature of surrealism.

The Surrealist movement has been a fractious one since its inception. The value and role of the various techniques has been one of many subjects of disagreement. Some Surrealists consider automatism and games to be sources of inspiration only, while others consider them starting points for finished works. Others consider the items created through automatism to be finished works themselves, needing no further refinement.

Aerography

thumb|Aerography was innovative media used by [[Man Ray in a series of paintings over the period from 1917 to 1919. "Seguidilla" (1919) is one of these pictures.]]

Aerography is a technique in which a 3-dimensional object is used as a stencil with spraypainting. Both conceptually and technically the airbrush painting method presented a new point of departure from a traditional way of painting. Man Ray recalled, "(…) It was thrilling to paint a picture, hardly touching the surface - a purely cerebral act, as it were." have proven the manuscripts showed many variants and corrections throughout the poems.

The Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal used the method of automatic text in his famous book I Served the King of England. One chapter in the book is written as a single sentence, and at the end of the book Hrabal endorses the use of automatic writing.

Bulletism

Bulletism is shooting ink at a blank piece of paper. The artist can then develop images based on what is seen.

Calligram

thumb|upright|Calligramme "La cravate et la montre" (1914), by [[Guillaume Apollinaire, is an example of typographical poetry with the visual depiction of a tie and a watch. The pictorial effect of writing is an invitation to simultaneously process both the visual and verbal aspects of the poem.

Entopic graphomania

Entopic graphomania

  • "0000000 (outgraph)" by applenoire on Flickr
  • Experimental Gameplay Website has several rather surreal games, such as "On a rainy day."
  • Shadoikus Surrealist haikus.
  • Language Is A Virus Surrealist games: exquisite corpse, cut-up machines, word games and creative inspirations.
  • Examples of the Time Travellers' Potlatch