 Comedy: March 04, 2015 Issue [#6861] |
  Comedy
This week: The Effort in Being Funny Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf (written) Comedy Newsletter
How much effort does one put into being funny? Question of off the cuff humor compared to planning and precision in order to achieve the general requirements of the genre. |
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I will admit, I'm still not quite sure how to write funny on purpose. I also don't like puns. But if I'm going to watch a movie, my favorite genre is comedy. However, I don't write humor because in part I struggle with this concept of being funny on purpose. So, let's talk about that. I am curious how much effort it takes in order to be funny.
The basic overview is probably going to be like many different aspects of writing. How much effort does it take to be funny? It depends. Different writers will have to put in different levels of effort in order to write something that qualifies as humor. Some can do it practically in their sleep and others need to have the right light, pen and take 3 years of rewrites in order to accomplish the same goal of a funny story. And it can even be different level of efforts for the same writer, as not all stories will take the same level of effort. Here are a couple of the possible effort levels that might exist for this genre of writing.
Off the Cuff
This is the "pantsing" style, where plotting, outlining, knowing the setup and punch line aren't necessary before writing. Some people can pull this off. They can be funny at random and the effort in the end is quite minimal. And some can do it on occasion, be funny in the right moment without taking much time or preparation, though in other instances they won't be as successful. It's a nice feeling too. It's in the moment, as the words drop on the page, humor creation. You are in the moment, get the words down, then either glance over what is already written or later go back and read it. It makes you chuckle and it's all good.
The plus side of this method is the effort wise, if pretending to measure such in any way, is less. Hence calling it off the cuff because it just rolls right onto the page without struggle or worry if it's funny. That worry happens later, during edits and rewrites, sometimes, but in creations, it's a nice and easy way. Downside, what is funny right in the moment may have a different result later, when the glow of the first draft frenzy wears off. And it's hard to gauge because writing in the moment means less planning. Hard to predict when it will happen so not as beneficial at times if really needing/wanting to write funny on purpose.
Thought Out
In this method, there is more preparation and outlining involved, like the "plotters" who prepare well before even attempting chapter 1. There are lists, plans and timelines along with attention to details of character lined up that state what is going to be funny in the story and why. Okay, maybe not always an outline but that's the basic idea, lots of effort in order to get the words right on the page. This can be at any stage of writing whether it's draft 1 or edit/revision 10. It can be research in finding the best punchline, or making all the effort necessary in order to get the setup in order to use the perfect joke/punchline that you want. It all will vary.
Plus side is that effort can pay off. Getting the story just the write way in order to set up the humor when it all goes write has a good chance of success. Time was taken, which means that more often was the funny part put into question, which may help the humor last longer since there isn't the rush in the creation. However, humor is not guaranteed. And this can take a lot of effort, planning things out so much. Plus, if you're prone to perfectionism it can be challenging to know when to let go and consider the writing done.
Those are just a couple effort levels in writing this genre. And there is whole lot of middle ground, mixed methods and other options to consider. Sometimes one can be funny at random and other times, it might take a lot of effort. Now go forth, write and maybe try to be funny.
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This is my first comedy newsletter, so no feedback at this time and probably won't write another one for a while but I'll leave you all with a question anyways.
How much effort do you put into writing something funny?
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