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| Have you noticed that many of our most revered comedians are also writers? Did they start out writing then move into stand up or improvisation or did they always perform and discover that they also had the ability to write? This does not hold for all so as to be a litmus test for ones ability to perform or write comedy. There is one other possibility: they write because they are already a known entity and publishing is half talent and half marketability of that talent. |
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One need not be a television sit-com screen writer or humorist to utilize comedic tools. Humor in your writing can breathe open space into your plot lines and protagonists interactions with your minor characters. Just as in any gathering of friends one finds laughter and a jokester or storyteller so too our novels or short stories should not overlook this aspect of human interaction. Your humor does not have to be gut busting or situations that cause the reader to titter from page to page. It does not have to be Mark Twain or Dave Berry social commentary with dry wit. Draw from your own sense of humor to lithely sprinkle comedic foils into your protagonists or antagonists circle of relationships. Just as we have ever widening concentric circles or webs of relationships so too our characters. In story telling one does not want too many characters so as to make plots and situations long and over drawn on the canvass; but consider the opposite. Does every single character need to fulfill a plot purpose in your story? Do you only have the smart mouthed tough just so you can draw out some aspect of your protagonist’s character flaws? Or, as in our web of relationships is that person just there to provide a spot of levity now and again in your two dimensional scenery?
Do you have more than one foil? Do you have someone who tries but just cannot measure up to standard for every one of your main characters? Just like with screen writing or other live acting timing and surprise or the anticipation of a tag line thrown out by a known character are important like Squiggy’s “Hello” as he and Lenny would unceremoniously burst in through the apartment door unannounced or invited from Laverne and Shirley fame.
Humor does not have to be relegated to just essay or comedic writing. Drama, mystery, thriller, etc. can use moments of levity to make a connection with the reader. For comedy is connecting. A stand up act based upon American or uniquely western culture will have few connection points with an Asian audience. When we find humor in something it is because we relate to it because we have experienced it ourselves or have seen it happen to someone else. These little interludes can sharpen your prose and story telling by allowing your reader to connect with either the foil or the pro/antagonist.
Obviously, your humor should be tempered for your audience and your subject; too much for a drama draws attention away from the deeper aspects of your story but none or too little can become an endless stream of “gloom, despair, agony on me; if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all …”
I just capped off a month and a half of work and rehearsing for a benefit show for a local charity. I had to provide four to five SNL (Saturday Night Live) style sketches of a humorous nature and have a cast ensemble perform them throughout the evening. Since this was a visual medium I had the option of writing both verbal jokes and situational jokes. Your humor does not have to be someone spouting a stream of jokes to evoke humor. A buffoon character can lend his/her humor just through the situations they have to deal with. A humorous twist that builds suspense or a sudden reversal of fortune or of storyline whereas the reader is taken aback at the change can achieve for you a nice distraction in story. Humor is found in an exchange with unlikely characters who say or do things that are the opposite of what the reader might expect; a turning upon the literary ear of the stereotype. We ran the gambit that night in slapstick, situational, and stringing both visual and audible jokes into the story lines. Each one appeals to different audiences or different people as does the humor we can find in our own lives.
In my own writing I tend to use foils to bring moments of levity. As these tend to leave characters superficial you will want to watch how much you allow your main characters to become foils for others or just issue streams of jokes. Your main characters are the deepest personalities you have and lest they come off as shallow simpletons you will want to tailor their own use of humor to their personalities. They might be superficial in one scene when dealing with something easily covered up and deep in the next. The humor should be natural and not forced or copied wholesale from other sources. Make the humor the characters own so that it does not appear to be foreign to them.
How do you use humor in your writing?
Are main characters humorous or do you use foils?
phil1861
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A few humor items I’ve found on site
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Questions from my last News Letter,
If you are still plugging away at NaNo, what have you discovered so far?
If you were unable to participate or have had to quit, what did you discover in the process that you would change next time?
Strange Wulf 
Submitted Comment:
I've never really done NaNoWriMo. Never tried it. Heck, the first time I leared what it was about, I mentally recoiled from shock.
"They expect you to write an entire book in one month?" I thought to myself. "They have to be crazy!"
And yet, turns out there are crazy people willing to do it and have even succeeded! How wild is that?
As for me... NaNoWriMo would either be a catalyst or a breaking point for me. Lord knows I don't write very often now. You expect me to write daily? With my job? And everything I want to do online? (check favorite webcomics, favorite blogs, favorite art sites, etc.) Don't have the time! And yet, I probably do.
*sigh* Oh well. I figure I'll get it done one of these days. Hopefully tomorrow.
It isn’t as hard as it looks or seems. It just takes some focus.
Raine
Submitted Comment:
Halfway through and hanging on by my nails. One day I can't write anything and the next it just flows out of my fingers. I've never done NaNoWriMo before but I have to admit, it's been an adventure so far. Here's hoping to see you all at the finish line!
I hope you were able to finish!
{suser:tavner1
Submitted Comment:
Still plugging away at my Nano story. I have felt I have been close to calling it quits, my word count isn't what it should be and I'm still not 100% sure what direction I want the story to be in, and countless other things. I don't think I will have the word count by the end of the month, but instead of giving up I picture myself pounding the perfectionist with a hammer until she disappears into the ground. I will have a story by the end of the month, which is something, even if it is not complete..
Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way describes a scene from Raging Bull where Jake Lamotta’s trainer tells him he should drop a few pounds and take on a different class of fighter. He ends by saying that if he wins the fight, he wins. If he loses the fight, he still wins because he took the risk. She describes it further by saying running a marathon can prepare you to write a novel or writing a novel can give you a leg up on a marathon.
{suser:voxxylady}
Submitted Comment:
This is my second year of Nano and I'm having such a wonderful time! Last year was a constant struggle. I spent more time in a doubt zone than in a creative zone and made it just over half-way. This year, I didn't leave time for doubt. I just sit down and write, even if I don't know where it's going when I sit down. I'm ahead of the count and excited about seeing where the creativity leads. Wonderful newsletter Pookie!
"Art is not about glory but about telling the truth..." I loved this line.
That is the attitude to have about all of our writing.
Holly Jahangiri
Submitted Comment:
I haven't quit...yet. It's only my stubbornness and the fact that I hung myself out to dry in public that keeps me going; it's probably those same things driving me to want to give it up.
I hope you didn’t give up.
schipperke
Submitted Comment:
If I didn't have to do it perfectly I would try to sing and not just in the shower!
Starting out small and comfortable is always the way to do it, no matter what it is.
Submitted Comment:
Greets! In spite of juggling work and school (both in major crunch times due to the upcoming holidays), I've managed to keep up with NaNo (even though it's downright exhausting at times). I went into it with a story idea and several things I wanted to happened. I'd written a short story to flesh out my heroine, but otherwise I made no plans because I knew an outline would bog me down and force me to abandon ship. This strategy...has helped me keep going. I see typos and more dialogue than I can shake a stick at (no pun intended). Had I had a less hectic schedule, I'd be really blazing through this, as I'm getting to the good part.
I hope ultimately it worked out for you this time.
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For Authors: December 14, 2005 Issue [#770]
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