Yet even in tough plots with conflicted characters, maybe especially in tough plots, injecting humor can strengthen the narrative by relieving the narrative tension—and relieving the reader’s tension, too. It’s called comic relief for good reason.   

Everybody Loves Humor

So let’s imagine that you’re working on a book with an important theme and you’ve got to finish a pivotal scene. Where the heroine finally has the epiphany about her ability to choose; or the villain finally admits he’s an a-hole, or that couple quits denying that their marriage isn’t working. You feel bogged down like you’re trudging through mud. You wish you could be anywhere else. 

Except for the dentists. 

Then you remember the night before, how much fun it was being with friends again at your favorite bistro. Good food and a few glasses of wine. Ellen doubled over, laughing so hard she almost choked. 

Then Lynne said, “Wait, wait, I don’t get it.” Good old Lynne. 

You tried to explain to her why Lisa’s getting fired was so hilarious. Lynne looked at you blankly. The others burst into laughter again.     

What makes humor work, or not work? The answer is that nobody really knows. 

Try explaining why something is funny and you destroy the funniness of it. But everybody recognizes humor. (Okay, except maybe the Lynne’s of this world.) Everybody loves humor. Oppressed people, often the funniest, know better than anyone how it helps them keep going.

A Boon to Writers 

Humor is a boon to writers, especially in serious books. We like to play with tension, build it and build it. But too much sustained tension in a novel can be overwhelming to a reader, provoking a kind of fight or flight response. 

A sudden humorous passage acts as a safety valve, diffusing the heaviness of the drama. 

And it does other useful things as well. It helps readers connect with characters, sustains their attention. It makes space for the surprise of the unexpected, the absurd, the irreverent. 

After all, we are programmed for entertainment and diversion. For the moment, at least, things are not so bad. In fact, they’re hilarious.

Humor as a Condiment

Of course, not everybody finds the same things funny, but we all enjoy being amused. In An Upside-Down Sky, many of the characters’ points of view collide, resulting in banter, sarcasm, put-downs, self-aggrandizement, and even, I like to think, some subtler dry wit from time to time. 

No matter what types of humor a writer uses, I like to think of them as condiments, to be employed with a light touch. And with spicy characters, you need the human equivalent of some kind of bread as a foil—a character who is a contrast and not to be played with. Unfunny. 

In Sky, eighteen older, though not necessarily mature Americans, are taking a trip in an exotic, beautiful country. Thrown together in enforced intimacy for several weeks, with divergent (often clashing) lifestyles and opinions, they negotiate new friendships, but also new enmities and not least, the odd affair, all the while navigating strange customs, contradictions and strict taboos of a very ancient, very foreign culture. 

With all these plates flying in the air, the tour guide’s need to be a mother hen acts as the foil to her charges’ serio-comic adventures.      

How I Learned to Use Humor

Drama is a gold mine for humor, but it’s hard to access for most of us. And when I push too hard, it evaporates. I had very few writer’s tricks when I started out years ago. I was worshipful of “great literature,” so much so that writing often felt like breaking rocks and I certainly wasn’t going to stoop to “low” comic turns. 

What a snob. 

All great writers employ humor. I was late to the party, but many, many deletes later, I’ve come to understand that for me, it’s fatal to try to make my prose memorable. The more I try to lighten things up, the harder the words fall. Not funny.   

In An Upside-Down Sky, there’s a scene that evolved from minor to pivotal, and from serious to funny. As I wrote (and rewrote) it, a series of misunderstandings, sparked by perhaps innocent stargazing, ballooned into an Alice in Wonderland reality flip with messy—and funny—consequences that would have surprising consequences. 

To the protagonist, Lidia, sitting on a blanket, the Eastern Hemisphere constellations appear upside down. As does so much in the book, where sadness, loss, violence messily mix with acceptance, joy, and a whole lotta pratfalls. Peeking out from the shadows is a smiling Buddha.

Tell us in the comments: Have you experimented with injecting humor into serious writing?

Linda Dahl began her career as a travel journalist and college teacher before turning to writing full time. An award-winning author, she has written groundbreaking books about women in jazz and women’s needs in recovery from addiction, as well as five works of fiction. She is currently at work on a screenplay and a new novel. She has two children, a cat, and too many plants. She lives in Riverdale in New York City. You can find her on her website.

The post Lighten Up: Injecting Humor to Relieve Narrative Tension appeared first on DIY MFA.

The last two years have been hard. Not to understate it, there just aren’t proper words to cover the scope of the confusion, stress, and heartaches we all faced. And there isn’t much that’s funny about that.

Which is why I believe many shied away from humor writing and comedy for a spell. 

Some shifted to other mediums to deal with angst and grief. 

While others, those highly skilled in dark humor or well-versed in the ability to still be light-hearted and silly during dark times, kept at it. Making comedy specials. Doing stand-up. Writing comic novels. 

The wheel kept turning. And as a result, so did we.

Now we have this new comedic beast. And it’s an exciting time. Humor is no longer about women who shop and men who spend too much time in the garage and don’t ask for directions.

It’s also no longer humor about nothing. It is very much something. It addresses the pain and anguish we all felt. It addresses the changes to society that confuse us. It addresses the human psyche in a way we might never have been brave enough to do before. 

And it was a pleasure to teach you to do these things with your writing. 

What I Hope You’ve Learned 

I insisted that you still write humor, even if you think you aren’t funny because you are probably wrong. You didn’t even have to take my word for it. Like Levar Burton, I let the famous humor writers who doubt their own talents, speak for themselves. 

Why did I do that? Because humor writers and humor writing have been a thing since the dawn of civilization. And not to beat you over the head with that, but why take yourself out of the humor lexicon? Why insist you’re not funny enough to write humor? You’ll quickly find that writing humor isn’t like eating spinach, and you’ll kick yourself for not trying it out sooner. 

I also told you that introverts aren’t shy and are, in fact, some of the funniest writers and comedians that exist. Not only did I debunk many harmful myths about introversion, but I played with the notion that comedy, humor, and psychology are all tied together. Why did I do that? Because the myth of personality also stops people from trying or even allowing themselves to see what they are capable of.

And this is just step 1: allowing yourself to sit down and write humor.

For those itching and ready, step 2 is the how-tos:

I told you that you can use stand-up as a way to outline your humor writing and to get you thinking about the kind of humor writing people expect to read. I didn’t tell you that, even when you are stuck, improv is a great way to get started. Check out this blog post I wrote after sitting in a session with Chip Brewer where he taught improv for writing. And check out this sister podcast episode all about Improv for Writers.

Remember that writing and performing standup is interchangeable. Comedians need outlines for their sets, just as humor writers need outlines to write their essays. They both need feedback and critique. They both edit and improve their skills. They both need to be fearless and face down potential naysayers.

With this information, you are armed with the ability to think on your feet, to continue making humorous observations, and even get a sense of your own special brand of humor. You can hit the ground running. 

What I Hope You Continue to Learn

The next step is to get started. Here are some tips for goal-setting and looking ahead:

• Set a goal to write a true story from your life every Monday.
• Every Wednesday, go through that story and find the humor in it.
• Every Friday, do whatever you can to highlight and exaggerate the funny.
• Keep doing this until you’ve written five stories.
• Reread them, see what they have in common. Make connections.
• Read them outloud and nail the timing. Bonus if done in front of a small audience.

Humor writing isn’t all that different from other writing. If you’re here, it’s because you love writing. You know your niche, and on some level, you must know what you are doing. I’m not going to talk down to you and act like this is too hard. 

Humor writing requires the same discipline as writing in other genres. The same colorful, empty notebooks, the same timed writing sprints. Maybe the mindset is a bit different, but you are still writing with purpose. Continue to learn how your unique brand of writing is necessary and has its own flavor. Develop it and don’t shy away.

What I Learned

I didn’t try to go into this experience blind. I looked to others more skilled than I and read what they had to say. I took classes and watched people in action. I took their advice and tried it out myself before imparting that knowledge to you. 

The column’s original title was “What’s So Funny?” the idea being that I would write about what was funny during such unfunny times. Or even helping you develop the skill of finding the funny in maybe your own “unfunny” life. End of the day we could work together to develop the dying skills of irony and nuance.

Want to read about a funny experience? I lost my job and found out I was pregnant all in the same week. It feels vulnerable and honest to say that, and guess what, that’s where the humor is. That gut-punch of reality and actively staring it down until you can’t help but laugh. That’s what I ultimately learned from all the experts I watched, read, and spoke to.

The Truth about Humor Writing

The truth about humor writing is that it is truth. 

The thing about fiction is that people can’t debate whether or not it’s fiction. The author says it is, so that’s that. But, like humor writing, it can also come from a true place. Sure you made up the place and time and the character names, but there is a kernel of truth in what you are writing, or there isn’t any point to writing it. 

The same is true of humor writing. Don’t just try to get laughs, teach people something true. What is the purpose of your humor? Why should people laugh? Point to things they might be overlooking or missing. Think about what makes you laugh and then don’t let yourself off the hook. Figure out why. 

Once you start thinking more critically about humor, you give it life again, in a time where I feel humor is dying off. 

Share your voice, and bring it back.

Amy Ayres has four novels in progress and is querying two. When she is not in her office writing about comedy, terraformed planets, multiple personalities, stolen pinwheels, and Irish folklore, she is hanging with her awesome tech-savvy hubby, stepson, baby bump, and RubyCat. Visit amymarieayres.com. You can sign up for her Newsletter where she sends out motivational tips for new writers and her special brand of humor.

The post The Ultimate Takeaway: Humor Writing is for Everyone appeared first on DIY MFA.

For those still curious how to write humor and why others write it, read on and I will take you through its history. I will also cover the three essential elements of humor writing and discuss the performative aspect of humor writing today, where the veil between the comedian and the humor writer has become very thin.

Ancient Humor

There is a record of the world’s oldest joke traced back to 1900 B.C. Sumeria. It is considered by today’s standards to be “toilet humor.” Historically, from the Sumerians to the Egyptians until the Ancient Greeks, humor has existed but was not necessarily recorded. 

Much credit is given to the Ancient Greeks for taking a more learned approach to writing humor (komédia) simply by recording it, considering it an artform, and giving it a platform for performance. But in societies both ancient and modern, the idea of humor always existed and was considered essential to both the society’s and the individual’s well-being. 

Historically, humor crosses over class. The wealthy hire humor writers (comedians) to entertain them, the less-than-wealthy typically write the jokes, share stories, and weave humor deep into the bones of their prospective culture then shared in public spaces, behind closed doors, etc. 

But this way of being that went beyond telling jokes was not necessarily recorded or commodified. I mention this as something to consider when we question the validity of our own humor and whether or not we are funny. 

Humor is so deeply ingrained in our heritage as humans, regardless of where we are on the planet. As I said, it was considered a necessity and a form of medicine across many cultures.

Pre-20th Century Humor

Humoral medicine got its start in ancient times, but carried over the idea into the modern era that humor is part of our psychology and personality. Once the “four humors” were established, it was determined that those in the best health (both physically or psychologically) were “friendly, they joke and laugh around.” 

As a result, the definition of the word humor evolved, giving a personality and identity to “those in good spirits” and establishing them as desirable company. A “humorous” individual was no longer just healthy but now a likable and entertaining person with a talent for humor.

Essentially, the idea that having a good sense of humor makes an individual pleasant and “sanguine” in times of turmoil or tumult. It can also include those able to see humor within various situations or even channel their righteous anger into humor. 

So it would be no surprise that comedy and satire were born out of times of political turmoil, and often had the power to change the course of history as much as other genres of writing. The Middle Ages brought us Geoffrey Chaucer, a writer who used sexual and “scatalogical” humor to unapologetically skewer political and religious corruption of the day. 

This kind of humorous take on corruption and political strife created a societal “Awakening” that would carry over centuries to the Revolutionary War era. Benjamin Franklin, while known far and wide as a founding father and a diplomat, might be lesser known for his humorous approach to both art and life. His writing is considered “a uniquely American form of humor filled with clever wit, folksy wisdom, and a generous portion of irreverence.” His most famous publication, Poor Richard’s Almanack, gave him the distinction of America’s first humorist. The Almanack itself gained such popularity that many of the phrases transcended humor and became cultural idioms still used to this day.

Both men were no doubt in a position of privilege and power. But they were channeling both the sensibility and unrest of the masses, expressing the humor widely spread from village to village, town to town. Once again, this was still the humor of the commoner that came out of public spaces and was whispered behind closed doors. This is the universal humor that all of us, despite class and cultural differences, share and is not just reserved for the learned and elite.

20th Century Humor

This foundation is where contemporary humor is built and, like many other schools of philosophy and thought, able to branch out in various different directions. A study of humor reveals three distinct characteristics:

• It has universal appeal
• It embodies the distinct personality of the writer
• The ultimate objective isn’t always just to be funny

When writing your own humor, keep these essential elements in mind.

It is important to ensure we do not bury underserved voices who wrote with humor who shared unique experiences. One such humorist is Langston Hughes. Though Hughes was better known as a poet, those well-versed in comedy writing would consider him an early influence on Richard Pryor. Hughes published The Ways of White Folks in 1934. A series of vignettes revealing the “humorous and tragic interactions between whites and blacks,” it portrayed the lives of the working-class blacks embodying their struggle, joy, laughter, and music. “My seeking has been to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America and obliquely that of all human kind,” Hughes said. Again, another humorist taking to task the unrest of the masses through his own humorous lens. 

Dorothy Parker published a volume of poems called Enough Rope in 1926. This collection sold 47,000 copies and garnered impressive reviews. The Nation described her writing as “caked with a salty humor, rough with splinters of disillusion, and tarred with a bright black authenticity.” One New York Times reviewer dismissed her work as “flapper verse,” but this debut writing solidified Parker’s reputation for “sparkling wit.”

Like Hughes, Parker had the capacity for wit, but was drawing from her unique experiences as a woman of her time. She used the darker side of humor and her critiques of poor practices often pushed buttons of powerful people in the industry. Again humor was being used to expose society’s ills rather than just make others laugh. 

Other humorists of the 19th and 20th centuries worth noting for their unique takes on the artform include Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Oscar Wile, George S. Kaufman, P.G. Wodehouse, Jean Sheppard, Erma Brombeck, Fran Leibowitz, and Sholom Aleicem.

It’s clear that humor writing is not always one size fits all. Depending on your particular voice, cultural background, and medium of choice, you can develop your own unique approach. Nevertheless, you can look further into the lives and works of these great writers and see which ones might influence you. Learning more about the historical evolution of comedy can also be valuable when looking for influences for your humor writing.

Humor Writing Today

Many comedians who got their start in stand-up go on to become humor writers. To name a few: Will Rogers, Cal Stewart, Garry Moore, Victor Borge, Peter Ustinov, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Hugh Laurie, and Brett Paesel. 

Today, the line between comedian and humor writer is very thin. Humor writing has opened itself up to a sort of meta tradition of writing humor for performance or performing humor and then writing it down for publication. Depending on the style of the humorist, it can go either way, making it fluid and sometimes interchangeable with improv and stand-up. 

This might be where things get muddied for many humor writers. Writing other genres is often a reclusive act, but in writing humor it can be tough to know an audience’s reaction to determine if you’re doing it right, or if it’s funny “enough.” Thus, many humor writers find their writing most successful when performed in front of an audience.

But today there are also more genres to play with beyond the humor essay, which is often the humor writer’s go-to. Many have moved towards the comic novel which has always been around but has gained recent popularity. 

There are also many new ways to fuse humor with other genres, such as science fiction and call it comic fantasy. This genre was popularized by Terry Pratchett best known for his satirical Discworld universe. He is said to have been strongly influenced by Wodehouse and Twain.

Essentially your takeaway should be that if you want to write humor, you should write it. You have a voice in which to channel your experience. Comedy is in your bones, blood, and culture, no matter who you are.

Amy Ayres has three novels in progress and is querying two. When she is not in her office writing about terraformed planets, multiple personalities, and Irish folklore, she is hanging with her awesome tech-savvy hubby, stepson, and RubyCat. Visit amymarieayres.com. You can sign up for her Newsletter where she sends out motivational tips for new writers and her special brand of humor. 

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The last few months have been exciting! I have been able to see some big names but also some local comedians at an outdoor venue near where I live. In the same way a writer reads to gain inspiration and to learn technique, aspiring comedians and humor writers can watch other comedians perform and learn how to perfect their craft, not just be entertained. Speaking with these comedians and unpacking how they craft their comedy, I learned a new way of “reading like a writer.” I also learned how easily the structure of stand-up comedy translates to the page.

In reality, most stand-up sets start on the page. The comedian takes shorthand notes, or even writes their jokes in longform and memorizes them. Depending on their personal style, the comedian “writes” their jokes but then continues to fine-tune and craft them in such a way that when spoken their words have the greatest impact. It is crafted the same way as spoken word poetry, creating line breaks and pauses so the words hit harder and making space for reactions. I illustrate this to further point out that comparing humor writing to stand-up isn’t that much of a stretch.

Recently, I crossed something off my bucket list: becoming a Second City player. I took their Standup I course this past spring and it was an amazing insight into several things humor related. But with this experience I went beyond spectating or reading comedy and I tried my own hand at it.

In a group of five diverse individuals, I bounced ideas, brainstormed, and workshopped jokes. We didn’t pull any punches. We told each other what worked and what didn’t. We gave each other ideas on how to reword, speed up, slow down, or expand a joke. We perfected timing. We learned a lot about knowing our audience. We learned who we were as individuals and how that influenced our humor.

Most importantly, we learned three important aspects of stand-up that most, if not all, comedians incorporate into their sets. With these bullet points, and some practice, we were able to cultivate our own set we then later performed.

Here are the three simple ways to create a stand-up set that you can also incorporate into your humor writing.

1. Storytelling

The name itself screams humor writing. Our course instructor used John Mulaney as an example of a comedian who often uses storytelling, rather than standard joke-telling, to get laughs. The best way to start humor storytelling is to think about something embarrassing that happened to you or someone else. It helps if it’s a story you’ve told before. “Remember that time…” Draft the story. Then pick out the details that give the story color and expand them, even exaggerate them for humor’s sake. Read it aloud a few times until you have it almost memorized, that makes it more conversational and less wordy. Share it with someone else and get their reactions to it. Practice this a few times and you might find you’ve put together a collection of humor essays.

2. One-liners

This can be tough if you have little experience with them. My advice is to search for comedians who use them often in their sets and watch how they are performed. This way you can get a knack not just for how they are written but how they are supposed to land. Someone created a list of the best 110 one-liners. One-liners can be a great asset to humor writing. You can throw them in and catch the reader by surprise. Or they can make for great openers and closers of humor essays. Our instructor advised using them as openers and closers of our stand-up sets. 

The structure of a one-liner is essentially the casual set-up, then the play-on-words followup that turns the whole thing on its head. The key is to make the followup rewarding so it isn’t just groan-worthy. My advice is to set a timer and write as many as you can in ten minutes. Then do it again until you have at least fifteen one-liners. Share them with someone else and let them tell you which ones are funniest. If anything, this is a great way to sharpen your writing skills even if you never use any of them.

3. Character work

This can be so much fun to perform, but still easily incorporated into writing. The best character work goes beyond impersonations of famous people, but rather paints a clear picture of someone we all seem to know and love (to hate). With performance we can use makeup and costume to further our embodiment of the character, but the best comedians use their voice and facial expressions. Maria Bamford is an excellent example of someone who does this well. 

But how do we “perform” people within our writing? First, think of common phrases, or “isms” this person often uses. Next, think about scenarios in which their unique personality can cause conflict or tension with other characters. Finally, do your best to perfect their mannerisms and voice in your descriptions. Again, this is a great exercise at perfecting description and using trial and error to see what works.

With stand-up, you have the added bonus of immediate feedback from an audience to show you what works and what doesn’t. Often in writing, we can only get that kind of feedback if we speak directly to our readers or wait for their eventual review. Because of this distinction, it might be tempting to separate stand-up and humor writing which have more similarities than differences. The only thing we learned that would not work with humor writing is “crowd work” in which the comedian breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience, usually in the form of asking a question. Still, I think it would be funny to see a humorist try their hand at one-sided crowd work.

Amy Ayres has three novels in progress and is querying two. When she is not in her office writing about terraformed planets, multiple personalities, and Irish folklore, she is hanging with her awesome tech-savvy hubby, stepson, and RubyCat. Visit amymarieayres.com. You can sign up for her Newsletter where she sends out motivational tips for new writers and her special brand of humor. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Using Stand-up to Start Writing Humor appeared first on DIY MFA.

Even if we fail miserably, I suppose we can’t help but try to define introversion, since quiet nuts are hard to crack. But in doing so, others misunderstand us further and miss the point. 

So, what is the point? 

The point is, introverts are merely more thoughtful and their thoughts are loud even if they appear quiet. In the time they are not speaking, they are listening and observing, taking notes of the subtleties and nuances in human relationships and life’s oddities. 

Even if not the first to speak up, they are potentially sitting on a powderkeg full of funny ideas that would make a great collection, once polished and put on display. And that’s just step one in our quiet quest for world domination. We might even be capable of more, given the chance to prove it.

Is a tongue-tied, self-conscious artist still capable of making art? Undoubtedly. And further still, is a “quiet” person capable of writing humor? Absolutely!

Read on, fellow introverts and curious extroverts, about how writing humor is something introverts do best:

On being “quiet” vs “loud”

Studies now show that this “quiet type” is only one of the four types of introverts. Being introverted doesn’t necessarily mean shying away from the spotlight. Any thoughtful introvert will tell you that this initial definition does not, in fact, define who they are in the slightest. 

Susan Cain, for example, has been vocal about the fact that introverts are not shy. Others have also said if they are reticent, it’s for a good reason. And finally, I know the author of Don’t Underestimate the Quiet Ones (They’re the Ones Who Actually Think) would be insulted by the insinuation they are only selfishly “concerned with their own thoughts and feelings and not external things.” Many introverted people even admit they are more extroverted than people realize.

If you are an introvert who might still have misgivings about humor writing or whether you are capable of it, you would do well to learn how being “quiet” can benefit you. In my previous article, Writing Humor When You Don’t Think You’re Funny, I dispelled the myth that humor comes naturally to funny people and they never have to work hard or try. 

Famous humor writers collectively admit to being anxious and questioning when trying to write humor and assert that it requires a lot of introspection and time spent. Thinking and listening are two key traits necessary for writing humor. Without them, you essentially lose the ability to express yourself honestly, and without introspection you can’t provide the comedic element of self-deprecation. 

And if you are often the one speaking, it’s more than likely you are not listening. Humor writers, such as David Sedaris, make their living listening, overhearing, and people-watching.

They call it “observational” humor for a reason.

Examples of funny introverts

When people often think of humor and comedy, they think of stand-up comedians. They think of being on a television show or in a funny movie. They burn these iconoclastic images of what is funny into their brain and assume every single one of those people is an extrovert in real life. To be funny is to be a clown, willing to embarrass yourself to get a laugh. To be loud and audacious is to be funny, right?

According to Scott Dikkers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “How To Write Funny” and the founding editor of The Onion, “Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Conan O’Brien, Ellen DeGeneres, Mitch Hedberg, Steven Wright and Richard Pryor are just a few famous comedians who are or were introverts. The list of behind-the-scenes writers and other comedy professionals who are introverts is probably even longer. It might be easier to make a list of the comedy professionals who aren’t introverts.” How is this possible? Many of the people on that list have been considered loud and outgoing by many of their peers, some even unbearably so. Dikkers also wrote about succeeding in comedy as an introvert  if you would rather take his word for it.

How being an introvert feeds into comedy and fosters it

Now that you may have dispelled your own misgivings about whether you can be both introverted and funny, it’s time to “get out there” and further dispel the myth that introversion = laziness.

The most obvious way a budding humor writer can work on their craft is by writing humor, which in itself is a reclusive act. But they can also benefit by interacting with other humor writers. They can observe Youtube videos, Twitter, and other social media interactions, and other ways they “perform” and create without having all eyes on them at all times.

Improv can also help an introvert be better able to think on their feet. Comedian Steve Hofstetter wrote an amazing book about how his introverted nature changed forever when he started taking improv classes. This book points clearly to how improv is a great medium for introverted people and reshapes their thinking about how to be funny.

Improv can get the funny ideas and thoughts out more quickly for a more reticent introvert. But one of the greatest benefits is learning how to collaborate in a creative process and how it fosters communication. It is a tenant of improv that there isn’t just one funny person in the group stealing the show, but everyone actively works together to be funny as a whole. This can be a beneficial practice in helping extroverted and introverted people coexist within the same funny sphere. 

But fellow introverts, I implore you to not attempt to shove yourself into a box where you are uncomfortable and don’t fit. Rather, find the thing that works for you.

Catharsis for introverts

Introverts consider themselves…introverted, for lack of a better word. For example, a person might prefer to maintain a level of personal comfort to chaotic performance schedules but still enjoy performing. They might initially recoil at the thought of public speaking but then actually be good at it.

So, what do you call a person who does not actively seek out and feed off attention much the way extroverts tend to? Or someone who can burn out from extended periods around other people? A drag? Can a person like that have a sense of humor or even be funny? Of course!

On the surface, introversion seems counterintuitive to humor. But contending with all of this new information, is it?  Could it be that humor is a tool introverts use to cope with how their introversion is interpreted or how they interact with “external things”?

In order to accept that we can be both introverted and funny, we have to dispel some myths about what is “funny.” In the next installment, I hope to share three simple ways for all writers (even introverts) to start writing humor. After that, I hope to define humor as a genre and the evolution of it historically. Stay tuned!

Amy Ayres has three novels in progress and is querying two. When she is not in her office writing about terraformed planets, multiple personalities, and Irish folklore, she is hanging with her awesome tech-savvy hubby, stepson, and RubyCat. Visit amymarieayres.com. You can sign up for her Newsletter where she sends out motivational tips for new writers and her special brand of humor. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

The post On Writing Humor as a Funny Introvert appeared first on DIY MFA.

About Kellye Garrett

Kellye Garrett’s Hollywood Homicide, about a semi-famous, mega-broke black actress, won the Anthony, Agatha, Lefty, and IPPY for best first novel. It’s also one of BookBub’s 

“Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.” The second, Hollywood Ending, was featured on the TODAY show’s Best Summer Reads of 2019 and was nominated for both Anthony and Lefty awards. She serves on Sisters in Crime’s national board and is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color. Her next project is an #ownvoices domestic suspense novel about a woman looking into the overdose death of a one-time reality star found within blocks of her house—her own estranged younger sister. Learn more at KellyeGarrett.com.

The Interview

Sara Farmer: I was very excited to see that you wrote for Cold Case, one of my favorite crime shows. Were any of the characters or events in the “Detective by Day” books inspired by your time as a TV writer?

Kellye Garrett: The characters and events were more inspired by my time working in Hollywood in general more than working as a TV writer. On the flipside, I definitely transferred skills I learned both getting my MFA in screenwriting from the University of Southern California’s film school and working in TV to my books, though. 

One example I learned in film school is that your second act needs to answer a question, so I tweaked that for the three-act structure in my books where each act has a question that’s answered by the end of the act, but leads to a new question in the next act.

Another is that television has what’s called an Act Out, where the last scene before a commercial break (remember those?) is a climax to ensure you sit through the commercials and keep watching. I try to end each chapter on a climactic moment, so hopefully the reader is like, “Let me just read one more chapter.”

Sara: The humor in the books is impressive and a huge part of what makes them so fun to read. Writing humor is tough. Dayna has big, goofy, I Love Lucy-type moments, but there is also a steady hum of humor through most of the scenes and dialogue. How do you come up with the recurring jokes and humorous themes for your characters (like Sienna’s shopping and Emme’s devotion to tech) and the big slapstick scenes? (I like how Dayna says “Blurg” when she’s frustrated. I do that, too.)

Kellye: That’s probably because of my screenwriting background as well. I did a lot of character work before I started writing the series and it was important for it to serve the story as well. In a lot of TV procedurals, each character has a specialty, like the person good at tech. So, I thought about how could I make my tech person unique and fit the lighter tone of the book. I came up with a character who “lives online,” because every time she leaves the house she gets mistaken for her super-famous sister. 

Plus, Dayna isn’t Tom Cruise. This isn’t Mission Impossible. She’s not going to be an amazing investigator out the gate. So, I wanted to lean into that idea of having fun with her rookie mistakes. 

Even the “blurg” was from the character and tone. Lighter-weight mysteries don’t have a lot of on-page violence, sex, or cursing. So, I leaned into that as well where Dayna specifically doesn’t curse. I got the phrase “Blurg” from 30 Rock!)

Sara: Dayna’s relationship with her investigating partner Aubrey S. Adams-Parker is a delight. I love the way they bond and begin to help each other. He exhibits what I consider to be hallmarks of Asperger’s syndrome: very literal, trouble with social norms (like not barging into cars uninvited), and the consistent formality of his speech. Does he have Aspergers? (My son and I have it, so I’m pretty alert to any signs of it in a character.)

Kellye: You’re not the first person to ask me this question. I wish I could say that yes, I set out to create a character with Aspergers, but I didn’t. That’s not to say he doesn’t have Aspergers, just that my intent wasn’t to write a character who has it. He organically grew from needing a “cop” like character in the story, but not wanting to go the traditional tough guy route. It started because Dayna uses humor as a crutch, so I wanted to create a foil for that. So that was the base, then I added layers until we had Aubrey S. Adams-Parker. (The S is only there, because each main character’s full name is an acronym. He’s ASAP.) 

Sara:  You, Gigi Pandian, and Walter Mosley founded the group Crime Writers of Color. Could you tell us a little bit about the group and the work it does? How did you three end up creating this group together?

Kellye: I got my agent through an online mentoring program called Pitch Wars, where more established authors and publishing pros help an unagented writer revise their manuscript. And one of my fellow mentees formed a Mentee group on Facebook. Around that time, I also joined the Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime, which Sisters in Crime started for unpublished members. Both those groups helped me understand the importance of community. I was really surprised that there wasn’t already a group like Crime Writers of Color. 

Gigi was one of the first published authors to reach out when I got my initial book deal. She answered questions and offered to blurb my book. We discussed possibly starting a group for marginalized crime writers and started informally discussing it with other crime writers of color.

Then Naomi Hirahara very randomly told me that Walter Mosley also wanted to start a group. I remember thinking, “Great, but in what world would I ever cross paths with Walter Mosley?” But the universe was on my side because a couple weeks later, I got invited to do a panel with him. I remember thinking, “If I get to talk to him, I’m going to tell him I want to start a group.” To his credit, he asked for my contact info and reached out. He’s actually the one who came up with the name.

Once we started the group, all three of us reached out to other crime writers of color we knew, so we had about 30 people in the group from the beginning and it grew from there. Today we have over 200-plus members in all stages of their careers.

Sara: How long did it take you to write your first novel? Do you have drawer novels?

Kellye: I wanted to write a book since I was five, so thirty years? Lol. If you want to get literal, I had the idea around 2010-11 and started actually writing in 2011 NaNoWriMo. (I got about 30,000 words.) I finished a draft in 2012, but kept revising. I got into Pitch Wars in 2014. We didn’t sell the book until early 2016 and it came out in 2017. So obviously I was an overnight success. :-p 

The only drawer novel I have is the third book of the series, because I was about 75% finished when I abruptly found out my publisher was closing their mystery imprint.

Sara Farmer lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, three kids, and two cats. When she’s not chasing kids and cats, she reads and writes mysteries. You can find her at www.kittymomma.com and on Twitter @avonlea79.

The post Interview with Kellye Garrett appeared first on DIY MFA.

Some people are intimidated by writing humor. They think they just aren’t funny enough. And while it isn’t necessarily easy and some think it can’t be taught, I think it’s a good exercise to at least try. It’s one of those things that gets better with practice. 

Writing humor is an exercise in creativity above all else. It’s an exercise in authenticity and it can ultimately be therapeutic. Even the funniest people in the world admit that they aren’t funny all the time. Or when they are being funny, it’s from a dark place. Or when they sit down to try to be funny they just…can’t.

Speaking of funny people, I compiled a short list of some who are known not only for writing humor, but also are considered giants in that area. I refer to their insights on creativity, writing from a personal place, what they think makes writing funny, and the ways they have struggled to just be funny. All that with some self-deprecation thrown in for good measure. You know, to make them seem more relatable.

David Sedaris

I’ve been taking Sedaris’ MasterClass, which is a good place to start when you want to learn how to “write funny.” Sedaris admits that he doesn’t try writing humor, he just journals and notes observations. Then later he relays a story he believes is funny and lets the story do all of the work. He loathes setups and punchlines and believes the humor lies in the bizarre.

He suggests that writing the story isn’t the hardest part. The difficulty is putting himself in “strange” situations where he knows funny things will happen and then letting them play out without intervening.

Sedaris admits to people-watching and eavesdropping to get most of his story ideas, once overhearing a couple speaking French accusing him of being a pickpocket. Famously, Sedaris did not intervene or explain that he was in fact Davis Sedaris and not a pickpocket because he “wanted to see what would happen next.”

David says he uses three main tools when trying to make an audience or reader laugh: quoting funny people, exaggeration, and self-deprecation.  

1. In reference to quoting funny people: “When the people around you are funny, you can bring them into your work.” 
2. When he exaggerates he practices “stretching a scenario into the most ridiculous version you can imagine.”
3. And when you lovingly put yourself down: “Be harder on yourself than you are on anyone else in a story.”

Sedaris also highly recommends not just writing for yourself, but for an audience, and always trying to do something new. He says, “I never wanted to be the kind of writer who reads one thing that works and then drags it around.”

John Cleese (and Conan O’Brien)

If you are unfamiliar with John Cleese, he is best known as one of the founding members of Monty Python. According to Wikipedia: “The Pythons’ influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ influence on music.” There are two ways to look at this kind of humor: it might be out-dated for some, timeless for others. Like all humor, it is a matter of taste.

Either way, Cleese has been writing comedy and about the act of writing comedy for almost five decades, so I thought it only fair to give him some airtime. 

He has very recently published a book about creativity called Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide. He was also interviewed by another comedy great, Conan O’Brien on his podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. In the interview, O’Brien and Cleese go back and forth on what they think makes for funny writing. 

O’Brien believes a lot of his funny writing comes from the unconscious. “I will hit my head against a wall for hours at a time with a legal pad in front of me…I don’t think I’m getting anywhere. Then I go to sleep and when I wake up I see things more clearly, and I have ideas that didn’t exist before.” He says that is essentially what Cleese’s book is about. 

Cleese says it’s “embarrassing that we are of the same mind.” But that ”when you put pressure on yourself to write something funny, you always go for what’s derivative.” 

O’Brien continues to say that “so much of writing is agonizing, wandering around, and procrastinating…making an excuse to buy a new desk… then suddenly the ideas come to you.” He also admits that much of his early writing was an imitation of Monty Python’s style, and that he thinks any good writer of comedy started out by copying someone else.

Both Cleese and O’Brien cite their odd and difficult upbringings for the reason they are so good at comedy.

Ultimately, they both agree that they too have a penchant for the bizarre, and when they let themselves improvise and play, the funny stuff comes out.

Samantha Irby

Author of many hilarious collections of essays: We Are Never Meeting in Real Life; Meaty; New Year, Same Trash, including her most recent (and my favorite) Wow, No Thank You. I can’t say enough good things about that book. It takes all of this writing advice and lights it on fire—not to burn it up, but to shoot it into orbit.

Irby knows that writing from personal wounds, including her struggles with childhood demons, body image, Crohn’s disease, degenerative arthritis, and depression, only gives her more material to work with.

In a recent interview with the Rumpus, called Laughing Through Life, she was asked about her journey from aspiring to sought-after humor writer. She also talks a bit about what inspires her humor and prompts her to write:

Rumpus: Humor can heal a lot. When did you first realize that humor could be a way to get through things that felt inexplicable in life?

Irby: I honestly don’t know. I had a terrible childhood and early adulthood but didn’t have money for therapy so I tried to laugh about things rather than crying over them. I’m sure there’s a therapist out there who’d probably say that my making jokes as a coping mechanism rather than unpacking my myriad issues with a licensed and trained professional is a terrible approach to life and is probably part of the reason I remain deeply depressed. But I’ve been good at it so far and now I’m afraid to stop! Don’t follow this tragic example!

You should follow her example. If you’ve been paying attention, this is what humor writers do: turn their pain, confusion, and anguish into humor writing.

Allie Brosh

Author of Hyperbole and a Half, Brosh is quite possibly known more for her comic illustrations of herself than her writing. But the combination of her depiction of the bizarre inner workings of life and her unique self-deprecating humor as a way to deal with her depression is nothing short of astounding.

In an interview with with Terry Gross on NPR, Brosh says this about her writing style:

ALLIE BROSH: I would describe it as stand-up comedy in book form. I feel like my writing style is sort of the result of me subconsciously trying to replicate the feel of stand-up comedy. I was very frustrated when I first started writing that there wasn’t that physicality to it. There was – it was more one-dimensional than stand-up comedy, which you can rely on tone and facial expressions, body posture, and I wanted to find some way to commit that to the page. And drawing fixed all those problems.

TERRY GROSS: Another solution would have been to do stand-up comedy.

BROSH: Yes. Unfortunately, stand-up comedy is live, and my thoughts tend to come out rapidly and partially deformed. So I don’t know if I lend myself very well to stand-up comedy. I’ve always wanted to try it, though.

GROSS: Would you describe for our listeners who haven’t yet seen your blog or your book how you draw yourself and why you draw yourself that way?

BROSH: All right. So I draw myself with very crude illustrations in a program called Paintbrush. It’s sort of the Macintosh analogue of MSPaint. And I look very funny. I’ve got these buggy eyes, and I have sort of like a tube body and a little, like, triangle ponytail thing on the top of my head, and it’s a strange sort of animal-like creature.

And the reason I draw myself this way is I feel like this absurd, squiggly thing is actually a much more accurate representation of myself than I am. It’s a better tool for communicating my sense of humor and actually getting across what I’m trying to say than, say, you know, being there in the flesh. I feel like it’s – that’s actually one of the reasons why I don’t do stand-up and why I do this instead, because I can use this character to communicate and make it much more accurate and true to what I’m trying to say and true to my tone.

Assignment:
If you struggle to with writing humor, I challenge you to write a bizarre scenario. One that comes from a deep personal place, is self-deprecating, yet feels therapeutic. Even if you only attempt it, you are doing what other humor writers do everyday. Or at least, on the days they feel like writing…

Amy Ayres is the Web Editor & Tech Fairy at DIY MFA. She has five novels in progress and is querying one. When she is not in her office writing about terraformed planets, multiple personalities, and Irish folklore, she is hanging with her awesome tech-savvy hubby, stepson, and RubyCat. Visit amymarieayres.com. You can sign up for her Newsletter where she sends out motivational tips for new writers and her special brand of humor. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Writing Humor When You Don’t Think You’re Funny appeared first on DIY MFA.

Why?

I love dialogue. When I’m reading a book and I spot dialogue up ahead, I think: Sweet—we’re getting to the good stuff soon. And when I’m writing a book and I get to a part requiring dialogue, I think: Sweet—time to have some real fun.

Here’s the reason the simple act of watching one human talk to another can cause our brains to spark: because of the spike in electrical neural activity.

Let’s feel that sparkiness ourselves, right here, right now! I’ll scribble up some examples.

Example Dialogue: Where’s My Phone? (1st draft)

“Have you seen my phone?” barked Person A.

“No, I haven’t,” replied Person B. “Have you checked the kitchen?”

Person A sighed with frustration. “I checked there! I checked everywhere!”

“How about I try calling it?” offered Person B sheepishly.

“I mean that’s a good idea,” said Person A impatiently, “but what would really help me is if you could get up and help me find it!”

Person B looked perturbed. “I’m busy! Why can’t you do it yourself?”

This dialogue fulfills some basic guidelines for writing that you’re probably already aware of. Person A wants something and is driving toward getting it, and there’s also some clear tension between them and Person B, who wants to be left alone. Desire, intention, conflict—it’s all there.

So why isn’t your brain sparking? I know mine wasn’t.

To find out, let’s draft up a second version of the Where’s My Phone example.

Example Dialogue: Where’s My Phone? (2nd draft)

“Have you seen my phone?” said Person A.

“Hey Siri, call Person A,” said Person B.

“You could get up for once and help me,” said Person A with a sneer.

Person B gestured helplessly at their desk. “Can’t you see I’m busy dealing with my own bullshit right now?”

“I’ve been noticing your bullshit for years,” said Person A, unmoved.

“I want a divorce,” said Person B.

Do a brain check: you should see sparks flying. This exchange has all the basics, just like the first version. But it has a few key features that are my favorites when it comes to really fun dialogue.

The characters talk in parallel. 

In the first draft, both Person A and B answer each other’s questions fairly neatly. People in the real world don’t talk like this—they talk at cross-purposes, they interrupt, they don’t listen very well. Now, if you wrote a transcript of an actual real-life conversation, you’d probably wind up with unintelligible gibberish. The challenge as a writer is to strike a balance between the delightful chaos of real-world-speak and the modicum of logic required to propel a story forward in a way that makes sense.

In the second draft, the conflict and drive are still there—but now we see that each character isn’t really that considerate of what the other wants, and that little bit of psychological noise adds a fun layer of complexity to the scene.

The dialogue shows, not tells. 

Yes, it’s the oldest rule in the writing handbook, but that’s because it’s forever true: show, don’t tell. In the first draft, we relied quite a bit on active verbs (barked, replied, offered) and adverbs (sheepishly, impatiently) to shore up what were essentially neutral (and therefore boring) lines of dialogue.

By contrast, the second draft had dialogue dripping with emotion, attitude, and motivation, so much so that all they needed for attribution was a basic said Person A, supported by the occasional concrete physical gesture. The attributions, in fact, become trivial at this point—all of the artistic focus is on the actual dialogue itself. In fact, you could theoretically remove everything in the second draft except the dialogue and still be left with a funny, unexpected, sparky scene. Not so with the first draft, which relies too heavily on telling by verb and adverb.

The great writer Elmore Leonard once advised against ever using adverbs, and even went so far as to ban exclamation points. He was a little extreme, but only due to his devotion to always showing, showing, showing with his craft.

The characters are not talking about what they are talking about. 

For me, the best dialogue isn’t about the subject at hand—it’s about the subtext underlying the situation. In our first draft, Persons A and B are going through mild conflict (A needs help, but B is busy), but the story remains firmly centered around the quest to find a lost phone. That is not an interesting story. I would even go so far as to say that even if we replaced that lost phone with something bigger, like a Lost Ark of the Covenant, it would still remain a boring scene. That’s because great storytelling isn’t so much about the what, but the how.

The second draft is all about the how. The what of the lost phone is almost immediately discarded to allow the characters to unwittingly reveal a much bigger problem: their crumbling marriage. The fact that the exchange ends with B asking for a divorce shows just how tense things had gotten over the years. Isn’t that so much more interesting? In my mind, the best and most memorable stories are always about people—challenge your dialogue to stay centered rock-solid on your characters, even during seemingly trivial moments like a search for a lost phone.

Great dialogue, in other words, provides compelling keyframes with nice gaps in between, leaving it up to the reader to fill in those gaps with mental leaps. Instead of spelling emotional conflict with exposition, it’s much more interesting—and interactive—to let the reader piece together that, say, Person A and Person B have been on a disaster course for a long time and are right at the brink of marital collapse. Our brains fire up, piecing together bits of evidence found on the page. And that’s when the sparks start flying.

David Yoon is the author of the New York Times bestseller Frankly In Love, a William C. Morris Award finalist and Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature Honor book, as well as the upcoming YA novel Super Fake Love Song and adult thriller Version Zero. He also drew the illustrations for his wife Nicola Yoon’s #1 New York Times bestseller Everything, Everything. David grew up in Orange County, California, and now lives in Los Angeles with Nicola and their daughter. You can follow David on Instagram.

The post How to Write Sparky Dialogue appeared first on DIY MFA.

Chris Westbury, a psychologist at the University of Alberta, analyzed a whopping 45,000 words to determine the funniest words in the English language. Hang on to your bloomers a sec, I have to share this. According to Westbury, the four funniest all-time words are: “giggle,” “wriggly,” “squiffy,” and “boobs.” He must have interviewed 5^th grade boys to determine that “boobs” belonged on the list. (And what is “squiffy?” Am I the only one who doesn’t know?)

Anyway…let’s talk about the more nitty-gritty categories and rules of writing a romantic comedy.

Five Humor Inducing Categories:

1. Sex.

When romantic comedy lead characters talk about sex, many readers get an anticipatory giggle, which makes the scene funnier. This is true even when the humor is mild.

2. Insults.

Goofy insults like “Arrogant Badonk-a Nugget” give a for-sure giggle or three. Way too corny not to bring at least a smile.

3. Swear Words.

Nothing harsh if you write sweet romantic comedy, but jackass might get a tee-hee from even the sternest of the stern. Swear words in an inspirational romantic comedy? Not if you want your book published.

4. Party Words.

A word like “shindig” causes us to think of music, dancing, and perhaps a swig (or six) of cinnamon-apple moonshine.

5. Animals.

How about a Great Dane named Tiny, a fish called Sushi, or a cat who answers to Yeti?

Four Rules of Writing Romantic Comedy:

1. The “K” Rule

Words with a hard “K” sound draw a reader’s attention and make them take notice. Like a billboard, they shout, “Look at me. I’m FUNNY!” Examples include: Buccaneer, Canoodle, Cantankerous, Caterwaul, Cattywampus, Doohickey, Gunky, Kahuna, Kerplunk, Lackadaisical, Persnickety, Scuttlebutt, Snarky, Sprocket, Squeegee, Wonky, etc.

2. The Rule of Three, AKA The Triple.

The rule of three is HUGE in the writing world. The number three is the smallest number to create a pattern, it is pleasing to our minds, and it adds emphasis. This rule works wonders when creating a romantic comedy or any romantic sub-genre. How about the following for romantic suspense?

“I can’t think of anything worse after a night of drinking than waking up next to someone and not being able to remember their name, or how you met, or why they’re dead.” ~Laura Kitelinger.

Or a Romantic Comedy (Rom-Com):

He: Honey, I never would have missed our date if I hadn’t been drinking. My three stages of drunk are: I’m happy, I’m buzzed, and I’m sitting in a shrub eating a ham.

Her: How often do you get to stage three?

He: Let me put it this way. Before I leave the house, I pocket a slice of Swiss.

3.  The Comparison Line (or Joke) for Romantic Comedy.

We can think of a comparison as a metaphor. A figure of speech comparing one thing to another can add rib-tickling humor. Example: “Bigamy is having one husband too many, monogamy is the same.”

4. The Cliché Twist.

Start with a cliché (a known catchphrase, title, lyric, piece of literature) and change the ending, or change the entire familiar phrase to one with a new ending for a funny twist.

Example: “Honey, our taxi arrives in 20 minutes, you better get your ducks in a row or we’ll miss the flight.”

Change it up: “Honey, our taxi arrives in 20 minutes, you better get your bunnies in a basket or we’ll miss the flight.” (How much more romantic/cute/sweet is that?)

Don’t Stifle Creativity, but Don’t Overdo:

1. Be Strategic About Humor Placement.

Use sparingly and selectively. Make sure the humor fits its placement and scatter the funnys so they do not seem forced. No willy-dilly joke placed every “X” sentence. Create a joke and tuck it into your work in progress (WIP) only because it has true meaning in that space. If it doesn’t meet this stipulation, wad it into a ball and take a free-throw at the waste can.

2. Give Your Reader a Heads-Up.

Let your reader know you are in on the joke, especially if it deals with your own illness or situation, and you want them to laugh along with you. Give them permission through your words. It is okay to go for broke and split a gut.

3. Shut-off Sarcasm.

Tone of voice is hard to get across in print. Sarcasm is best left on the cutting room floor as it can come off hurtful, judgmental, and bullish.

One last note on writing a romantic comedy novel. There is an old saying: “If you can get them to open their mouths to laugh, you can get them to open their hearts to learn.”

[BTW, squiffy means slightly drunk. (Betcha the guy with the swiss cheese in his pocket knew what it meant.)]

Tammy Lough is an award-winning author who loves writing romance and creating unique characters who burst with personality and frequent sprinklings of humor, She writes a monthly column, On the Back Page with Tammy, for Saturday Writers, a Chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild. She is an active member of the Missouri Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and the Missouri Writers Guild. You can connect with Tammy on her website at www.tammylough.com

The post How to Write a Romantic Comedy Novel, Part 2 appeared first on DIY MFA.

Ready? Get set… GO!!!

Prepare Your Work Materials:

1. Binder
2. Chubby eraser
3. Electronic device of choice
4. Notebooks galore
5. Pen and paper
6. Reference material
7. Sharpened pencils

 Prepare Your Creature Comforts:

1. Cold beverage
2. Hot beverage
3. Creativity-inducing music
4. Salty snack
5. Sweet snack
6. Swirling ceiling fan

You have wanted to write a romantic comedy for weeks, months, perhaps years. Taking a deep breath, you position trembling fingers upon the keyboard, imagining the humorous prose will flow like liquid magic as you weave your super-slick, five-star-review-worthy rom-com novel.

You are ready to type the first word and… it feels like you’re going to throw-up on your shoes. This, fellow rom-com writer, is the cold, dead reality of “Funny-Block.” You ask yourself, what sentence should begin this humorous tale? It was a dark and stormy… no, Bulwer-Lytton penned that classic first line. Once Upon a Time? Can you spell unoriginal? Hmm, you wonder how to find the perfect words to convey the rib-tickling story playing in your mind.

I am writing this article to reveal the ugly truth behind the writing of a romantic comedy novel. And, hopefully, I will shed some light on the goings-on behind the scenes. Just as a magician swears to keep the secrets of the craft, I probably shouldn’t be doing this. But I am going out on a revealing limb because this is must-know information. Deep breath and let’s begin:

Stand. Up, up, up and out of your chair. Walk to your medicine cabinet. (Yes, I am nodding my head. The medicine cabinet.) If you do not find a styptic pencil amidst the bottles of expired pills, liquids, and loose bandages, slide into your over-sized bunny slippers and drive to the local drugstore to buy it. Why in tarnation do you need this?

Because writing a bestselling romantic comedy requires bodily sacrifice.That’s right—you will bleed, drip-by-drip onto the page in the hopes someone besides you will find it funny. This is how a publish-worthy romantic comedy is created. Period. 

Do you think it is easy to write scenes that cause a stranger to peel off a genuine belly laugh? To write shenanigans that make sense and do not feel forced? To craft scenes that move the story forward and entice your reader to turn the pages in stark anticipation of funny-bone-tickling giggles and slap-your-pappy prose?

Come to think of it, you may need to purchase a six-pack or family-size container of styptic powder. That way, you can sprinkle the white talc generously over your keyboard to catch the last trickling drops of liquid magic and hope there is a hidden giggle tucked into the last dribble. 

Abracadabra! See how simple writing the next great romantic comedy will be for you? Hurry now, the drug store closes in fifteen minutes. 

Writing Romantic Comedy: Part II delves into the nitty-gritty of writing a successful romantic comedy and will follow in about six weeks-ish. I know what I’ll be doing in the meantime. Can you guess?

Tammy Lough is an award-winning author who loves writing romance and creating unique characters who burst with personality and frequent sprinklings of humor, She writes a monthly column, On the Back Page with Tammy, for Saturday Writers, a Chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild. She is an active member of the Missouri Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and the Missouri Writers Guild. You can connect with Tammy on her website at www.tammylough.com

The post How to Write a Romantic Comedy Novel, Pt. 1 appeared first on DIY MFA.