oldtimer

Writing Humour is a Serious Business



Posted: Wednesday, August 06, 2008

by
Fortress Publishing

If you're the kind of writer that can tickle a readers funny bone, then you are one of a rare breed. Writers of comedy sit-coms are some of the most highly paid scriptwriters in the business. But whatever you write, stories, articles, scripts, put this talent to good use.

For the writer who feels he or she can contribute to the sum of human happiness, here are a few pointers on how to make a success of it.

1. The first thing to remember is that humour is subjective. What is funny to one person may easily leave another cold. This depends on both style and subject matter. There are two approaches you can take here. (A) Write in your own style in the way that pleases you, because if it makes you laugh then there will be a whole audience out there with the same sense of humour as you who will plug right in to what you're offering. Alternately (B) write humour that will appeal to a wide range of readers by choosing subjects that have universal appeal. For instance think of the trials of life: growing up; the childhood and teenage years with their growing pains and foolishness; married life; growing old. All have a wide appeal.

2. Humour is grounded, believe it or not, in the serious things of life and in those universal truths of life. Take, for instance, sit-coms like 'My Family', 'The Royale Family', 'Frasier'. They all deal with real, if exaggerated, life experiences. Bill Bryson has made a name for himself by writing humourously about his travels in both the US and England. He has taken his real life experiences and brought out the funny side.

3. When writing humour into stories remember that your reader should not be laughing AT your characters but with them. Taking your characters though embarrassing, unfortunate, even dangerous episodes requires that the reader feels sympathetic towards the character whilst at the same time laughing at the situation they are in.

4. When writing a story make sure you vary the plot by bringing in scenes of tenderness, pathos and seriousness every now and then. This will add a dynamism which takes the reader from the heights of hilarity (we hope) to the more down-to-earth and thoughtful scenes. This way the pathos will emphasise the humour and vice versa. A story that goes from gag to gag from start to finish will lack the highs and lows that any story needs.

5. What makes people laugh the most? Someone slipping on a banana skin is practically top of the list. Or someone sitting on a deck chair which collapses. In such cases the observer, or reader, should be laughing at the comic element of the situation rather than the unfortunate person. Your humour needs to hit that spot in the heart and mind of the reader that say 'That could have been me'. As well as making the reader laugh try to make them feel sympathetic and compassionate as well.

Whatever style of humour you have, there is an audience out there waiting for you, so go for it. Just watch where you're walking!

Mervyn Love offers a warm welcome and a stress free zone for all writers at his website. Here you can relax and browse pages of advice, resources, competition listing, markets and much more. Subscribe to his free Creative Writing Course at: http://www.writersreign.co.uk/Creative-Writing-Course.html or his free Article Writing Course here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk/WRac.html
This Article has been viewed 79 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.