Hello, writers. We do requests, and so tonight I'm going to talk about writing humor. And I hope you'll help out, because I don't really know much about writing humor. But has that ever stopped me before? Nope.
When discussing humor it's customary to start with the following quote
Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. It can be done, but the frog tends to die in the process.
and to attribute it to Groucho Marx, Robert Benchley, or that great universal quote-attributee, Mark Twain. Done.
Now, here is the thing. Humor is very
- cultural
- subjective
- context-dependent
About 1. and 2. you can do nothing. About 3. you can do everything, because when you write you create the context. One way to do this is voice. When you have a distinctive voice you have a context for humor (think Lemony Snicket). A light, well-what-can-you-do voice also works (think Gail Collins). A very formal voice makes humor difficult, unless it's a spoof. Jokes dropped from such great heights can't help but fall flat (think Tolkien).
Humor on the page is usually less funny than humor IRL. It's harder to make people LOL when they're reading. A few years ago I was in the cafeteria at work with a friend. We came to the dessert, and what was on offer was a row of glass dishes containing blue cubes of jello. My friend looked at them and said, "Oh my God. They killed a smurf."
This was hysterically funny at the time, because of who she is and the visual aid of those murdered smurfs before us. But does it work written down? Only if I, writing it, have succeeded in creating the context and you, reading it, subjectively find it funny.
(Ooh, that frog is gettin' pretty bloody now.)
This isn't as bad as it sounds, because really you do it all the time. The comments section in this diary is usually full of comments worthy of an LOL or even an ROTFL. The thing is to be in the mood, and to have your writing be in the mood.
And probably also to give yourself the same permission to cut loose and have fun that you do when you're chatting online. (Or IRL.)
Stephen Colbert says that a joke always contains a status shift. I think you could also call it an incongruity. Sometimes your reader already knows what is incongruous in the statement (as with the jello, above). You can also create the incongruity in the context of your story. JK Rowling does this a lot, as when Ron declares himself hopelessly in love with Romilda Vane*. (This is also kind of mean, especially given the books' agenda in re bullying and scapegoating. But humor is often mean.)
*I'd like to point out, if I haven't already, that if you rearrange the letters of Romilda Vane you get I Am Lord Vane. I think we can get another 7 books here.
The Potterverse contains much that's created for humor purposes and milked as repeatedly as bubotuber pus. Think Peeves. Terry Pratchett does the same thing. You can do it too. There's no copyright on it. (But you can't do it like Terry Pratchett, by actually shifting from your created world to our world and making comments about British Rail or junk cars in the yard. Unless you're Terry Pratchett. Check your driver's license.)
Funny bits have to have exactly the right words or they are like jokes where someone had forgotten the punchline. --Diana Wynne Jones
IOW, edit your jokes very carefully. Get them exactly right. Consider the following from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:
"This solid silver, mate?"
"Yes," said Sirius, surveying it with distaste. "Finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest."
"That'd come off, though," muttered Mundungus, polishing it with his cuff.
This made me LOL the first time I read it. (No? Well, it's subjective.) But in the British edition, the line is "That'd come orf, though." This would not have made me (or most Americans) LOL, because we would've been focused on the peculiar appearance of "orf". You want your jokes to sail in clean, no distractions.
That's about all I want to say about humor.
Sorry, froggy.
If you want to know what other people think about writing humor, check out
Seven Steps to Better Humor Writing(really? Shakespeare? Eh.)
Dave Barry on Humor
Humor Writing Tips from Kris Neri.
There's also an organization for Humor Writers.
Write On! will be a regular Thursday feature (8 pm ET) until it isn't. Be sure to check out other great lit'ry diaries like:
sarahnity's books by kossacks on Tuesdays
plf515's What Are You Reading? on Wednesday mornings.
cfk's bookflurries on Wednesday nights.
Your happy writing links for the week:
The Intern on scene questions and story questions.
A fairly successful author explicates his 2009 writing income.
The diff btwn wholesalers and distributors.
It's January and books are getting pulped.
The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest and The Jim Baen Memorial Contest are both open for entries through April Fool's Day.
And don't forget the amazon breakthrough novel contest. Yes, I nag.
Never, ever sign anything with any agent or publisher whom you haven't checked out at Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors.