You should always inject humour into your writing

KTC · Jun 20, 2009

Okay, besides the Canadian spelling of humour...does everybody agree with this statement?

I don't mean serious non-fiction, business writing, etc. I'm talking about short stories, novels, even articles, essays, memoir, etc, etc, etc.

Even when I'm writing freelance articles for places such as decorating magazines or foody magazines...I try to put something in there to make the reader giggle. I think that sneaking a bit of humour into something that is not humourous allows the reader to lower their guard a bit...drop down a level and more enjoy the article they are reading.

Thoughts?

Where do you use humour in your other writing? Do you inject it into as much of your writing as possible?

Matt Willard · Jun 20, 2009

I don't think everything needs a bit of humor, nor should it. It really depends on the tone you want to achieve.

dgiharris · Jun 20, 2009

KTC said:
Okay, besides the Canadian spelling of humour...does everybody agree with this statement?

I don't mean serious non-fiction, business writing, etc. I'm talking about short stories, novels, even articles, essays, memoir, etc, etc, etc.

Even when I'm writing freelance articles for places such as decorating magazines or foody magazines...I try to put something in there to make the reader giggle. I think that sneaking a bit of humour into something that is not humourous allows the reader to lower their guard a bit...drop down a level and more enjoy the article they are reading.

Thoughts?

Where do you use humour in your other writing? Do you inject it into as much of your writing as possible?

Nine out of Ten times, I completely agree. Unexpected humor IMHO is buying something at Best Buy, getting to the counter and discovering that it is 25% off. Its such a pleasant surprise and can only HELP the story by giving the reader an immediate emotional payoff. I mean, who doesn't like to laugh.

This will also cause an immediate 'spike' in the reader's interest level that will last a couple of pages at least.

This could be a valueable tool in keeping the reader engaged during any 'slow' parts within a novel .

In fact, adding humor to the mix can enhance a story like nothing else. It can enhance action, drama, tragedy, etc. etc. Provide your reader a 'lift' right after you've put them through a valley...

Anyways,

that's my two cents

more babbling to come later

Mel...

KTC · Jun 20, 2009

Matt Willard said:
I don't think everything needs a bit of humor, nor should it. It really depends on the tone you want to achieve.

I always aim for a tone of life truth. Even in articles, I find it helpful to use humour...as I find that humour exists in most situations. To omit it totally seems incorrect.

Kaiser-Kun · Jun 20, 2009

KTC said:
I always aim for a tone of life truth. Even in articles, I find it helpful to use humour...as I find that humour exists in most situations. To omit it totally seems incorrect.

Not only incorrect, but I'd find a humorless story boring. In my reading opinion, a good story is capable of making you laugh and cry, without losing the intended tone. A drama keeps being a drama even if somebody cream pies a poor man during his wife's funeral.

(check out a similar thread I made, it's called "Humor in dramatic moments")

Repartee · Jul 11, 2009

Kaiser-Kun said:
Not only incorrect, but I'd find a humorless story boring. In my reading opinion, a good story is capable of making you laugh and cry, without losing the intended tone. A drama keeps being a drama even if somebody cream pies a poor man during his wife's funeral.

(check out a similar thread I made, it's called "Humor in dramatic moments")

I am totally out of my element here, as I don't write humor [I'm not even sure what I'm doing in this forum], but I completely agree with you, Kaiser.
If it doesn't spark an emotional reaction [laugh, cry, etc], than I do not consider it good writing. Obviously, this doesn't apply to everything, but I feel that it is true in the land of Fiction.
I tend to rely on a lot of dark humor in my writing. Probably because I myself have a rather dark sense of humor.
So, um, that's it.
*slowly shuffles back into the shadows*

ETA: KTC, I love the Canadian spelling of humour.

Cranky · Jul 11, 2009

Some people shouldn't attempt humor. I'm one of them. I *cannot*, thus far, write anything that's funny in prose. Dunno why, maybe because I lack a straight man. It certainly isn't because I'm afraid to laugh at my own jokes.

Ken · Jul 11, 2009

KTC said:
Okay, besides the Canadian spelling of humour...does everybody agree with this statement?

I don't mean serious non-fiction, business writing, etc. I'm talking about short stories, novels, even articles, essays, memoir, etc, etc, etc.

Even when I'm writing freelance articles for places such as decorating magazines or foody magazines...I try to put something in there to make the reader giggle. I think that sneaking a bit of humour into something that is not humourous allows the reader to lower their guard a bit...drop down a level and more enjoy the article they are reading.

Thoughts?

Where do you use humour in your other writing? Do you inject it into as much of your writing as possible?

... if you can swing it, absolutely; and I'm sure you can. I do so myself with freelance mag and newspaper articles. Stories are more tricky. The humor has to mesh in well enough so it flows with the story. Lots of editors in varying genres say in their guidelines that they appreciate humor, so I think there's also a draw for stories with silly slants.

mlazzer · Jul 12, 2009

Well, I don't know. There's so many different kinds of humour... I guess there can be found humour in a lot of writings, but whether to hate a piece of writing that doesn't have any humour... I don't know, when I was a kid I read Huckleberry Finn and didn't think it was all that funny; when I recently re-read it, I thought some passages were hilarious. What is humour?! (pretend I said that with a dramatic voice while spreading my arms into the sky and falling on my knees).

Quinn · Jul 12, 2009

mlazzer said:
What is humour?! (pretend I said that with a dramatic voice while spreading my arms into the sky and falling on my knees).

"Laughter is an instant vacation." Milton Berle

"Humor is your ticket." Me

spamwarrior · Jul 12, 2009

I like humor. I like to write humor. And I love dashing humor in almost everything I do.

Except my extremely angsty, moody poetry.

I haven't found a place where it didn't belong, other than that. It depends on whether the work really needs it or not.

Some people can't pull it off. Some people haven't honed it well enough. I've read some works by some writers which just weren't funny. However, with more practice, they would have done it.

Jaycinth · Jul 12, 2009

Yes. Humor in horror, humor in brain-stealing alien possession. Humor in deciding which mods are suited to the Humor forum.

Your conversation is both harmless and amusing.

(I like making scenes where the alien has taken over a body but does not yet have adequate control over the resident consciousness. Imagine forcing Felix Unger to share his body with Oscar.)

Yeh is lik tht.

scottishpunk · Jul 31, 2009

I think one of the current best writers for spiking his drama with humor is sci-fi TV-show guru Joss Whedon. (Cue fanfare) His short-lived series Firefly is especially loaded with sarcasm and wit, but it shows up in all of his writing (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, etc.).

He uses humor to accomplish two things in his dramas.

1- To help the viewer connect quickly and deeply with his characters. It's easy to love someone who is genuinely funny. It also feels more like real life.

2- To sell the drama. When a large chunk of the show is spent throwing around witticisms and sarcastic jabs, there are also very tense dramatic moments. At those moments, the wisecracks cease and everything becomes serious. The viewer can feel the tension. No more jokes= bad stuff is going on. It works.

I seriously recommend checking out Firefly if you haven't. The whole series can be purchased on DVD for like $15.

Basically what it comes down to is make your writing true-to-life. If humor makes it feel more real, then go for it. It's not necessary for every piece of work (I'm writing a very tense sci-fi drama right now and don't expect to include much humor, if any at all), but it can provide a nice boost if you include it.

Haggis · Jul 31, 2009

Good thread, Kevin.

I almost always inject humor into my horror stories. It helps to cut the tension (IMO you need the ups and downs), and, because humor causes the reader to let his guard down, serves as a perfect set up for an even more horrifying act to follow.

And, yeah, what Jaycinth said about horror mods too.

red_panda · Aug 9, 2009

deleted by user

Matera the Mad · Aug 18, 2009

If I'm writhing it, there will be humor.
(typo spared for appropriateness)

Pseudolus · Aug 31, 2009

Even the darkest Shakespearean tragedies have funny bits. Hamlet, for one. It helps the audience settle in and out of the funk as the story requires it, and it's always nice to be taken through a range of emotions.

Caitlin Black · Sep 26, 2009

I have always tried to put humour in to my writing. I remember my first essay assignment in high school English - I didn't know what to do, so I made it funny. It got an A.

Since then I've always put humour into everything (even an essay on racism in 50s America, though the humour was subtle word play and not opinionated in any way...) to the point where I can't imagine writing something without humour.

Seriously. I've got 2 WIPs that are supposed to be dark, and humour keeps floating back in on occasion (like 1 line out of 50) - I can't keep the humour away.

One time, we had to give an oral presentation in English, and I realised that my oral was lacking something to make it pop - no humour. So when it was time for me to get up and talk, I took a deep breath and delivered half the speech in one breath or so, then just kept taking shallow breaths to keep the pace up. I turned a 3-minute oral into 2 minutes, but at the end of it everyone either laughed quietly or applauded, which I count as a success, even though I only got a B.

So yeah, I'd recommend putting humour in everything that isn't purely technical (actually, I've read some manuals for DVD players that made me laugh...)

Cliff.

BigWords · Sep 26, 2009

Cliff Face said:
Seriously. I've got 2 WIPs that are supposed to be dark, and humour keeps floating back in on occasion (like 1 line out of 50) - I can't keep the humour away.

It really doesn't matter how dark or depressing the situation is, humor will find a way to be expressed. In the trenches of WWI, when the Tommies weren't going 'over the top' and being mowed down by machine gun fire, they were putting up street names in the trenches.

There was even a funny newspaper / magazine thing printed in the trenches, full of cartoons and funny stories to keep people from going insane.

Caitlin Black · Sep 26, 2009

Outstanding.

Jamesaritchie · Oct 15, 2009

KTC said:
Okay, besides the Canadian spelling of humour...does everybody agree with this statement?

I don't mean serious non-fiction, business writing, etc. I'm talking about short stories, novels, even articles, essays, memoir, etc, etc, etc.

Even when I'm writing freelance articles for places such as decorating magazines or foody magazines...I try to put something in there to make the reader giggle. I think that sneaking a bit of humour into something that is not humourous allows the reader to lower their guard a bit...drop down a level and more enjoy the article they are reading.

Thoughts?

Where do you use humour in your other writing? Do you inject it into as much of your writing as possible?

I'm against injecting humor into writing. Syringes scare me, so I always apply it topically and massage it in.

But, yes, a bit of humor, even dark humor, in an otehrwise serious piece of fiction, works wonders in breaking the mood and giving readers a chance to come up for air.

MisterChris · Nov 12, 2009

If you aren't good at it, you should add only a light spice of it. If you're REALLY good, dump the whole box in.

Authors like Douglas Adams (RIP), Robert Asprin (RIP), and Harry Harrison were quite good at it.

I enjoyed their books immensely.

I usually insert playful banter and jibes between characters to lighten the mood and carry the scene, when the action is dragging or the characters have to travel 200 miles on foot to the next battle scene.

Yes, but what about 'second breakfast'?

StoryG27 · Nov 12, 2009

For me, humor works in everything. Of course, I'm the type of person who will laugh if you fall down in front of me and are really hurt and I really feel bad for you. I tend to find the humor in things and though I don't write "humor" it is in all my writing because it is part of who I am and writing is really just like cutting a vein and bleeding yourself all over the page anyway.

It's not in every scene or even in every character, but it is prevalent in most of my writing.

stormie · Nov 12, 2009

I usually try to have some humor in my writing, whether it's essays, a horror story, or poems. The latter because if I don't write the poem using humor, it falls flat. It's the only way I can write poetry. My humor is more tongue-in-cheek or dry when I write essays. Sometimes sardonic if it's a short story and one of the characters has a sarcastic sense of humor.

I find it makes whatever I'm writing a little more interesting. When it works, of course.

JeanneTGC · Nov 12, 2009

I agree that, if you're able to write it so that it's natural, then humor works everywhere. Humans laugh at inappropriate times, and the term 'gallows humor' exists for a reason.

However, forced humor is painful to read. So, if it's not right for the characters to be cracking wise, being sarcastic, tossing off a one-liner, then it's going to thud to the ground like a lead balloon.

Done well, however, it will make the characters feel more real, which is our goal as writers.

You should always inject humour into your writing

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Inquisitor of Zork

Disgruntled Scientist

Stand in the Place Where You Live

!

Queen of Hearts

New kid, be gentle

rewriting.

Your Cuddly Sociopathic

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

A spasm, you say.

Wild one

Geekzilla

Wild one

Miss Behave

storm central

I *am* Catwoman...and Gini Koch

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch