humour in serious stories

littlewriter · Sep 26, 2006

When I started writing my WIP, it quite easily fell into the "chick-lit" category. However, as I was writing, my characters sort of took over and now the book is heading in a very different direction, a more serious direction. I am quite excited about the way it's starting to turn out, but I am wondering, can you still have humor in serious stories? The only book I can think of that has done this quite well is Rachel's Holiday, by Marian Keyes; a novel about drug addictions and rehab, although it does have a romance element to it.

I would like to hear other's opinions.

Thanks
Sarah

James D. Macdonald · Sep 26, 2006

...can you still have humor in serious stories?

Absolutely.

aadams73 · Sep 26, 2006

Of course. I've laughed the hardest while reading some of Dorothea Benton Frank's books.

jchines · Sep 26, 2006

Humor can provide a nice break from too much tension, and can also accentuate the serious parts of the book. Some of the books that have wrenched me the most, emotionally, have also made me laugh the hardest.

Andre_Laurent · Sep 26, 2006

Well, my WIP is swimming in blood but the protag has a lot of humerous thoughts strolling through his little head... when terrible things aren't happening to him.

wordmonkey · Sep 26, 2006

Different genre, but the Spenser books by Robert B. Parker are laced with humor. I've laughed aloud at some of the lines in these books.

It's just like real life, people/characters have a sense of humor, and no matter the situation, someone usually finds it funny.

CaroGirl · Sep 26, 2006

IMO, humour is essential to provide balance to serious stories. My WIP is sad, sad, sad, but I have included humour in some scenes, to break the tension and flesh out some of characters. Humour is part of life and, therefore, should be part of fiction.

Carrie in PA · Sep 26, 2006

Absolutely!!!

SeanDSchaffer · Sep 26, 2006

Of course there can be humor in a serious story. I've seen it done numerous times. I think that if a story does not have some form of humor in it, the story is not as life-like as it could be.

Off the top of my head, I remember a movie I have that was quite serious for its time. (The Ten Commandments, 1956.) I was definitely a serious film, but there was humor interspersed throughout, via the bumbling deeds of the character Dathan, played by Edward G. Robinson.

I think if such a major accomplishment (the movie was one of Paramount's most successful films, and was Cecil B. DeMille's most famous) can be interspersed with humor like it was, and still be a good movie, well, I do not see why a good serious book should have no humor in it.

I just think that real life has humor in it, and that to take out the humor would be to take out much of the realism.

Just my opinion, of course.

PeeDee · Sep 26, 2006

I can't think of a serious book I've enjoyed that HASN'T had humor in it.

Really, I think you should have humor in your serious story. It can catch your reader off guard, or if they get a steady amoutn of it, it can lower their defenses so that when things suddenly get grim, they're deeply involved in your story.

Plus, there's just humor in life, and that should reflect in your work. It's not always hilarious, it's not always particularly organized, but people joke in all sorts of occasions for all sorts of reasons and I think that should turn up in your story.

TrainofThought · Sep 26, 2006

My book contains several serious issues, but I wanted humor involved. As jchines states, it is a ‘nice break from the tension’, plus I think you need to laugh every now and then about issues.

sunnysmile · Sep 26, 2006

I think it would be good to have humor in serious stories. It provides a relief for the overall serious tone of the book and provides the readers with a break. Also, life is not always serious. Seeing the humor in certain things also can give us a different perspective on things. I guess, it depends on how you use the humor to do that.

FergieC · Sep 26, 2006

In real life, you find yourself laughing at the darkest points. Laughter is a release, and there is humour - albeit dark and inappropriate sometimes - in even the worst situations.

I think sometimes where writing fails is where the writer fails to realise this and has a string of bad things happen to a character with no humour at all. In fact, one unfortunate side effect of having too many bad things happen to a character with no humour, is that the reader starts to laugh when they're not intended to.

I didn't realise this until I went thought some real sh*t in life myself, I have to say. I always thought that, in writing, if you had a death, you had to have gravity, sincerity and wailing. But in real life you don't have that. You have shock, adrenalin, surreality and perhaps a bit of hysteria. Then you have all the family turning up for the funeral...

No, there is definitely humour in everything, however bad it seems, and the best writing recognises that and manages to weave it into the story in a way that adds to it. That's the tough part...

jchines · Sep 26, 2006

FergieC said:
But in real life you don't have that. You have shock, adrenalin, surreality and perhaps a bit of hysteria. Then you have all the family turning up for the funeral...

My grandmother's funeral. We show up at the cemetery. The hearse driver locks his keys -- and my grandmother -- in the hearse...

I'm sure this would have caused huge blow-ups for some families. Mine started joking about her inability to get anywhere on time. The locksmith said it would take at least an hour to get there, so folks ended up using a hanger, then a screwdriver, trying to get past the rear windshield to trigger the locks. Shattered the whole windshield instead.

Five minutes later, the locksmith arrived.

You'd better believe that scene made it into one of my novels!!! The most serious novel I ever wrote, for that matter.

maestrowork · Sep 26, 2006

Humor is very important. I write serious drama, but humor is evident throughout. I don't mean laugh-out-loud comedy. But contrast is good. For every heavy moment, you should have something light to balance that out. Or at least find humor in the darkest material. Otherwise, your story would be utterly too depressing to read.

Dollywagon · Sep 26, 2006

I love the hearse story!

At my mothers funeral last year, my sister started to whistle as the coffin was being carried out of the hearse.
She whistles when she is upset to stop herself from crying.
I know that and now you know that. The rest of the mourners didn't.

Remember, with humour, you can get away with (almost) anything.

BardSkye · Sep 26, 2006

When my parents relocated to my neighbourhood I warned them to keep a few gallon jugs of water on hand at all times as we get a lot of water main breaks. The water gets turned off with little or no warning often for days.

Mother did but after 10 years with no breaks on their side of the playground Dad wanted to stop wasting space on water. When Mom went into a hospice, he threw them out.

A month later Mom passed away. While in the shower the day of her funeral, all soaped up, Dad's water was turned off.

She got the last laugh and he admits she would have loved it. :e2shower:

I don't think I could read a book and not find something funny in a phrase, a description, a situation. Life is funny, books should reflect that, especially serious ones.

Simon Woodhouse · Sep 26, 2006

Every now and then I have a character say something self-mocking, or sarcastic, but only if it's part of that character's personality to be like that. I don't try to force the humour. Forced humour is like forced romance – it stands out a mile and comes across as nothing but false.

Mark Lazer · Sep 27, 2006

littlewriter said:
can you still have humor in serious stories?

Yes, you can. I wrote a joke about a tumor in a story about a woman who was dying of cancer. It was exactly the comical relief the story needed at that particular point. I got a lot of possitive feedback on that specific line; so, yes, you can have humor in serious stories.

Linda Adams · Sep 27, 2006

Definitely. Just off the top of my head, Sue Grafton's books have some light humor in them. There's also Laurell K. Hamilton's early books; Robert Lynn Asprin's Myth series; the Stephanie Plum series; and chicklit as a whole.

When we worked on our thriller, our goal was to make it funny. But we approached the humor not as telling standup jokes but through the characterization. All the humor comes through each character's personality and how they view the world.

KTC · Sep 27, 2006

littlewriter said:
but I am wondering, can you still have humor in serious stories?

Oh my God, Sarah. YES! What is life, even when serious, without humour. You need it.

Tracy · Sep 27, 2006

This is a bit 'me-too', but my stories are quite dark, and I have humour in them too. If we can't laugh at life, what's the point? Just make sure it's not inappropriate humour - i.e. if it would be inappropriate in real life, then don't use it in your novel.
One reviewer did comment, however, that she could have done with less of the wise-cracks. But she was in a minority of one, and you'll be glad to know she's recovering slowly.

scarletpeaches · Sep 27, 2006

Humour isn't just acceptable; it's essential. You don't want readers to be slitting their wrists, do you? Life's funny at the same time as it's serious. People laugh at funerals.

Or is that just me?

PeeDee · Sep 27, 2006

scarletpeaches said:
People laugh at funerals.

Or is that just me?

No, lots of people do. It's how I've made such a lucrative business as a Funerary Clown, all these years.

expatbrat · Sep 27, 2006

You laugh more when there is a funny section in a serious book, it is less expected and more appreciated.

humour in serious stories

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