Okay, so I am back to writing one of my older stories. It's older YA paranormal set in Victorian era France. As I am re-reading some chapters, I realize that there is a lot of sacrasm, wit, dry humor, and bantering. Like heavy, heavy doses of it. So heavy, I'd say a horse could choke on it. Most of the characters has a clever line every once in a while, but I have three characters who always have something witty or sarcastic to say. They are my lead character who is a girl, an Irishman, and a demon.
The lead character and the demon primarily shoot sarcastic things out to each other and there is lots of playful (sometimes, sexual innuendo) banter. The Irishman always has something funny or smart to say and he also has a tendency of arguing with a non-talking demonic dog (...yeah, I know).
I know a lot of readers out there hate lots of sarcasm and the like in stories. I remember reading plenty of recent reviews of books complaining of too much of it. Too many characters were like that, no originality in characters, etc. These reviews have definitely made me start wondering if this habit of mine can be a mark against my story. However, I honestly can't see myself writing just one witty character. I was raised around sarcasm (Thanks, Mom and Dad) and British comedy dry humor.
When I see that one designated witty person slew out snappy comebacks and clever lines throughout the story, it sometimes makes me think how boring and colorless the other characters in the story are (no offense to those that do).
The story is very dark and my characters are very serious when they need to be. They aren't cracking jokes to each other when they discover someone's decapitated head with demonic symbols craved on the victim's face. The dark humor never takes away value from the actual feel of the story and that is something I strive to preserve.
Anyway, I have to ask. How much wit/banter/sarcasm/dry humor is too much? How much do you use in your stories? Do you have a designated witty character in your stories?
The lead character and the demon primarily shoot sarcastic things out to each other and there is lots of playful (sometimes, sexual innuendo) banter. The Irishman always has something funny or smart to say and he also has a tendency of arguing with a non-talking demonic dog (...yeah, I know).
I know a lot of readers out there hate lots of sarcasm and the like in stories. I remember reading plenty of recent reviews of books complaining of too much of it. Too many characters were like that, no originality in characters, etc. These reviews have definitely made me start wondering if this habit of mine can be a mark against my story. However, I honestly can't see myself writing just one witty character. I was raised around sarcasm (Thanks, Mom and Dad) and British comedy dry humor.
When I see that one designated witty person slew out snappy comebacks and clever lines throughout the story, it sometimes makes me think how boring and colorless the other characters in the story are (no offense to those that do).
The story is very dark and my characters are very serious when they need to be. They aren't cracking jokes to each other when they discover someone's decapitated head with demonic symbols craved on the victim's face. The dark humor never takes away value from the actual feel of the story and that is something I strive to preserve.
Anyway, I have to ask. How much wit/banter/sarcasm/dry humor is too much? How much do you use in your stories? Do you have a designated witty character in your stories?