I need help! Can someone read this post?

Humor writing can take many forms, Michelle. On this board alone, I know there are individuals who have been paid to write family/parenting humor (think the back pages of Family Circle and similar magazines), greeting cards, jokes for comedians, satire, and there's even one author in our ranks with a fishing book that claims to be at least partially humorous (I think it has jokes in it about the one that got away, but I'm not certain if that's from the fisherman's or the fish's point of view). And then there are those individuals use humor as a tool in otherwise serious works of fiction and non-fiction.

You might get a better response to this question in the humor forum. If you'd like, I can move this thread for you. Just let me know.

As far as I understand it journally is writing for yourself--keeping a raw and unedited record of your experiences. Material in a journal my be humorous and used as a basis for writing publishable humour stories whether true life or fictional... why not?

Humor covers a wide range of writing types, from poetry to comic strips. I've read some mighty funny blogs which are basically journals kept online.

The humor I sell is usually based on life experiences. My journals have always played an important role. They are great sources of raw material. Do I think you can get paid for journal entries? No. But often, those journals contain the seeds you need to get started on essays and stories.

Barb

The humor I sell is based on life experiences as well. And, my journalling helps me to remember those experiences...but are just raw material for my column. I write slice of life humor from my everyday life. (Easy to do when you have kids/wife/dog to draw from!) I agree, humor takes many forms.

Journaling is somewhat difficult to translate into humor, unless that is the purpose it was started for in the first place. I kept a pseudo-journal for one column in my political-humor series:

2:20 PM: Visit a few online political forums. Many post responders and members are absolutely rabid. I attend a funeral for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, all killed by an unidentified campaign bus.

3:12 PM: See the first exit poll results from some battleground states, saying that Kerry is up 3-5%. I swallow these numbers with standard Size C Salt Tablet.

3:41 PM: Senator Kerry calls and thanks me for going out and voting today, as my vote is vital to his Election Day victory. Oddly enough, after a few seconds he begins to repeat his message, almost as though he were on tape.

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etc., etc.

if you want some other humor examples, please feel free to read my column.

Humor is many things to many people. By and large, stories or articles that are humorous tend to either be or resemble life experiences. I tend to do understated humor that makes a person chuckle, rather than laugh out loud. But I know a number of writers (like Dave Barry or Patrick McManus) who give me "milk out the nose" moments.


Something like this can be considered humor:

I was determined to be a model outdoorswoman, and carry my own weight while camping. I had read that standing dead aspens make good firewood, and asked my Hubby how to find a standing dead tree.

One corner of his mouth turned up when he answered with twinkling eyes, "Look for one with no leaves."

Undisturbed by his amusement, I found an ideal tree, tall and very obviously dead. It took some effort, but I finally pushed the tree over, nowhere near as close to the tent as he claimed.

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You might search online for "humorists" and see if you can find any examples that might be similar to your concept.