Thursday, May 31, 2012

Humor in creative writing

  I believe any story can benefit from a touch of humor and I have a tendency to add it, regardless of the type of story I am crafting. Humor is so much a part of my life that I incorporate it in my writing without planning it. This is because I have a penchant for finding the funny side of every situation. Therefore, when I sit to write something based on a real life story, the funny parts erupt easily. This does not mean that everybody will find them funny. Humor can be subjective.
   Three months ago, I had to take a plane, and , on passing through the security check, the alarms started ringing. The alarms would ring every time I tried to proceed, and this unexpected situation led to a chain of hilarious scenes. My husband was very annoyed but I found the experience amusing and it gave me enough material to write a short story.
   I checked some books about the craft of writing seeking advice on this, but I didn't find anything new. If you need some ideas on how to add humor to your story think about the amusing side of every situation you want to create. Dialogues give you the chance to let the funny spark shine even if you are writing drama. For example, having two characters whose interests are at odds can be a nice trigger for a humorous situation.
   Images and metaphors can serve a funny purpose. Exaggeration and overstatement make people laugh and you can play with the details. Characters with contradictions can become a source of irony and you can play with them to great comic effect.
  Do you like to have a touch of humor in your stories? Come and share your ideas and experiences.

15 comments:

  1. When people ask me how I add humor to my stories, I just tell them this; think of a funny situation and let the characters play it out.

    For instance, in my romantic comedy, I took the main character and his best friend, and thought of a funny and random situation; stalking a girl the main character had a huge crush on (she liked him back but he was too scared to ask her out). I didn't plan what was going to happen, I just let the characters play it out and it's one of the funniest chapters in the book. The boys almost get caught multiple times, end up in a lingerie shop, have to sit around a cafeteria for three hours while the girl talked to her friends about random stuff that the main character made fun of, and finally when they're leaving, the girl comes up and tells them she knows they've been following her around.

    I didn't plan the comedy. I just let it play out and it ended up very entertaining.

    Maybe that doesn't work for all people though.

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    1. Yes, M.L.Worley. I know exactly what you mean. You let your imagination roll and the scene unfolds. Believe it or not, I do the same. My characters and their voices do their work, too.I have to listen to them. Editing comes later.

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  2. I love reading humour in writing, but I dont always find it easy to write. When I do use it, it often tends to be in dialogue rather than physical comedy. Still, I'm impressed when people can do this well. Good post, Julia!

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    1. I'm glad you like it Kimberly. Dialogue can be very helpful to add humor. I forgot to mention that our characters' flaws and weaknesses can also be used to make the reader laugh.

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  3. I'm totally rubbish at writing humour! Seriously! I envy those able to! Yay!

    Take care
    x

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  4. Really? You blog entries always make me smile, though.

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  5. Oh, yes, no matter how serious the subject humor always has a place in my writing. I insert a good dose of humor in my romance novels. It adds a note of realism to our writing. After all, life is not all about the serious stuff. Humor creates balance.

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    1. Yes, you are right. Humor creates balance and laughing is healthy.

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  6. Because of an experience I had at LAX, my husband now calls me terror girl, I can laugh about it now, but it was quite frightening when it happened. Humor is not always obvious....sometimes it takes awhile to develop.

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  7. Do you think it is easier to write humor in the present tense? I don't tend to write that way, but I notice a lot of writers (like Jen Lancaster) do...I'm not sure I could change if I wanted to. It seems to add more tension, like the reader is just waiting for the ball to drop. And then, you have to include dialogue, so don't you fabricate some of that? I'm talking memoirs here. Ive kept everything in my writing as clear as I can remember it- do you think fabricating for the purpose of building a good nonfiction story is okay, as lone as the core truths of the story are true to life? Thanks for any answers!

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  8. Hi Summer. Do you mean to ask if fabricating dialogue for a true story is okay? I think it is necessary sometimes because it helps to make them more compelling. We write dialogues for our stories and we have to follow our purpose. Somebody could argue that if you make up the dialogue you are fictionalizing your story. It is hard to know the line between fiction and non-fiction in some cases. But I believe we need to fabricate dialogue to serve the purpose of the story you are writing. If my answer is not clear, I can recommend some specific books I've read that deal with this topic.

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    1. One book that deals with your question is called "Writing memoir: From Truth to Art" by Judith Barrington.

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    2. Awesome thank you! I've been trying to find out exactly where it is okay to draw the line.

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  9. I have a twisted sense of humor and I love using it in my storys whenever possible. But you're right, I sometimes write what I think is funny and people look at me as if I had horn growing out of my forehead. Oh Well :)

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  10. Yes, I understand what you mean. Now I'm curious to read your stories!

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I appreciate each and every comment. Thank you.