How do you write humor

After you think you have finished writing a humor piece revisit it after a few hours or a couple of days. Suddenly you can discover new and better ways of writing the same article that can seem vastly superior to your previous article. Think wild, think crazy but at the same time be moderate so that it does not put anyone, including yourself, in trouble. Often in your enthusiasm words and sentences can flow like a mad river and you may write something horrible that you momentarily think is funny or harmless.

But it could be laced with trouble when reviewed carefully. Then you may need to give your writing a haircut and then continue. The final piece of advice is writing humor takes time. To excel in humor is a lifetime job, and is not something that you can learn in a day or two. You will have to teach yourself how to be funny.

No one can teach you exactly how to write something funny, but the possibilities of creating humor on anything and everything are limitless. With the success of many authors, poets and creative writers, many teachers continue to stress the importance of writing. The title in this article should grab your attention for one of two reasons: you are interested in being a proofreader or you notice the language is A writer's most prized possession is his or her own unique writing style.

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Please continue to submit jobs early and often! Writing Contests Find a contest Submit a contest Win writing contests. Hottest Topics Sports reports Types of journalism Shakespeare's writing. Be Bold The first rule for anyone who want to write humor is to become bold. Think Outside the Box A humorous person has no limit on what he or she can think or write about.

Be Serious What is important is that you should make your readers think what you have written is funny. Make Fun of Yourself Most people think writing humor is simply about saying and writing jokes about other people.

When you get people laughing, you make a connection with your audience. So what does it take for people like you and me — normal folks, we are — to be funny? Try these three tricks:. Think Jerry Seinfeld or Brian Regan.

Talk about that. A well-told joke is understated. It allows the audience to fill in the blanks. The trick to this kind of humor is to not over-explain the punchline. Another excellent example is Tina Fey. Use these tips to start infusing your story with humorous elements.

Keep these 10 things in mind when writing humor. Leave this field blank. First Name. Send me the bonus! Hold tight Thank you! What is Humor? Study Humor Before you start writing, I highly recommend that you take a moment to study humor. Why does this joke resonate with you? Is there a formula that you can use in your own writing? Don't Try to be Funny Avoid the common pitfall of trying to be funny. Instead, try to make yourself laugh.

Here's why:. Tweet this. Mind the Genre While it's possible to add humor into just about any genre, some audiences are more accepting of humor than others. Make Fun of the Entire Genre Are you a rebel at heart? Use Humor for Characterization You can use humor to reveal the personalities of your main characters. Use Humor to Develop the Relationship Between Reader and Narrator In addition to using humor for characterization, you can also use it to strengthen the bond between the narrator and the readers.

You can read novels by these authors to examine the way they use humour both in terms of storytelling and technique. From a broader storytelling sense, consider why the writer might have decided to tell the story in a humorous way. Was the writer able to explore topics in a different way by using humour? How might the stories have changed without the comedic element? Technique-wise, you can take a look at how those authors created humorous situations.

Consider the suggestions from writing humour and which techniques are used by which writers. Did they work? Look at funny scenes or lines and try to break them down. What is the essence of the humorous moment in those scenes? Can you identify why they did or did not work? Humour writing is one of the most difficult types of writing to do well, but it has numerous functions beyond the comic novel.

It can break or build tension, develop character or transform the way a reader views an aspect of the novel. There is no great mystery to writing comedy; it is simply a matter of learning the mechanics of how to write a funny scene. Critique will improve your comedic timing and craft. Images from here , here , here.

Bridget McNulty is a published author, content strategist, writer, editor and speaker. She is the co-founder of two non-profits: Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and the Diabetes Alliance, a coalition of all the organisations working in diabetes in South Africa.

She is also the co-founder of Now Novel: an online novel-writing course where she coaches aspiring writers to start - and finish! Bridget believes in the power of storytelling to create meaningful change.