How to use humor to lighten up an otherwise dark story?
Amy
2 months ago
Humor can be very subjective. If one CP loves the humor and another doesn’t get it… how do I decide who to listen to?
Amy
2 months ago
What are some of your favorite books that use humor really well?
Sarah Brubaker
2 months ago
In real life, humor can be so random and circumstantial, but that kind of humor feels contrived in fiction. How can we lighten the mood, especially in something usually serious like fantasy, without it feeling like we’re cracking jokes?
I’m not sure about lesser known, but parody doesn’t get as much attention when talking about humor. That may be because pulling of a good parody is a bit of a challenge but Christopher Moore has built an entire career using elements of parody in his books, for example.
CarolynTara
2 months ago
Love that this event is funny already
Rebecca
2 months ago
How do you test your humor? Especially curious about MG books.
A lot of books incorporate humorous elements or moments of humor; in those cases, humor isn’t the focus of the story, it’s one of many tools used. A straight comedy, however, normally focuses on a funny situation or events and humor is the main focus. I am sure there are better explanations out there but that’s my take on it.
HabonJama
2 months ago
Any books that use dark humour in children book successfully Kalena?
I feel that much like doctors, authors have a responsibility to do their best to do no harm. If a joke denigrates any culture, country, race, or is at the expense of someone’s abilities and/or appearance it’s offensive. Dumb blonde jokes. Fat jokes. Jokes about someone who is neurally atypical or has a disability. Jokes about people from another culture. All of those are other-ing and hurtful. My personal choice is to consciously avoid jokes at the expense of others identity or appearance.
I write MG, but I have a very dry sense of humor. I realize this runs the risk of going over my readers heads, or having characters that sound too old. Do you have any advice for striking a happy medium?
Don’t worry about it in your first drafts. Make sure you have beta readers/critique partners who read widely within MG, however, and they can help you find the line between too dry and humor that will have your readers chuckling. Also make sure you’re reading within your category and the sorts of MG books that would be similar to yours. You might also try mixing in some other types of humor as balance – situational, the unexpected, a bit of word play.
Sarah Brubaker
2 months ago
Can you define situational humor / give an example?
For some people, never. My husband is a positive connoisseur of potty humor. In books, that’s a more complex question as fart jokes may be entirely appropriate for a given character in any category of book – it could be used as a way to show that character’s immaturity for example. In general, though, probably early MG? That’s one person’s opinion though and I am sure there are exceptions.
If you mean a situation where one character says one thing but another character hears something different, you can either have the POV character be the one hearing the wrong thing, so they do a mental double-take, or you could have the character hearing the wrong thing restate what they think they heard (either right then or a bit later in the story). Another option would be to show the reactions of the other characters to what they think they heard, or the consequences of that misunderstanding. I feel like the right answer is probably very tied to the specific text you’re writing. This would be a great question for a critique group familiar with the story.
Rebecca
2 months ago
I’ve heard people try to write funny and end up writing quirky, can you elaborate? What’s the difference?
For me personally, my definition of quirky leans more toward the whimsical. Luna Lovegood is quirky. But she’s also funny in the contrast she provides between what the world expects of a brainy Ravenclaw and how she’s so very earnest and dedicated to completely bonkers beliefs. The line between funny and quirky is a thin one, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing and writing can be both.
As a reader, I try to pay attention to elements of story and humor (though often get lost in a book and forget to analyze as I go). I’m a firm believer in mentor texts and soaking up as many words as I can. Everything I read informs my writing in some way. But I also try to read widely, across multiple categories and genres and including non-fiction. Seeing how humor is used in something as traditionally dry as non-fiction can be very enlightening. I highly recommend GET WELL SOON: HISTORIES WORST PLAGUES AND THE HEROES WHO FOUGHT THEM by Jennifer Wright as an example of humorous non-fiction.
HabonJama
2 months ago
Do you feel like humorous (children and adults)books are overlooked? As books that are praised and receive awards aren’t really the funny ones.
ElizabethAnne
2 months ago
As someone who isn’t naturally humorous, how can I get better at it?
How to use humor to lighten up an otherwise dark story?
Humor can be very subjective. If one CP loves the humor and another doesn’t get it… how do I decide who to listen to?
What are some of your favorite books that use humor really well?
In real life, humor can be so random and circumstantial, but that kind of humor feels contrived in fiction. How can we lighten the mood, especially in something usually serious like fantasy, without it feeling like we’re cracking jokes?
What are some lesser-known genres of humor that may get overlooked?
I’m not sure about lesser known, but parody doesn’t get as much attention when talking about humor. That may be because pulling of a good parody is a bit of a challenge but Christopher Moore has built an entire career using elements of parody in his books, for example.
Love that this event is funny already
How do you test your humor? Especially curious about MG books.
I love the trend of humorous book titles. Do the writers have any input in coming up with them?
How do you walk the line between sarcasm and cynicism?
Where have you gone to hone your craft of writing humor? Any craft books? online resources?
How do you keep a balance between using humor to break up the emotional moments, and not letting your emotional moments fully develop?
What’s the difference between a book with humorous elements and a comedy?
A lot of books incorporate humorous elements or moments of humor; in those cases, humor isn’t the focus of the story, it’s one of many tools used. A straight comedy, however, normally focuses on a funny situation or events and humor is the main focus. I am sure there are better explanations out there but that’s my take on it.
Any books that use dark humour in children book successfully Kalena?
Do you have any advice for writing situational humor genuinely?
What advice do you have to write humor that doesn’t feel forced?
That’s cause farts are hilarious.
Can humor be learned? And how?
I worry about cracking jokes because they can be offensive, how do you judge what’s appropriate?
I feel that much like doctors, authors have a responsibility to do their best to do no harm. If a joke denigrates any culture, country, race, or is at the expense of someone’s abilities and/or appearance it’s offensive. Dumb blonde jokes. Fat jokes. Jokes about someone who is neurally atypical or has a disability. Jokes about people from another culture. All of those are other-ing and hurtful. My personal choice is to consciously avoid jokes at the expense of others identity or appearance.
I write MG, but I have a very dry sense of humor. I realize this runs the risk of going over my readers heads, or having characters that sound too old. Do you have any advice for striking a happy medium?
Don’t worry about it in your first drafts. Make sure you have beta readers/critique partners who read widely within MG, however, and they can help you find the line between too dry and humor that will have your readers chuckling. Also make sure you’re reading within your category and the sorts of MG books that would be similar to yours. You might also try mixing in some other types of humor as balance – situational, the unexpected, a bit of word play.
Can you define situational humor / give an example?
At what age do fart jokes go out of style?
For some people, never. My husband is a positive connoisseur of potty humor. In books, that’s a more complex question as fart jokes may be entirely appropriate for a given character in any category of book – it could be used as a way to show that character’s immaturity for example. In general, though, probably early MG? That’s one person’s opinion though and I am sure there are exceptions.
How do you handle humor where words may be misheard when, obviously, the words are spelled out for the reader to see?
If you mean a situation where one character says one thing but another character hears something different, you can either have the POV character be the one hearing the wrong thing, so they do a mental double-take, or you could have the character hearing the wrong thing restate what they think they heard (either right then or a bit later in the story). Another option would be to show the reactions of the other characters to what they think they heard, or the consequences of that misunderstanding. I feel like the right answer is probably very tied to the specific text you’re writing. This would be a great question for a critique group familiar with the story.
I’ve heard people try to write funny and end up writing quirky, can you elaborate? What’s the difference?
For me personally, my definition of quirky leans more toward the whimsical. Luna Lovegood is quirky. But she’s also funny in the contrast she provides between what the world expects of a brainy Ravenclaw and how she’s so very earnest and dedicated to completely bonkers beliefs. The line between funny and quirky is a thin one, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing and writing can be both.
What were some of your humor influences? How did that help in your writing?
As a reader, I try to pay attention to elements of story and humor (though often get lost in a book and forget to analyze as I go). I’m a firm believer in mentor texts and soaking up as many words as I can. Everything I read informs my writing in some way. But I also try to read widely, across multiple categories and genres and including non-fiction. Seeing how humor is used in something as traditionally dry as non-fiction can be very enlightening. I highly recommend GET WELL SOON: HISTORIES WORST PLAGUES AND THE HEROES WHO FOUGHT THEM by Jennifer Wright as an example of humorous non-fiction.
Do you feel like humorous (children and adults)books are overlooked? As books that are praised and receive awards aren’t really the funny ones.
As someone who isn’t naturally humorous, how can I get better at it?