Humour in Writing #AtoZChallenge

Tags

#AtoZChallenge, A to Z Challenge 2016, A-Z Blogging Challenge, Adam Sandler, Argeneau Vampires, Camp NaNoWriMo, Grey's Anatomy, Hotel Transylvania 2, humour, Jennifer Aniston, Just Go With It, Lynsay Sands, Mark Twain, Mel Brooks, Mordecai Richler, preview of work, Rottweilers, South African, The Big Bang Theory, writing, writing tips

H is for humour.

Yesterday I talked about how humour makes Grey’s Anatomy awesome and addictive.

I also admitted that I’m not funny. Even when I try… Though I am sometimes funny by accident.

So how to be funny on purpose?

“The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow.” – Mark Twain

Yeah, South Africans are known to make jokes about the most inappropriate things. We’d rather laugh about something than cry about it.

“Truly good humor… is bound to offend, for in the nature of things, it ridicules our prejudices and popular institutions.” – Mordecai Richler

When I read this quote, I immediately think about Adam Sandler movies. Just Go With It starring Jennifer Aniston is a good example of this.

“Humor is just another defence against the universe.” – Mel Brooks

So shields up. But how to get others to giggle or even smile when you have a distorted sense of what’s humorous?

No idea.

I do know though that the best books, the ones I’ll read again and again, are the funny ones. And it doesn’t have to be roll-around funny, but it does have to able to make me smile even when I don’t want to. An author that immediately comes to mind, is Lynsay Sands (the Argeneau vampire novels). Even almost dying and becoming a vampire or getting rid of rogue vampire corpses are LOL funny.

So how to make one’s writing funny?

Most probably it’s all in the presentation.

Callum lay on the couch, an empty coke bottle next to him. Then he barked at his brother and stole his hoof. Emmett ignored them.

Or:

Callum lay on the couch, quietly staring out of the window. Antonio twitched. Callum flew up, the empty coke bottle that had been next to him now flying across the room, and barked loudly at his brother as he stole Antonio’s hoof. He returned to his spot and chewed the spoils of war. Emmett ignored them completely, despite Antonio’s whines and pleas for help.

Can you see Emmett’s tail?

Okay, so maybe this didn’t come across as funny in either presentation. You had to be there though to enjoy the craziness of two Rottweilers cooped up inside due to the rain and scary lightning. Emmett had become quite blasé now that he’d turned six.

I’m still working on being funny. I’m watching a lot of The Big Bang Theory and Adam Sandler and Mel Brooks movies (wasn’t Hotel Transylvania 2 cute?) while my poor stationary bike is busting ball bearings in protest. My Camp NaNoWriMo project has to take a break while I’m figuring out how to be funny…

How about you, fellow scriveners: are you funny? Any tips on how to incorporate humour into one’s writing? Have you read the nano-tech vampire books by Lynsay Sands? Are your dogs influenced by the weather?

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