Is Humor Writing for You?
Humor can be appealing or appalling, but any writer can benefit from adding a little humor to their work. Humor writing is not easy, however, and print humor demands a lighter touch than verbal humor.
The first rule of humor writing is to know your audience. Identify with their background, upbringing, culture, age, location, or life experiences in order to get on their wave length. If you’re writing for a religious newspaper, skip the off-color jokes and sexual innuendoes. Your readers must be comfortable with your humor.
The second rule of humor writing is to develop a unique comic perspective, the motor that drives your comic engine. Seinfeld focuses on the minutiae of everyday life. David Barry lampoons everyone in his column from politicians to toilets using his trademark, “I’m not making this up.” Comedienne Rita Rudner packs a wallop into every line such as “golf is a short word for a long game.” Analyze what makes you laugh so you can discover your own comic voice.
A third rule of humor writing is to use your imagination. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Humor is subjective so be prepared to fail occasionally. Create a quirky character for your story. Use exaggeration and/or understatement. Focus on the illogical, the unpredictable, and the ridiculous. Try some satire or self-deprecating humor. Then add some verbal gymnastics or take an old cliché and twist it around such as W. C. Fields did in the following quote, “if at first you don’t succeed, then quit.”
Making people laugh is more difficult than making them cry, but it’s much better for their psyches. Humor eradicates hostile feelings and builds community. It’s hard to hate someone you’ve laughed with so lighten up. Loosen up. Then go write some humor.
(This essay originally appeared in the East Tennessee Newsletter (Knoxville Writers’ Guild))
Judy DiGregorio is recognized as a Woman of Distinction in the Arts by the YWCA. She is also a Distinguished Alumna of New Mexico Highlands University. She has published hundreds of columns and essays in The Writer, Army-Navy Times, New Millennium Writings, the Chicken Soup books, and numerous anthologies and has worked as a humor columnist for The Oak Ridger, Anderson County Visions Magazine, Senior Living and EvaMag. Judy's collection of humorous essays, Life Among the Lilliputians from Celtic Cat Publishing , was featured at the 2009 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. She also participated in the 2010 Southern Festival with her second book, Memories of a Loose Woman. Celtic Cat Publishing also released a CD, Jest Judy, read by the author and available on Itunes, and also published her third humor book, Tidbits, in the summer of 2015. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. She has been featured on Channel 10 “Your Stories” by Abby Hamm and on WDVX Tennessee Shines Radio, Knoxville.
Judy served on the Playhouse Board of Directors where she performed in 14 productions at the Oak Ridge Playhouse. Judy has spoken at the UT Writers in the Library Series, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, as well as numerous writing conferences and festivals including the Tennessee Mountain Writers’ Conference in Oak Ridge, Alabama Writers’ Conclave, and Chattanooga Writers Conference. In her spare time, Judy hangs out with her first (and last) husband and writes light verse and humorous essays, sings with the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Choir, performs Sephardic Hispanic music, and cuddles her great granddaughter.
You can visit her website at www.judyjabber.com.