Tag: humor

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Craft Writing with Humor

One Word Can Make All the Difference Between Funny or Ho Hum

One Word Can Make the Difference Between Funny or Ho Hum. Click to read Three Tips to Help.

One word can make all the difference between funny or ho-hum. 

For instance, let me introduce you to four kids:

Faith, Hope, Joy, and Jack.

The name Jack is so unexpected, I can’t help but chuckle. It’s the difference between funny and a just list of names. 

Check out these three tips for choosing the right word:

1. Choose An Unexpected Word

We’ve already seen the effectiveness of this technique.

As we hear the names Faith, Hope, and Joy, our minds jump to thoughts of virtuous children with commendable attributes.

Then we hear the name Jack.

It’s a fine name, but it’s not expected, so it makes us laugh. 

Consider Beatrix Potter’s garden-loving rabbits: Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-Tail, and Peter. Right away we know Peter is going to be different. He doesn’t disappoint. 

2. Choose A Word with a “K” Sound

“Fifty-seven years in this business, you learn a few things. You know what words are funny and which words are not funny. Alka-Seltzer is funny. You say ‘Alka-Seltzer’, you get a laugh… Words with ‘k’ in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that’s a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Cupcake is funny. Tomato is not funny. Cookie is funny. Cucumber is funny…Cleveland… Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny.”  (Willy Clark, The Sunshine Boys)

The name Jack makes the “k” sound. According to Willy Clark, that makes it funny. I think he’s right. If their names were Faith, Hope, Joy, and Jeff, that would be funny, but Jack is funnier.

3. Put the Funniest Word at the End

The punchline always belongs at the end. Ba-dum bump. Humor 101.

Faith, Jack, Hope, and Joy is just a list of children. Ho-hum. (No offense to Faith, Jack, Hope, and Joy.)

Faith, Hope, Joy, and Jack. That’s funny.

Pay close attention to word choice, and it will pay off in laughs. Just one word can make all the difference.

[bctt tweet=”One Word Can Make All the Difference Between Funny or Ho Hum. Learn 3 tips how.”]

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Craft Writing with Humor

Adding Humor to Your Writing Is As Easy as 1 – 2 – 3: The Rule of Three, to be exact.

Adding Humor to Your Writing is as Easy as 1-2-3. The Rule of Three to be Exact. by Jean Wilund via www.AlmostAnAuthor.com

Adding humor to any type of writing is as easy as 1 – 2 – 3.

Not 1 – 2 – 3 – 4.

Or 1 – 2.

1 – 2 – 3.

Research shows we like lists of three. Four sounds overdone. Two feels incomplete. Three is just right.

I guess Goldilocks and the three bears were right.

The literary device known as The Rule of Three says lists are funnier, more satisfying, and more effective in threes. 

I agree.

Here are three easy tips for adding humor using The Rule of Three:

1. Add an Unexpected Humorous Ending to a List of Three.

Whether you’re writing a serious or comedic piece, throwing in a humorous ending to a list of three grabs your reader’s attention.

Getting fit and trim is easy. Eat more fruits and vegetables, eat less processed foods, and borrow your skinny neighbor’s five kids and three dogs to chase around.

In the above example, the third point could easily lead into a serious discussion about adopting a more active lifestyle for an article on health and fitness.

It could also lead into a humorous anecdote in a novel about two friends who are opposites.

In my last article, I talked about using opposites in humor, which is otherwise known as juxtaposition for you scholarly types. Check it out here.

2. Add an Unexpected Serious Ending to a List of Three

A list that starts out humorous but ends in a more normal tone is another method for catching the reader by surprise and introducing the topic in a memorable way.

The following example could be used to introduce the topic of why every writer should join a critique group.

The most successful road to publishing awakens delusions of grandeur, unearths deep-seated insecurities, and leads through a writer’s critique group that will help keep the author grounded somewhere in between.

3. Change-up a Well-Known List of Three

Can you fill in the last word in each of these lists?

Live, Love, _____.

Friends, Romans, _____.

The good, the bad, and the _____.

Surely every American knows these famous phrases. (If not, check the bottom of the post for the answers.) 

When we take a familiar list of three and change it up with something unfamiliar, we throw our reader off and make them laugh.

I came, I saw, I bought the t-shirt.

Click to learn how easy it is to add humor to your writing using The Rule of Three.

When well-done, The Rule of Three brings a smile to our readers’ faces, encourages them to keep reading, and results in smiling authors.

It’s a win-win. 

Not everything has to be grouped in three’s.

The answers to the blanks in #3 are:

Live, Love, Laugh. 

Friends, Romans, countrymen. 

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I came, I saw, I bought the t-shirt came from the famous quote by Julius Caesar: I came, I saw, I conquered. 

What are some favorite change-ups you’ve heard? Share them in the comments below. 

[bctt tweet=”Adding #Humor to Your Writing is as Easy as 1-2-3. The Rule of Three to be exact. #amwriting #author”]

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Write Justified

Are You Editing? or Editorializing?

Every writer needs an editor or at least a proofreader. Even experienced writers benefit from another pair of eyes reviewing what they have written before it goes to press.

According to Beth Hill at The Editor’s Blog, [bctt tweet=”An editor polishes and refines, he directs the focus of the story or article or movie along a particular course. “]He cuts out what doesn’t fit, what is nonessential to the purpose of the story. He enhances the major points, drawing attention to places where the audience should focus.”

In the newsroom, the editor is especially influential in directing what stories take top billing or which ones are below the fold or relegated to page six. The leanings of a newspaper or television station are evident by these decisions. The myth of an unbiased editor is just that—a myth.

On the editorial pages the publisher/editor may legitimately voice his/her opinion on local, national, or world affairs. But editorializing—expressing opinions within a factual news piece is unacceptable journalism.

On a recent get away to western Colorado, we discovered a local paper that engaged in a bit of editorializing in, of all sections, the local crime blotter. The results provided great hilarity over our morning coffee.

Under the heading, Busted in the Butte, (gotta love that!) we chuckled over these entries. (Note editorial comments in italics.)

A report was filed for a stolen license plate. Only one plate was taken, so the thief must have only needed the one.

  • Follow-up was done on a suspect who had pled guilty in in a bad check case and wasn’t paying the money back as agreed. His next stop could quite possibly be in front of a judge.

Even when the writer is not editorializing, he/she has a sense of humor that goes beyond “just the facts, Maam.”

  • A bike versus vehicle accident occurred near the Nordic Center. An investigation is ongoing, but regardless of the outcome, a bicyclist never “wins” in a collision with a vehicle.
  • A Marshal did a welfare check via text with an overdue female whose family was concerned about her whereabouts. She responded to the text and contacted her family.

I’m still wondering if the female in question was just late coming home, or pregnant and past her due date. And don’t you love a diligent marshal who employs the latest technology rather than old-fashioned footwork to solve a crime? (That’s me editorializing.)

And my favorite:

  • It was determined that a 911 hang-up with yelling in the background was not a case of domestic violence, but the case of a doggy that was in deep doo-doo because of his deep doo-doo in the house.

You know it’s a small town when these are the items that populate the crime blotter. And you have to appreciate the editor who permits this kind of editorializing. But don’t you try it.

Categories
Craft Writing with Humor

Five Ways to Add Humor Using Juxtaposition

Five Ways to Add Humor Using Juxtaposition via www.AlmostAnAuthor.com (@JeanWilund)

One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn’t belong . . .

Perhaps that should be the theme song for the useful literary device called juxtaposition.

Juxtaposition — positioning two or more characters, ideas, objects, or places beside each other in order to draw comparisons and contrasts — and for our purposes, a laugh.

Regardless of what genre you’re writing, juxtaposition is a powerful tool, especially when you want to add a touch of humor.

Below are five ways juxtaposition can add humor to your writing:

1. Juxtaposition Provides an Unexpected Laugh

A non-fiction author may write about a serious subject, but depending on the topic, he may still wish to add humor. (See How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics.)

Juxtaposition is a great way to inject humor and make any statement more memorable.

I read a poem recently by an unknown author. One line remains stuck in my head like the Nationwide theme hum by Peyton Manning, except I like this line: 

I thoroughly hate loving you.

What a perfect juxtaposition. Love and hate.

2. Juxtaposition Creates Interesting Conflict

Without conflict, there’s no story.

Novels, movies, and plays often feature lead characters with opposite attributes or personalities in order to create interesting conflict.

Consider the 1970’s TV series The Odd Couple.

The juxtaposition of the fussy, neat freak Felix Unger with his apathetic, sloppy roommate Oscar Madison created five seasons of TV fun and plenty of awards.

Watch the following opening theme song for The Odd Couple’s humorous juxtapositions:

Continue reading “Five Ways to Add Humor Using Juxtaposition”

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Craft Writing with Humor

More Is Caught Than Taught: A Fun Way to Develop Comedic Voice

Click to view: More Is Caught Than Taught: A Fun Way To Develop Your Comedic Voice by Jean Wilund via www.AlmostAnAuthor.com

More is caught than taught.

This truism haunted me as I raised three impressionable children. Now it inspires me as I seek to improve my humor skills.

It also gives me a great excuse to go out or stay in. Going out to the latest comedy now qualifies as needed research. Hunkering down at home with an amusing book is necessary study time.

This is not to say that all is caught and none is taught. Even if we were born with a comedic gift, writers need to examine the various forms and styles of humor such as epigrammatic, ironic, and farcical humor.

But not today.

Today we’ll focus on a less technical and more fun way to develop comedic voice. I suggest we watch and learn from the pros.

Grab your favorite witty book, blog, or magazine and a pen. Mark the lines that grab you. Then after you’re done laughing, study them.

Or watch a comedy and note the moments that stand out. Study those moments.

As I’ve done this, I’ve noticed a pattern emerge of the type of humor I prefer. This in turn reveals a course of study for improving my own comedic voice as I emulate my favorites and study their specific styles.

One of the blogs I study often is Jon Acuff‘s. He offers helpful and inspirational articles about career development in an entertaining manner. His sense of humor draws me in every time.

In his article 3 Reasons to Give Someone A Book For Christmas (12/15/15), Jon opens with the following:

Do you know when I realized I was an adult?

When I got luggage for Christmas and was excited.

I got a new suitcase and was thrilled/depressed. I was thrilled because it had a tri-fold department that would keep my shirts from getting wrinkled when I flew. I was depressed because I cared whether shirts got wrinkled.

As part of my studies, I watch a lot of comedies and comedians. Michael Jr. is my current favorite. He tells everyday life stories from a unique perspective with excellent timing. He’s helping me learn to stop and see the humor in life from a different angle. His take on being Jesus’ little brother is great study material.

My all-time favorite author to read and study is C.S. Lewis. I’ve never heard anyone call him a comedian, but I find much of his work not only insightful but quite humorous. The opening line in his book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is one of the best first lines ever written.

“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

What about you? If it’s true that more is caught than taught, which authors and comedians will you begin to study? Share your suggestions in the comments.

[bctt tweet=”More Is Caught Than Taught: A Fun Way to Develop Your Comedic Voice #AmWriting #Authors #Humor”]

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Craft Writing with Humor

Five Tips For How to Use Humor Effectively When Writing About Sensitive Topics

Five Tips for How to Use Humor Effectively When Writing About Sensitive Topics by Jean Wilund via www.AlmostAnAuthor.com

In my last post, How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics, I explained how working humor into the background of your article or story allows your message of hope to take center stage.

Today, we’ll look at just how to use humor effectively.

Follow these five simple tips to help lift the spirits of your readers.

1. Open with Light Humor.

Hint at hope from the start by opening with a little humor.

Revealing your acquaintance with pain, but also your ability to smile through it helps your reader trust your message.

This isn’t the time or place to tell a joke, though.

Instead, use a humorous anecdote or observation that strikes a familiar chord with your audience.

The level of humor you use will depend on your topic. The heavier your topic, the lighter your touch of humor should be.

2. Use Sarcasm Sparingly, if at all.

When dealing with sensitive topics, sarcasm can be risky.

In fact, at all times, sarcasm is risky.

I’m a great fan of this type of humor, but I’ve left an unfortunate wave of wounded by my misuse of it.

Consider leaving it to the professionals, or at least reserving it for light-hearted articles about kittens.

If not done well, it’s too likely to come out snarky or bitter.

3. Poke Fun at Yourself, Not Others

Laugh about your own pain, not other’s.

When your reader sees that you can laugh about your pain now — even just a little bit — it gives them hope that they’ll laugh again one day.

If you laugh at other’s pain, you’ll appear cruel and lose their trust.

Please note, I said to laugh at yourself, not tear yourself down.

Don’t make your audience uncomfortable by forcing them to watch you wallow in self-pity.

They won’t watch. They’ll walk away.

4. Know Your Audience

Your audience will determine how much humor is appropriate. What may offend one audience might make another laugh hysterically.

If your reader’s suffering makes your loss look like you simply misplaced your 30% off coupon at Kohl’s, your attempt at humor may appear to display a lack of compassion and poor judgment. Your message will fizzle or fall flat.

If your suffering equals or exceeds theirs, you get a free pass to make them laugh as much as you want — within reason, of course. Every audience, except the most coarse, appreciates tact.

5. Ask Someone To Read Your Article Out Loud

What seems humorous to us as we write it can sound the opposite when read by someone else.

Ask your friend, spouse, or critique partner to give their honest opinion of whether your humor is coming across as compassionate or crass.

If it sounds differently than you intended, you may only need to reword it. But you also might need to toss it.

Humor can help foster healing. Inappropriate humor impedes it.

Even Momentary Relief From Pain Can Be Welcome.

A friend of mine emailed me asking for prayer. Her father is suffering with the onset of dementia and recovering from a broken hip.

My father went through both at the same time as well. I understand the excruciating pain she’s experiencing watching him struggle.

I shared with her some of Dad’s and my more humorous moments from that time. She said, “Thanks for the stories. They made me laugh.”

Humor can punch a hole through your reader’s pain and give them momentary relief. Even the smallest relief from pain is welcome.

[bctt tweet=”Humor can punch a hole through your reader’s pain and give them momentary relief. #Writers #Authors #Humor”]

[bctt tweet=”5 Tips For Using Humor Effectively When Writing About Sensitive Topics. #Writers #Authors #Humor”]

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Craft Writing with Humor

How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics

How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics by Jean Wilund

At first glance, making people laugh when addressing a sensitive topic seems absurd, maybe even callous. But then again, a little humor used the right way can make a tough topic easier for your audience to handle.

Laughter Sets the Spirit Free

“Laughter sets the spirit free through even the most tragic circumstances.

It helps us shake our heads clear, get our feet back under us and restore our sense of balance.

Humor is integral to our peace of mind and our ability to go beyond survival.”

(POW Survivor Captain Gerald Coffee.)

Capt. Coffee spent seven years as a POW in North Vietnam at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” Speaking to a group one evening, Coffee told a story that showed how humor helped keep him sane. It started with a bite of bread.

“One day I took a bite out of my bread, and I looked at it, and I was inspired to compose my very first poem.

I said, ‘Little weevil in my bread, I think I just bit off … Coffee, you’ve got to be going off your rocker. How can you be sitting here in these abysmal circumstances laughing at your stupid little poem?’

But I was.

It just reminded me of that beautiful, traditional, axiomatic sense of humor that serves every single one of us each day.

I couldn’t do what I’ve done — you couldn’t do what you do — without that sense of humor.” [1]

[bctt tweet=”Laughter sets the spirit free through even the most tragic circumstances. – Capt. Gerald Coffee #Writers”]

Humor Hints at Hope

Just because we’re tackling a tough topics doesn’t mean we have to be grave in our delivery. We don’t want to depress the cheerful and drag the saddened down deeper. Instead, we can give hope to the hurting by inviting them to laugh with us through our tears.

We should never pretend a situation isn’t as serious as it is, but leaving our audience depressed will likely leave us without an audience, and they’ll miss our message.

Not long after subscribing to a certain blog, I had to give it up. The author continually wrote about sensitive subjects, professing hope, but consistently left me feeling only sadness.

I never sensed she was experiencing the joy she promised her readers. Her tone didn’t deliver what her words had promised.

To Laugh, or Not to Laugh

Not every topic we write about can be approached with humor, even light humor. Some experiences demand utmost seriousness. Wise judgment comes in handy at these times.

If it seems appropriate to the topic, your audience will thank you if you invite them to laugh.

Working humor into the background of sensitive topics can ease the blow and allow your message to take center stage.

In my next post, I’ll give five tips for how to use humor effectively when writing about a sensitive topic.

[bctt tweet=”How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics. #Writers #Authors”]

 1. RECORD OF SOCIETY OF ACTUARIES 1989 VOL. 15 NO, 3B

 

Categories
Truth Be Told

God in a Booger

Truth Not Lies Board Showing Honesty

“Mom, I think Tina could make a sermon illustration out of a booger.”

I saw the two of them giggling back in their pew as I delivered my sermon that morning. When service was over I cornered my friend and asked what she and her daughter found so humorous, since I obviously missed the joke.

She told me what her daughter said, and I couldn’t help but giggle myself.

Truth be told, I do believe we can find a spiritual implication and application in everything.

Isn’t that what Jesus did?

He wanted to make a point and the nearest thing at hand was a wineskin, or a woman’s sewing. As he walked the paths teaching a team of oxen, a fig tree, or an ear of corn became the vehicle to explain a truth.

Over and over Jesus called attention to the obvious and everyday things around him to point to the truth of God.

Look around you. What do you see? A leaf, a car, a baby? What do you hear? A siren, a bird song, a laugh?

Do you see God? He’s there. He wants to be seen. He wants to be shared.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 29:13-14a, NIV)

Oh, and just to relieve your wonderment: I’ve never preached about a booger!

[bctt tweet=”A sermon illustration out of a booger?#messgae #mess” via=”no”]

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A Lighter Look at the Writer's Life

Of Humble Pie and Closets

Navigating the publishing world can be a humbling experience. We write a piece that we think is going to take the world by storm. We edit and refine it and then submit it.

We wait. We get a rejection. Or an editor rips it to shreds.

Big slice of humble pie, anyone?

Meeting industry professionals can be an intimidating and humbling experience as well. I must say that the agents and editors I have met are nice, down-to-earth people, but I still get nervous when I meet them. That was especially the case the first time I had an appointment with an agent at a writers conference.

It was my initial visit to Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, NC. If you’ve never been to BRMCWC, register NOW. It’s like Disney World for aspiring Christian writers.

If you have ever met me, you know I’m one of the most outgoing people on the planet. I love people and will talk to anyone or anything, even a tree, and I love to laugh. However, I walked into the registration area at that first BRMCWC, looked at all the people and wondered “What am I doing here?”

When it came time for that first appointment, I was fidgety and didn’t know what to do with myself. I was understandably excited and nervous about meeting a real-live, big-time agent. I prayed and felt God telling me in my spirit, “be yourself.” I sat down, handed the agent my card and introduced myself.

We had an easy rapport, and the 15-minutes seemed to fly by. He requested I send him a proposal and agreed to keep in touch. I was on Cloud Nine.

I got up and turned around to leave. That year at Blue Ridge the appointments were held in a big room near the cafeteria, and there was a wall of doors, with only one leading to the hallway. I chose a door and walked out of the meeting area . . . into a closet filled with tables.

I’m not sure how many people noticed my faux pas, because I was too embarrassed to turn around. I backed out of the closet, found the real exit door, and took off as fast as I could.

I think God allows embarrassing things like this one to remind me to not take myself too seriously. Writing and publishing are serious endeavors, but ultimately God is in control. If I keep myself humble, I’ll remember that and won’t let the rejections and the criticisms get to me.

Get yourself to BRMCWC—they have nice closets.

[bctt tweet=”Get yourself to BRMCWC—they have nice closets. #BRMCWC #authors” via=”no”]

[bctt tweet=”Big slice of humble pie, anyone? #BRMCWC #writer” via=”no”]