How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics

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]

Laughter sets the spirit free through even the most tragic circumstances. - Capt. Gerald Coffee #Writers Share on X

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.

How Humor Helps When Writing About Sensitive Topics. #Writers #Authors Share on X

---

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