How to Make Your Writing Funny
My most recent takeaways from a masterclass on writing humorous stories.
Personally, I find it difficult to write funny material. One of my friends recommended a masterclass on humor writing, and I thought it would be fun to share some suggestions with my fellow writers and readers.
Humor is a tool that can be employed in a variety of writing styles. Knowing how to write humorous writing and making people laugh out loud is a valuable ability to have. If you’re a magazine freelancer, a blogger, or a fiction writer, humor can help. You don’t have to do stand-up comedy or be a sitcom comedy writer to add a little humor to your stories. Use these tips to bring out your inner comedian and incorporate humor into your writing.
Although it may seem paradoxical, but comedy is essential to a dramatic story. No matter what genre you write in, you need your audience to feel a variety of emotions. A tried-and-true approach of establishing the different emotional texture that a story requires is through comic relief.
- Allow the humor to come to you organically
Don’t try too hard(which I did). Think about how you would tell your best friend a funny story that happened to you. Use your natural sense of humor, timing, and rhythm, and know when a funny moment fits into your story. Slide funny words, humorous stories, and one-liners into your text where it feels right.
If you look closely and notice ordinary everyday objects around you, you will find a lot of funny things.
The cat is dancing in an unusual manner.
Playing like best buddies, a cat, and a dog.
Cab driver wearing a t-shirt that says “love is hard.”
- Observational Humor
The most amusing writing is built on universal experiences that your audience can relate to. To emphasize the ridiculousness of your observations of the world, write them from a different perspective. Even the banalest aspects of daily existence can be made into amusing objects. For example, the TV show Seinfeld used comedy writing to convert real-life situations into amusing sketches.
My learning to implement the above strategy is to ask — what if?
- What if two of your friends show up at a party wearing an identical dresses?
- What if your uber driver raps the entire ride and responds to you in rap?
- What if a friend sets fire to your office and blames it on the ghost?
- What if your boss steals office snacks from the cupboard?
- Use the Surprise Element Theory
“The secret to humor is surprise” — Aristotle.
Imagine the smartest guy in the room, doing the dumbest thing. In a serious meeting, the boss farts. OR doofus of your friend outwits the brainiac. We tend to laugh in such situations because we didn't see it coming. We laugh at things that seem out of place.
- Imagine cat dating a dog.
- Instead of killing or eating the turkey — adopt the bird as a pet.
- A priest rapping on stage while praying.
The unexpected is the key to good comedy. Combine seemingly contradictory ideas.
- Create Connections and Embrace the Impossible
Choose a word in your mind and jot it down — I choose “pasta”. You can choose anything and start making connections.
what does pasta make me think of? what treasured memory do I have of eating the last pasta dish? who serves the best of pasta?
Once connections are done - embrace the impossible. Stretch reality a bit in your story. “I am so lonely I could talk to pasta in my bowl”(as they remind me of small humans ). That common phrase emphasizes a point by making an extreme, unrealistic statement. Humor often utilizes absurd, unbelievable scenarios.
or “I’m so hungry I could eat your cat.”(as the restaurant stop serving pasta).
- Keep your jokes short
An extended setup to a joke may be part of a stand-up comedian’s act. Their goal is to create amusing short stories with a terrific punchline, creating tension for a big payoff at the end. It’s not the same as standing in front of an awestruck audience when you’re adding humor to your writing. You want to include humor into a nice story rather than have them dominate it. Keep your setups to a minimum. If you take too long to convey the full story, your readers will lose interest and your joke will lose momentum.
- Write for your target audience
Every comedy writer knows that a joke that is hilarious to one group of people may not be funny to another. Humor is a highly personal experience. What makes a group of parents laugh is not the same as what makes a group of high school students laugh. Topics that your target audience can connect to should be the focus of your amusing stories and comedy.
- Accept that you have the potential to be funny
Some people are better at writing humor than others, but everyone has the ability to be amusing. Try it out and discover how you might incorporate comedy into your story, novel, or speech. Find a character to channel your humor through — perhaps your primary character has a sidekick and he channels humor.
- Master timing
Comedy writing is all about creating short story arcs that culminate in a hilarious punchline. Laughter is the prize for a well-crafted story. Instead of slathering your essay with humorous words to induce a laugh, be thoughtful and deliberate while creating humor.
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to humor; it’s a matter of trial and error, and you have to keep trying.
