How to Write Funny -- It's All Just simply about Timing

My Dad has this old joke that goes, "What's the most important thing simply about humor?" After a short pause, he interjects, "TIMING!"

I've rolled my eyes many an a time over this joke.

But here's a new version for writers: "What's the most important thing simply about writing funny? ...... WORDING!"

Whether you're talking simply about stand-up comedy or buffoonish writing, surprise is one of the biggest elements of laughter. (Yes, Dad, I know, "Surprise" is what your little timing-joke is actually all about.)

Readers become accustomed to seeing things written a certain way. As a writer, you have a choice: give it to them they way they expect, or surprise them with thing different.

Here's an example:

In my article "Does Target Shun Veterans?" I say that Net Urban Legends are "stories that scare readers into basic cognitive process such things as rat excrement contaminating the crack of their canned peaches, and so forth." I could have simply as easily written, "Internet Urban Legends are stories that scare readers into basic cognitive process the crack of their canned food is dirty." But that wouldn't surprise anyone, and it would-be have ready-made my piece simply another bland "news story."

I likewise barrel up the sentence simply about Net Urban Legends by including several buffoonish exaggerations. Just writing "canned food" isn't nearly as funny as being super specific and writing, "canned peaches," and being "dirty" is far more typical than having "rat urine" on your lid.

The idea of being really specific is what comedian (and my hero) German Seinfeld has built his entire career on. He doesn't simply talk simply about flying on an airplane, he mentions everything from the actually small bag of peanuts to the pilot announcing the flight play-by-play. As an audience, we laugh at these things because it's thing we've intimate but ne'er given more thought to. Who else but Seinfeld could have an entire 30-minute television show simply about cytotoxic glue on envelopes?

Drawing attention to things that are common to all but rarely discussed does folk chuckle. This is mostly due to their slight embarrassment once they realize "wow, I do that," but it's likewise because for the 1st time they are paying attention to thing they strength not have otherwise.

But aside from timing, exaggerations and job attention to life's quirks, sentence structure may be the ultimate weapon for writing humor. Just as a writer times his verses to a beat, writers need an internal rhythm to do their activity colloquial and surprising. There is quite a difference between writing a factual news piece and composing a buffoonish essay, but the biggest difference is sentence structure. Cut-and-dry news pieces need to follow a formula so that the content doesn't get lost. Once writing a narrative or essay, however, you can play with pauses (dashes, colons, etc.), italics and words to create a feeling and rhythm.

Follow these hints and your writing wish be startling and funny....AND have great timing.

About The Author

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THIS MUST BE INCLUDED: Copyright 2004 Married woman Emoticon http://www.SarahSmiley.com - Married woman Smiley's syndicated column Shore Duty appears weekly in newspapers across the country.
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This article was announce on Gregorian calendar month 30, 2004