Subject: Re: Help with humor
Author:
Posted on: 2010-07-08 11:27:00 UTC
I know the feeling, my humour has two settings: "Snark" and "Dead Babies". Neither of which are that good for lighthearted fun-poking.
Most of what I read being serious Sci-fi or Fantasty doesn't help too much either.
I don't know why, but I tend to be humor-impaired. Not such a good thing when you're trying to write for a humorous group.
Also, I've noticed that how good I am at funny is inversely related to the time it's been since I read a Discworld book. (As time increases, funny decreases).
I realize a sense of humor isn't really something that can be learned, but does anyone have any pointers? Suggestions? Generic helpful comments?
I know the feeling, my humour has two settings: "Snark" and "Dead Babies". Neither of which are that good for lighthearted fun-poking.
Most of what I read being serious Sci-fi or Fantasty doesn't help too much either.
This is the reason there were four years between the time I joined and the time I wrote my first actual PPC story. {= p
I know what you mean about Discworld, too--I tend to mimic the style of things I've just read. Hence, there are times I can spot definite Pratchettian moments in my writing, and other spots are more Tolkien-esque. It's a little weird.
However, there are a few things I've noticed over the years, and maybe they'll help. The main thing is to get as specific as you can when describing things. Don't say "it was totally bizarre" when you can say "it was like a duck trying to tap-dance while bouncing on a trampoline." ... I have no idea what that description might apply to, but I'm pretty sure somebody somewhere will giggle when they read it, because it's ridiculous, and ridiculous is funny.
Another thing is timing, and that's hard to control in writing. You have to direct your readers' eye to see what you want when you want for maximum impact, like a comedian building up for the punchline. If you slip and reveal the punch during the setup, it's not funny anymore.
There is also exaggeration/hyperbole, either in the over-the-top sense or in vast understatement. Using these two things (with specific description) to create contrast can also work. We're pretty well wired to respond to contrast, so that's really a separate tip unto itself. That's why having "odd couple" agents works so well.
And that's all I can think of at the moment. For a study in the art of awesomely amusing PPCs, I recommend the works of Tungsten_Monk, now available here on the PPC Lost Tales archive.
~Neshomeh
It's true for me too. I usually write in a similar style to what I've just read. This is why it's important to read good books when you're an author.
If you don't have any good books, I would agree that Tungsten_Monk is an excellent substitute. I discovered the PPC through the OS, but Tungsten's stories are why I decided to write missions.
I haven't seen those missions; did you track them down?
Anyway, yeah, I have problems with humor, too. It's very frustrating; sometimes I seem to be inspired and capable of writing some laugh-worthy stuff; and other times it'll be trite or boring. And I can never predict when I'm going to be suddenly able to write humor. Needless to say, this annoys me.
I also tend to have issues with writing natural dialogue; any tips on that? It may not help that I have a tendency to interrupt or monologue IRL, and I have a hard time not having my characters monologue similarly. I've been trying to get the stiffness out for a long while and still haven't really succeeded.
I've had them sitting around waiting to be put up for a while, I'm afraid. It was Tawaki who finally got it done.
As for dialogue, I don't know if I'm the best person to offer tips, because the only way I can describe how I do it is that I hear it in my head. (No, I have not been diagnosed with any serious psychiatric condition, why do you ask?) But really, when I write it's like I'm hearing it all and transcribing it. So, I guess the best advice is to think of someone who talks the way you want your character to talk, and imagine them saying it.
Don't forget to include facial expressions and gestures, though. Those things are just as important as the words used, and they make a nice change from he-said, she-said dialogue tags. I saw an interesting guide to that stuff on deviantART recently... want the link?
~Neshomeh
Reading it out loud to yourself or someone else also helps. It helps for catching typos, missing words, and repeated words. Maybe if you can't read to anyone else, you could record it and listen to the play back as you read along with it. Anyway, I always catch a lot of errors and strange sounding phrases when I do that.
The Non-Verbal Thesaurus by OokamiKasumi, whose entire gallery of writing tutorials is pretty sweet.
~Neshomeh
I'm pretty humor impaired too, perhaps even more than you. It's something I've never really understood well...
Yeah.
You don't have to use giggle-humour to make others laugh - a well-placed dry or sarcastic comment could do the same. Also, if you (or your characters) take everything Utterly Seriously, it could work out to be amusing, too. Of course, it won't always, so I suppose that in itself is not much help.
...I think your remark about about Discworld is pretty humorous in itself.
As a formerly humour-impaired one myself, the best thing to do in my opinion is resort to sarcasm... It's not the best approach to make new friends, but it's exceptional for entertaining existing friends or, in cases like this one, to make readers laugh (or at least I laugh at sarcastic remarks).