~~~Lara Zielin~~~

Rhonda Stapleton is just one of those authors I dare you not to like. She’s smart, funny, and her book, STUPID CUPID, a romantic comedy, comes out this December.

Many authors (and I speak from experience here) think we’re funny when maybe … not so much. So how do you fold comedy into your writing? What makes something funny? Rhonda is going to tell us all about it today on the blog. And, as ever, there’s a $10 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card up for grabs for one lucky commenter.

Take it away Rhonda!

Lara, I wanted to quickly thank you for hosting me–I’m thrilled to be here today!

My name is Rhonda Stapleton, and I write YA romantic comedy. I’ve always been a fan of books that can make me laugh–they stay on my keeper shelf for a long, long time.

As I started writing comedy, I realized just how freaking hard it is to make someone consistently laugh. And not just one person, but many, many people who might potentially read my story (oh man, I hope so. LOL). It’s like going up to complete strangers and telling jokes–some might think you’re really funny and laugh hard. Some may chuckle a little. Some might shrug, but will keep on listening to you. And some may outright get irritated, because HELLO, you were supposed to be funny, and since you didn’t make them laugh it’s totally false advertising, and now they’re going to tell everyone on Goodreads and Amazon how unfunny you are.

Welcome to the challenging world of comedy writing!

For anyone interested in writing comedy, here are a few tips from auntie Rhonda. Take these all with a grain of salt, of course–comedy is sometimes very personal, and what works for one person may not work for all.

1–TIMING. IS. EVERYTHING. Seriously. You have to fit the jokes into the writing at the right time, or else it will fall flat. Some jokes are one-liners, while others may extend an entire scene or more. So, decide what’s right for that joke and run with it. Sometimes, you want to set up a joke slowly, get people anticipating it, and then give them a good payoff. Sometimes though, it’s good to flat-out surprise someone and not let them see it coming. How many times have you been reading and then come across a line that was so unexpected and funny, you laughed out loud? I love those moments. *happy sigh*

2–There are different kinds of funny out there in the world–don’t be afraid to mix it up and pull from all of them! Sometimes a situation itself is funny. Sometimes there are funny-looking people (yes, that’s not PC of me to say, but there you go). Sometimes your characters may say funny things. Physical/visual humor doesn’t always work well in a book though. I’d keep the pratfalls to a minimum–reading about a woman slipping on a banana peel, or a guy getting punched in the joeys, just doesn’t make me laugh. Okay, maybe the second one does a little.

3–Keep in mind that humor is different for genders, too–what makes guys laugh and girls laugh are often very different. You can look online for more details about this, but it’s a good idea to keep this in mind.

4–Shock humor can be SUPER effective when done right. However, be careful not to overuse, or your entire story will simply seem too over-the-top, and the humor will lose its effectiveness. I tend to avoid the crazy shock humor for the most part and instead go for exaggeration–I find making a situation crazier than it normally would have been is very fun to write. Or, on the flip side, understatement can often be really funny too–if a character has some wild, crazy event going on, and then makes a really low-key statement about it that is obviously not the appropriate reaction, that can often be funny.

5–Often, the funniest things aren’t wild situations you made up, or over-the-top shock humor, but REAL LIFE. Life is weird and ironic and unfair and cruel and totally ripe for plucking humorous situations from. Look around you, see what’s going on in your life. Listen to what people say. How can you use those situations? Great humor, in my opinion, usually has a flare of reality and heart behind it, so the reader can identify with it and comisserate with you.

6–You can’t win all the time. It sucks, but you’re never going to make everyone laugh. Trust me, I’ve tried. Dear GOD, I’ve tried (ps, desperation wins you neither a date, nor a laugh, *sigh*). Unfortunately, there are lonely, bitter, evil sadsacks out there in the world who were somehow born without a funnybone. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit–that’s what I do. LOL. Anyway, as mentioned before, humor is personal, individual. Not everyone is going to like what you write, and THAT IS PERFECTLY OKAY. That’s the risk you take–but let me tell you, the intense pleasure of having a joke make someone lose it and laugh hard is the BEST feeling in the world. To me, it’s worth the risk.

So, what are your favorite comedic movies or books or TV shows? What elements in the humor make them work for you? I’d love to hear about it, and I’ll leave a comment here with my own examples.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 1:20 pm and is filed under other writers, writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.