LINDSEY’S WRITING PRACTICE

Writing Exercise: What Wasn’t Funny Exercise

All too often the American literary establishment, i.e… the literati, often holds humorous writing in low esteem, reasoning that if something is funny, it can’t be serious. This, of course, is absurd. Consider persons in dire circumstances (such as in the film and later TV series, MASH: Don’t they often tell jokes to ease tension or to make a situation more tolerable?)

Even such “serious” writers as John Steinbeck will create a humorous scene, such as a pregnant woman waddling down a dusty road. And some of our top historic writers, such as Mark Twain, are renowned for using humor with an underlying current of seriousness.

So, now that we’ve debunked this false notion about humor, it’s time to have fun.

The Exercise:

Think of something happening to you that didn’t seem funny at the time. For example, a bee or a fly might have flown into your auto when you were stuck in a traffic jam. Or perhaps a roommate (or your child) set your stove on fire, and firemen tore it from the wall and tossed it into the backyard. Draw the incident into the humor spotlight and transform it so it emphasizes things that will evoke your reader’s smile or laughter.

Remember how important pacing is to humor. Critical details become crucial, too. But the last thing you want to do is tell the reader you’re about to lay a funny story on her/him. Surprise the reader with the zaniness.

The Objective:

Because humor resides largely in what attitude you assume toward your material (i.e. the tone), you must be able to discover the comic, the exaggerated, and the unlikely. Remember, too, that you could just as likely take the fly/bee story and make it tragic: The bee stings the driver, smashes into another car, killing an infant in the back seat. Obviously, you’ll want to avoid such a “turn.”

About Lindsey Martin-Bowen

On Halloween 2023, redbat books released Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s 7th poetry collection, CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison. Her 4th collection, Where Water Meets the Rock, was nominated for a Pulitzer; her 3rd, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 Contest. In 2017, it won the Kansas Writers Assn award, “Looks Like a Million.” Writer’s Digest gave her “Vegetable Linguistics” an Honorable Mention in its 85th Annual (2017) Contest. Her Inside Virgil’s Garage (Chatter House Press 2013) was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Poetry Book Award. McClatchy Newspapers named her Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press/Washburn University) was one of the Ten Top Poetry Books of 2008. It was nominated for a Pen Award.

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This segment of “Lindsey’s Writing Practice” is sponsored by Undawnted.

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