 | 4 Dec 06 |
Humor, like voice, isn’t something that can be taught. It’s intrinsic to who we are and how we view the world. I do think that if humor can be coaxed out and nurtured until it works better. For me, in my earlier work, I fought my natural voice that has an edge of humor to fit what I thought was the market.
Big mistake. And it’s part of the reason I didn’t publish. As each book progressed, my natural humor emerged and my writing improved.
I thought I’d talk a little bit about how I use humor. First for humor to work, the reader has to relate on some level.
In my Samantha Shaw series I use some slapstick humor or physical comedy. That kind of humor requires two things—a believable character and a good set up. Janet Evanovich is a natural at doing this. What makes the reader relate to this kind of humor is that they’ve had some experience with it, even if it’s just a fear of it happening to them. They can identify with the character in the situation. Or the situation presses an emotional button. A good example is a scene where I had Sam decide to surprise her boyfriend in her birthday suit. I build this up for a little bit, having Samantha get up the nerve then she walks into the room, drops her towel and flashes a sexy smile.
Only her boyfriend isn’t alone. Another woman, a beautiful woman is there. Can you feel Sam’s embarrassment? That’s a sympathy laugh. The reader connects to Samantha’s predicament and can easily imagine it happening to her.
But wait, it gets worse. Sam’s immediate reaction is flight. She’s going to get the hell out of there! She turns to run and trips over the towel….and it goes on.
Okay you get the idea. I get a lot of comments on this scene. But I also want to point out that this scene led to an emotional scene between Sam and her boyfriend. I used the humor scene to reveal emotion in the next scene. I did not just throw in this scene for no reason. The scene has a purpose and moved the story forward.
View of the World Humor or Sarcasm. This is the one liners often tossed off by characters that make us smile. They make reading fun and fast paced—unless it’s poorly done then it’s tedious. What makes this kind of humor work? It has to be a part of the author’s natural voice. Anyone who readers my Sam books and knows me, can recognize my voice. I relate to how Samantha sees the world, internalizes it then verbalizes it. I recently read a cozy where the author does not have that voice but tried to force it. I couldn’t finish the book. It just didn’t work.
Plot Humor. This is where you set up the premise with humor. I did this for my novella in the Sun, Sand, Sex anthology coming out in June. A woman is accused of assault and battery with a staple gun. Sound ridiculous? It was ridiculous and set off a chain of events that made her a fugitive with a bounty hunter after her. But—this is key—as funny as that is, I used the humor to bring out the emotions of the character. We learn later that she is the family scape goat and they BLAMED HER for attacking the man with a staple gun when it was really self defense. Make humor work for you!
Character Humor. Create strong characters with issues, and then give them humor as a means of coping. I did this in THE SEX ON THE BEACH BOOK CLUB. This is probably the toughest humor in some ways. It must be natural, and organic to the character’s personality. It’s the little things that become through lines in the book. Holly Hillbay is a kick ass private eye and she is gloating when she gets one up on Wes. Wes gets her back by calling her HillBABY, which makes Holly nuts. Now throughout the book, I have Wes calling her Hillbaby now and again to irritate her or to bring her down a peg. That’s just a single example off the top of my head. Keep it natural and it’ll work.
Cruel Humor. This is making fun of someone in embarrassing circumstances. Remember the scene above when Sam surprised her boyfriend naked but he wasn’t alone? A beautiful woman was with him? What if her boyfriend had turned to the woman with him and said, “Ever seen such a fat ass?” and they both laughed? That would be cruel and ugly and we’d hate him. Not funny. You can do that with your bad guys but not your good guys. However Sam’s boyfriend in the book didn’t do that so he got to live!
I think that’s enough for now! Just a couple things to remember when writing humor:
1) Humor must be a part of your natural voice
2) For humor to work, it must evoke an emotion in your readers (sympathy, empathy, shock, etc.) that makes them identify with the character.
3) Humor must have a purpose in the story or it’s just pointless filler that bores readers.
What about you all? What humor has worked or not worked for you in books?
© 2006 – 2009, Jennifer Lyon. All rights reserved.
Award winning author, Jennifer Lyon, always wanted to be a witch. Since her witch-powers never materialized, she went onto Plan B and now she creates magic in her books. In her new series, the author of the acclaimed Samantha Shaw Mystery Series (written as Jennifer Apodaca) introduces the Witch Hunters, legendary men who must overcome a curse to team up with witches and fight evil.
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Hi Jen,
GREAT post! I discovered my natural humorous voice while writing my blog, TRAPPED BY THE MORMONS. I found that the best way to respond to angry mail is to use humor, gentle and slightly sarcastic. And that is where Jenny T. Partridge evolved from.
by Natalie R. Collins December 4th, 2006 at 8:56 amMy husband and oldest son are natrual comics. Moi? I have my moments but they are few and far between. Therefore I don’t try to write it. If it comes naturaly in a scene it stays, but I won’t, don’t, can’t force it.
by Karin December 4th, 2006 at 9:27 amThe humor I like best is presented in a self-deprecating manner. If a person can’t laugh at themselves, they shouldn’t be allowed to laugh at others!
by Meretta ~ American Title Finalist December 4th, 2006 at 11:55 amI love reading humor because I can’t write it. I’m a little quirky with what I like. I love the banter in the THIN MAN series (Edie and I love the movies!) The only time I can get even close to humor in my books is in dialogue, but it’s few and far between.
I tried to write humor once. I don’t know if Karin ever read part of FISH OR CUT BAIT but it was my attempt at a humorous chick lit type mystery. I failed. Yeah, there were some funny parts, but I couldn’t sustain it. My agent read what I’d written (about 150 pages) and basically said what I was good at (character) and what I was bad at (humor, both the premise and the other stuff.) I might bring Gemma (my heroine) back some day because I really liked her, even though she’s totally unlike any female protagonist I’ve written.
I think Jen Apodaca rocks and I can’t wait for the SEX ON THE BEACH book. I need humor every now and again because I write so dark. That’s why I like Evanovich and Crusie. Particularly Crusie. I swear, WELCOME TO TEMPTATION is one of my all-time favorite books.
And wait until you all read Toni McGee Causey’s Bobbie Faye series! Talk about a natural humor!!!
by Allison Brennan December 4th, 2006 at 12:26 pmNatalie, you just made a great case for blogging! Jenny is hilarious!
Karin, I think you can be really funny! But not in a slapstick way.
Meretta, that should be a golden rule! If you can’t laugh at yourself, don’t laugh at others.
by Jen December 4th, 2006 at 12:26 pmAllison, wow, thank you! Way to brighten up my Monday
Could you turn Gemma into a secondary character in a book? Give her a POV, but she wouldn’t need to substain a whole story?
by Jen December 4th, 2006 at 12:37 pmAllison said, “I don’t know if Karin ever read part of FISH OR CUT BAIT”
Um, yes, I do recall it.
by Karin December 4th, 2006 at 12:38 pmWow, Allison, THANK YOU. And I didn’t realize Welcome to Temptation was one of your favorites — it’s one of mine, as well, and cracks me up again even on a re-read.
Jen, I love your points — humor can be used on many levels and finding that angle of the absurd which does multiple duties is the trick. It’s got to be funny, organic to the character but not predictable, and then it’s got to in some small way, further the character’s growth and the plot for the story. I love writing humor, but man, it’s a scary high wire act because you never really know until others read it if you’re pulling off something funny or if it’s going to fall flat.
by toni mcgee causey December 4th, 2006 at 9:00 pmToni, oh man that is so true about not knowing if the humor works until you get readers opinions. That’s true of most everything we do in our books. In my case, what’s in my head doesn’t always make it onto the page and I have to go back and rework it.
by Jen December 5th, 2006 at 8:02 amI’m so far behind this week.
Excellent post and very right on Jen. Some people need to stay far away from humor. And those who are sadistic with their humor are the first ones who should be burned at the stake. I’m with Meretta, self deprecating humor is good. She will love Jenny T. and Samantha Shaw.
by Cele December 6th, 2006 at 12:09 am