12/20/2023 0 Comments Short things to write about![]() ![]() Sometimes a humor piece is written from the point of view of a publication or a reviewer. Here’s an example where I see the mysterious, unidentified narrator come up. In humor writing, and perhaps in all writing, when the answer to this question is non-obvious or nonexistent, the reader is confused. Not identifying your mysterious narratorĪ writing teacher of mine, Allison K Williams, occasionally asked me a good question: “Who is speaking here and why?” But starting more specifically is usually the stronger choice. In online humor, attention spans are short, and specific headlines help you sell the piece.Ĭan vague headlines, vague situations, or very general premise ideas translate into quality humor writing? Yes, it’s possible. Also, the piece was published in a popular print magazine where it is less crucial to hook the reader with a specific, funny headline. However, the actual piece is about an extremely specific and funny situation. In Jack Handey’s New Yorker piece “ Recent Articles Of Mine,” the title is intentionally quite vague. I’m sure you could point to certain funny pieces with vaguer titles. Here’s the fix: Instead of a general piece titled, “Some Amusing Thoughts I Had About Relationships,” try something more like this: “Some Thoughts I Had About Relationships The Moment My Drunk Husband Fell Overboard On Our Norwegian Cruise.” They are also perhaps a bit indulgent: the author couldn’t be bothered to package their humor in a way that’s precise and coherent, so they just threw their witty thoughts down on a draft with a vague and bland title. These pieces usually come across as jumbled and random. “Some amusing thoughts I had about dating and sex.” “Things that really piss me off about life!” The humor piece might have a title like this: Both pieces hinge on a specific premise that is heightened in a precisely absurd way.Īs a humor editor, I will see submissions where the writer had some vague idea for a rant, or they had some collection of witticisms that they wanted to publish. Or “ 12 Totally True Myths About Redheads” by Sarah Hutto. The same is true for the humor premise and the headline of the piece itself.Ĭonsider classic humor pieces like, “ It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers” by Colin Nissan. Premise-driven humor thrives on specifics. Using a premise that’s too vague or broad It’s time to unwrap five more fairly common humor writing mistakes. And let me assure you, I have made all of these mistakes myself - dozens of times! Well, in my practical experience as an editor and a writer of short humor, there are certain things that can hold your humor back. ![]() “Don’t tell me what’s a mistake, humor is subjective!” Then they would throw small rocks at me. Others would get argumentative over the word “mistake.” People kept saying, “Tell me more humor mistakes! I want to know them all!” Then they would throw gold coins at me. I’ve gotten some interesting feedback on my previous piece, Top 10 Short Humor Writing Mistakes: Advice From an Editor. Reading thousands of humor submissions - and analyzing them at the atomic level - has taught me a lot about funny writing. I’ve also been an editor of Slackjaw, a humor publication on Medium, since 2018. Short humor (or “premise humor” as we sometimes call it in the biz) is an addictive, rewarding, and chameleon-like form of writing. I’ve been writing short humor pieces for several years, f or various publications. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |