The Two-Fold Question:
Take a situation your characters are in: what’s the worst thing that could happen now? And what’s the funniest?
A character or theme can lend itself to humor. The comedic relief character. How is it beneficial? What are the challenges?Something someone says, points out, does, or does to. By putting the character’s intended function before their natural characteristics you run the risk of creating a character who feels fake. Just there for pure purpose of making the readers laugh, but really they become irritating.
What you find funny versus what the reader will find funny. So much of what makes us laugh depends on our previous experience, education, age and gender. You wont make everyone laugh.
Use these techniques: surprise, unexpected, sarcasm, exaggeration, words with double meaning. This is different from making your character funny to the reader.
Staying away from humor from a particular character because they’re they ‘strong and silent’ type isn’t always a good thing. Remember that tragedy is the root of all comedy. Maybe their socially awkward? Or have an embarrassing secret? You hit two birds with one stone. 1. There is room for humor. 2. The characterization and backstory of the character can be revealed in a natural way.
Satire: taking things too far can hinder the reader’s experience. Don’t over do it.
Some examples:
1. Writing style and Narration
“The door to Reg’s set of rooms in college was up a winding set of wooden stairs in the corner of Second Court, and was not well lit, or rather it was perfectly well lit when the light was working, but the light was not working, so the door was not well lit and was, furthermore, locked.”
2. Characters
´Through dialogue Ol’ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Mrs Bennet asks if Mr Bennet has no compassion for her ‘poor nerves’ to which Mr Bennet replies:
“You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.”
3. Context
In Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens, the four horsemen of the apocalypse have regular day jobs true to their mythological purposes.
“MEALSTM was CHOWTM with added sugar and fat. The theory was that if you ate enough MEALSTM you would a) get very fat, and b) die of malnutrition. The paradox delighted Sable”
additional resources:
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