Humor makes people laugh. It makes us feel good, and if you do it correctly, humor makes writing unforgettable and share-worthy. Are you finding writing with humor to be a stumbling block in your work? Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a full-time comedian to add a bit of levity to your prose.
The following are four simple tricks to help lighten up your writing.
1. Twist a Cliché
In our blog on Ways to Find Your Unique Writing Style, we talked about saying goodbye to clichés. Clichés are those worn-out expressions and ideas that writers have overused to the point that they’ve lost their original impact.
However, when you are writing with humor, try twisting a cliché with a surprise ending to make it original. A creative – and quirky – twist can leave the reader with a smile. Here are some examples from Write Directions:
- Cliché: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Twisted: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence — because your neighbor uses pesticides.
- Cliché:Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Twisted: Where there’s a will, there’s a family fighting over it.
- Cliché: He who laughs last, laughs best. Twisted: He who laughs last thinks slowest.
By freshening up a tired phrase, you can take your writing to a humorous place. Imagine any of the twisted clichés above in the voice of your narrator or one of your characters. How do they sound? If you are not sure how to identify a cliché, try Cliché Finder, an online tool where you can drop in a block of text, and the program will highlight any overused phrases.
2. Try Déjà Vu
In comedy, comedic writers use a sense of shared familiarity to make a clever association at the end of their joke or set. This method acts as a callback because the audience is reminded of the funny bit they heard earlier or can relate to.
When writing with humor, the idea of déjà vu is to reintroduce your reader something funny your narrator talked about earlier in the story. You can use this trick to remind people of a weird remark a character made. Maybe it’s a touchpoint back to one of the twisted clichés that you want to reshare with your readers.
For déjà vu (or the callback) to work, the statement must be memorable, and it must be forgettable so that when you connect to it a second time, your reader is delightfully surprised.
3. Use Gigantic Proportions
When writing with humor, a useful tool is to exaggerate proportions to the extreme. When doing so, you create a mismatch between what the reader knows is true and the exaggerated image your comparison makes. If you stretch your exaggeration and embellish it as far as it will go, you can entertain your readers.
Here are some examples I found online that illustrate this technique when used for character stereotypes and development:
- The female Diva is so vain that whenever she sees her reflection, she pauses to appreciate it.
- The dumb jock is so clueless he doesn’t realize the football helmet he misplaced is on his head.
- The nerdy geek is so socially awkward he talks to computers like they’re people.
Also, think about the classic writers who use exaggeration like this example from Mark Twain describing the experience of eating his first sour tamarind:
They pursed my lips till they resembled the stem-end of a tomato, and I had to take my sustenance through a quill for twenty-four hours. They sharpened my teeth till I could have shaved with them and gave them a wire edge that I was afraid would stay, but a citizen said, “no, it will come off when the enamel does” – which was comforting at any rate.
4. Add Word Tweaks and Witty Words
Think about the words you choose and know that some words are funnier than others. It’s been proven that people find words with the consonants p, b, d, g, t, or k funnier. Knowing this, you can turn to your thesaurus to find amusing sounding synonyms for drab, everyday words.
Here are some examples:
- Instead of hurrying, try bustling
- Instead of chaos, try brouhaha
- Instead of misleading, try duping
Some Closing Points
Writing with humor may feel risky because you don’t want to offend your readers, or maybe it’s outside your comfort zone. If you are starting to add humor – or need some practice refining your delivery – here are some do’s and don’ts to keep in mind.
- Think about what makes you laugh and use your brand of humor.
- Don’t overdose your readers because a little humor can go a long way.
- Try poking fun at situations and relatable habits.
- Don’t use putdowns or gender-bashing, racist, humor.
- Don’t use other writer’s jokes because you can run the risk of a lawsuit. (See our blog on A Writer’s Guide for Avoiding Legal Issues.)
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