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Monday, June 17, 2013

Writing Humor Into Your Story: Universal Truth

The last key element I'll discuss to help you add humor is Universal truth: a manner of discussing a well known fact, but in an abstract way. 

These usually begin with something like, “Did you ever notice…?” or “If…then what?” Consider George Carlin’s “If crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight?” or “Did you ever notice that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot but anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”

The protagonist in Juno is a font of universal truths. When a prospective adoptive mom advises, “Your parents are probably wondering where you are,” Juno blithely replies, “Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?”  Good point.

Want a few more? Check out this list from the website, College Humor. Now, come up with a few of your own.

Later this week, we'll discuss how to use your new-found humor skills!





For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html
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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Writing Humor Into Your Story: Exaggeration and Understatement

We're looking at the ten basic elements of writing humor. Number nine is Exaggeration and Understatement. Budweiser's Real Men of Genius commercials were a great example of humorous exaggeration. Saluting such heroes as "Mr. Tiny Dog Clothing Manufacturer," "Mr. Movie Theater Ticket Ripper Upper," and "Mr. Backyard Bug Zapper Inventor," these 30-60 second ads made the ridiculous sublime. You can see a selection of them here: 


The ultimate understatement occurs in The Naked Gun where a car crashes into a fireworks factory. 


Right. "Nothing to see here."

In my book, Chasing Adonis (on sale now for 99 cents!), when witness for the prosecution, Adara, has to be moved for her protection, she discusses the particulars with her police escort.

“I’m a little inexperienced at this. What does one pack when running away from criminals?”

“Bare necessities,” he replied without missing a beat. “Enough clothing for at least a week at a time, but no more than ten days’ worth. Sensible shoes. And keep the cosmetics to a minimum. You’ll be spending most of your time indoors anyway so excessive makeup is a waste of effort and space.”

Adara bit her tongue until it hurt. Another poke at the ultra-feminine looking woman who doesn’t have sense enough to leave her favorite purple eye shadow at home when faced with a life-threatening crisis? Did he really think she was that stupid? Well, she couldn’t just let that comment go without giving something back to him.


“I guess that means I shouldn’t pack my g-string and pasties, huh?” 

For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html
Need editing services for your manuscript? Gina is proud to announce the launch of Excellence in Editing: http://excellenceediting.com/

Friday, June 14, 2013

Adding Humor to Your Story: Contrasted Reality

The eighth element of humor is Contrasted reality: Go out the other side by replacing normal reality with a direct contrast. Consider professional assassins living as man and wife in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a ditzy fashion major becoming an ace student at Harvard Law in Legally Blonde, or a male/male figure skating pair in Blades of Glory.



The contrast doesn’t have to be a person. It could be an event: a heavy metal concert at an amusement park: This is Spinal Tap 




Or even an item: a wading pool serving as a baptismal font (My Big Fat Greek Wedding).

One of the charming nuances that made Shrek so successful was the contrasted reality of contemporary awareness with a storybook setting. Who could forget the magic mirror showing Prince Farquaad his princess choices using the old Dating Game style: “Our first bachelorette is a mentally abused shut-in from a kingdom far, far away. She likes sushi and hot-tubbing any time. Her hobbies include cooking and cleaning for her two evil sisters. Let's hear it for Cinderella! Bachelorette number two is a cape-wearing girl from the Land of Fantasy. Although she lives with seven other men, she's not easy. Just kiss her frozen, dead lips and find out what a live wire she is. Give it up for Snow White! And last but not least is a fiery redhead who lives in a dragon-guarded castle surrounded by a boiling lake of lava. But don't let that cool you off. She's a loaded pistol who likes piƱa coladas and getting caught in the rain. Yours for the rescuing, Princess Fiona!”

            In my release, A Little Slice of Heaven, my heroine uses an unusual item as a weapon against a possibly dangerous man lurking outside her pizzeria:

Holding the pizza paddle like a baseball bat, she strode outside and let the screen door slap closed behind her. The man had disappeared. He must have rushed to hide behind the Dumpster when she came out. Or…was he lying in wait to accost her when the time was right? Dang, she’d done it again--leapt to action without considering the consequences.
Black clouds hovered overhead. The soft breeze from late afternoon had transformed into a blustery autumn wind.
Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she should return to the safety of the kitchen. But…no. Claudio was inside, waiting to say, “I told you so,” again.
She lifted her chin, hefted her paddle, and stepped into the parking lot. “Sir?” Tiny hairs danced on her sleeveless arms, and she fought the urge to shiver against the cold. She tiptoed closer to his hiding place. “Would you come out please? I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
Unless, of course, you try to hurt me. 
“If you’ve no plan to harm me, put down the oversized Louisville Slugger.”
His tone was cultured, each syllable succinct and tinged with a slight New England accent which made the prickly hairs on her arms do the cha-cha.

Their positions created an interesting impasse. If she put down the paddle, she had no guarantee he wouldn’t attack her. But if she didn’t put down the paddle, he probably wouldn’t come out. At sunrise, they’d still be standing here. Gianna the Warrior, wielding her mighty pizza paddle while the White Knight cringed in the corner of the rear parking lot and the grumpy troll watched over the frozen players with malicious glee.


For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html
Need editing services for your manuscript? Gina is proud to announce the launch of Excellence in Editing: http://excellenceediting.com/

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Adding Humor to Your Story: Feelings of Superiority

Your characters can add humor when they're feeling superior to others and not quite pulling it off as well as they think.

Jack Burns (played by Robert DeNiro) has feelings of superiority in Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, and Little Fockers, which get him and everyone around him into one misunderstanding after another with comedic results. It finally escalates to the point where, in Meet the Fockers, Bernie Focker (Dustin Hoffman) exclaims, “Wait a minute. DNA scans, truth serum, who the hell are you, Jack Burns?” When Jack finally confesses he’s retired from the CIA, Bernie simply throws his hands up and replies, “Oh, well, yeah, sure, that makes sense.”

The Office is full of examples of Feelings of Superiority (mostly from Michael--played by Steve Carrell). But check out how Dwight explains his immune system:


You can make the argument as ridiculous as you want ("Why would you want to raise your cholesterol?" "So I can lower it.") as long as your character believes it and stands behind it.


For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html Need editing services for your manuscript? Gina is proud to announce the launch of Excellence in Editing: http://excellenceediting.com/

Monday, June 10, 2013

Writing Humor Into Your Story: Plays on Words

We're halfway through the list of ten elements you can use to add humor to your manuscript. Number six?

Plays on Words: Puns, malapropisms, mispronunciations, even dialects can get a laugh.

            In the movie, Airplane!, which was a spoof of all the disaster movies popular in the 1970’s, the character, Dr. Rumack, played by Leslie Nielsen attempts to explain the gravity of their situation to the hero. The hero says, “Surely you can’t be serious.” Dr. Rumack's reply?


Is there anyone who hasn't heard the Abbott and Costello classic, "Who's on First?" That's a perfect example of a play on words.

No one had a better handle on the art of Play on Words than the Marx Bros. Consider the following quotes from various movies:









For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html Need editing services for your manuscript? Gina is proud to announce the launch of Excellence in Editing: http://excellenceediting.com/

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Writing Humor Into Your Story: Repetition

We're continuing our discussion on the ten key aspects of humor. Number five is repetition.

The ultimate example of repetition is Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray's character, Phil Conners is stuck in Punxatawney on Groundhog Day over and over and over. 


Most repetitions, however, don't have to be so hit-your-reader-over-the-head-‘til-she's-unconscious.

Consider The Princess Bride. After hearing Vizzini say “Inconceivable!” one too many times, Inigo Montoya gives one of the most famous replies:



Is there anyone who doesn’t know what happens every time someone says the name, “Frau Blucher” in Young Frankenstein?


Try combining two or three of these aspects together to come up with your own humorous repetition!

For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html
Need editing services for your manuscript? Gina is proud to announce the launch of Excellence in Editing: http://excellenceediting.com/

Friday, June 7, 2013

Writing Humor Into Your Story: Transfer of Fear

Element #4 for adding humor into your manuscript? Transfer of Fear.

Ever been to a wedding where someone fell on their butt on the dance floor? You’ve seen the image hundreds of times on America’s Funniest Home Videos and Tosh.O. Ever laugh because you weren’t the person to fall on your butt? That’s transfer of fear. The woman who comes out of the ladies room with her skirt tucked into her pantyhose is another prime example. 

Your first thought might be, “That’s something that would happen to me.” Followed by the inevitable, “Thank God it’s not me this time.” Oddly enough, women are more likely to laugh at transfer of fear comedy than men. Why? Probably because women are more empathetic than men. We can honestly see ourselves in that situation and feel huge relief when it happens to someone else. Especially if that someone else handles it better than we might.

The movie, There’s Something About Mary is one Transfer of Fear joke after another: from Ted’s disastrous first date with Mary when his manly parts get caught in his fly on prom night, to later scenes where we see him mistakenly arrested as a serial killer or snagged by a fishing lure while walking on the pier. Even poor Mary isn’t safe from our laughter with the infamous “hair gel” bit.

I Love Lucy is another example of Transfer of Fear jokes.

Set in the early 19th century, Julie Garwood’s The Gift features a lively lady named Sara who, at one point becomes disgusted with her husband’s continuous use of profanity. Intent on teaching him a lesson, she decides to spend one entire day using every swear word she can think of. Her plan backfires, leaving us laughing and cringing at the same time when, after a fairly colorful soliloquy, Sara is introduced to her aunt’s guest and the target of much of her salty language, the newly arrived Reverend Pickering.

Transfer of fear is an easy way to add humor to your story and allow your readers to empathize with your character(s).

For tips on writing and fun articles, visit Gina's Articles For Writers page: http://www.ginaardito.com/ArticlesforWriters.html
Need editing services for your manuscript? Gina is proud to announce the launch of Excellence in Editing: http://excellenceediting.com/