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Wocka wocka wocka

Comedy is hard.

I’m working on a funny novella right now—it’s not what I should be working on, but I have a hard time keeping the light, comedic side of the muse repressed, so sometimes I have to let it loose or it starts creeping into stuff that’s not supposed to be funny.

Being so incredibly subjective, comedy is not only tough to write, but—I think, personally—the hardest to self edit. Knowing when you’ve slipped from funny to just freakin’ ridiculous isn’t easy. Not knowing if something is hilarious in your head, but flat on paper doesn’t help. Being self-aware enough to know one’s own sense of humor might fall somewhere left of center is a magnet for self-doubt.

So now I have the polished first chapter of a novella that could be really, really funny, or really, really stupid.

Comedy. Is. Hard.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 10:14 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “Wocka wocka wocka”

  1. Karen Templeton Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 12:00 pm

    Know what you mean. Comedy/humor is so subjective. With LOOSE SCREWS, for instance, I’ve had reactions from readers ranging from “laughed ’til they cried” to “mildly humorous” to “deadly boring.” :baby: So whacha gonna do? :shrug:

    So here’s my litmus test: I put the book away. Go read/do/write other stuff. Hopefully I’ll pretty much forget what I wrote (not all that hard these days, alas), then re-read. If the punch lines catch me off guard, I figure I’m good. If they don’t, I re-write.

    And sometimes, it takes several tries before I finally get it, too.

    So, yeah, comedy is hard. It also doesn’t always hit one out of the park on the first swing. :groucho:

  2. Charlene Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 3:18 pm

    Yeah, I either just submitted the funniest thing I’ve ever written, or, um, not. But hey, it made me laugh! :lmao:

  3. Shannon Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 11:13 pm

    So true. LOOSE SCREWS almost made me pee my pants, a person I recommended it to didn’t really get it. I know Roadtrip was a little bit out there. :rofl:

    Oooh, good luck, Charli!

    I’ve had some feedback on my first chapter:rofl:—it doesn’t suck. :boogie:

  4. Jaci Burton Says:
    November 15th, 2006 at 9:06 am

    Shan, since you make me laugh every day….trust me….you can do comedy :groucho:

    And no, it doesn’t suck. Get to work :whip:

  5. Lori Says:
    November 15th, 2006 at 4:51 pm

    You can do comedy, trust me. Roadtrip was so not out there. I totally got it. And cracked up.