How I Write Humor

I had a friend reply to my newsletter the other day, and one of the questions she asked me is how I write humor. That really made me think, and I told her I might have to make my answer into a blog post. So this one's for Katja.

Humor is actually really hard for me. When I first began writing Martin Hospitality and knew I wanted to see the story through to publication ... I lost my ability to write humor.

What if it's lame? This became a fear for me, so I hesitated to do anything semi-funny. I resorted to a little teasing and some sarcasm. But even then ... What if it's overused? And trust me, sarcasm can be overused.

I still wouldn't say I write a whole of humor. I'm never going to be a comedy writer--it's not my gift. At the same time, no one wants a boring, lifeless manuscript.

So these days, I think these are some things that helped me find my own happy humor medium (see what I did there?)

• I let my own sense of humor be part of my author voice.
• I've loosened up to worry less about it being lame.
• If it is lame, make it lame for the characters!! *MC 1: makes a bad joke* *MC 2: rolls his eyes*
• Humor doesn't have to be character humor; it can also be in the way you present information (again, find your own sense of humor as part of your author voice).
• I have to trust my own judgment over what humor ideas to follow.
• I typically create my humor mostly be playing devil's advocate in my head as I write (this often turns into a sarcastic reply from a character).
• Play to the flaws in a line of dialogue!! I love seeing other characters nitpick at a loophole for misunderstanding.
• ^AKA worry less about perfect writing and have fun with it
• When in doubt, write it. Your alpha/beta readers will laugh if it's funny or tell you if it stinks.

I'd say that being funny still doesn't feel very funny to me as a writer. But overall, those things above help me achieve a balance that I'm not too embarrassed about. Let's say I wouldn't enjoy reading my books aloud (or hearing them read aloud). But as long as the readers like it, I'm happy.

It comes down to finding something you're comfortable with and that furthers the story, character, shapes your voice ... It's a useful tool, and there's no one way to master it!

Have fun finding your humor style! Teasing, sarcasm, joking, outlandishness, good turns of phrase, dialogue ... It's really an open playing field. Just don't overthink it.

Now I'm curious. xD How do you write humor?

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Funny Thing About Book Reviews

I've talked about reviews some before on here, but there was a review incident recently that made me realize some new things about how we review as readers. And I think it all comes down to perception.

I hate giving books a low rating. I really, really do. And I'm not a fluffy person, so it's always befuddled me as to why that's hard. Even my negative reviews are packed full of positive things.

And what I realized recently is that oftentimes reviews come down to perception.

Let me explain.

When a book is very poorly written, doesn't engage me, makes me angry (in a bad way), I don't finish it ... I don't have much of a problem hitting the one or two-star button and walking away. It's when I feel like the problem was me that I flounder.

I mean, we've all read That Book. The one that everyone adores and recommends. Then you read it, and you keep checking the cover to make sure it's the same book. I hate that!! I often feel that if it's so well-liked, maybe the book itself is fine. Maybe it's just not for me. Yes, that is a legit thing.

Because I think reviews come down to perception.

For example, one of Those Books for me was Unblemished by Sara Ella. Generally well-liked or loved. Yet I felt super meh about it and haven't ever picked up the sequel, although I hear it gets better. So I felt really guilty rating it 3 stars.

But that's OK! Just because I didn't like it doesn't make it a bad book any more than a book should be defined by its negative reviews! Because there wasn't anything "wrong" with it. It was well-written and overall pretty original and interesting with a good message. Just ... not for me.

That's because I perceived it differently than other people. I wasn't a fan of the main character or her voice and got confused several times. It just felt a little flat. That could be because of me, my personal experience, my convictions or beliefs ... you name it.

Sometimes I've read a book and gotten a completely different perception of the plot and the meanings behind it all than someone else. (I read a whole ranting review on Fawkes the other day about how judgmental and misleading it was and thought ... wow. But hey, it was the reviewer's perception.)

I think the really important thing to remember here is that the reader's perception does not necessarily equal the author's perception. Ideally, it should. But any given book is not for every reader!

So when I don't read something the way an author intended for me to, it's not really their fault that I leave the book 3 stars. In fact, it may say nothing negative at all about them as a writer. It simply wasn't for me.

This means that we should be very careful passing judgment on what an author based on what we got out of their book. Because we don't actually know what they intended! There's a difference between reading and reading into something. 

Every truly negative review I've ever received has done one of two things:

• taken something I wrote the opposite way of what I intended (so we actually agree at the end of the day; they're just convinced I'm a small-minded person now), or
• disagreed with me from the get-go and so surprise, surprise they didn't like the book because they didn't agree with where I was coming from (be that grammatical or core beliefs).

You know what? It stings, but it happens!

Overall, I feel much better about leaving and receiving negative reviews--and even writing my books--knowing that it cannot be for everyone. That's just due to the uniqueness of people and the one-track nature of a story. Do your best, but embrace it!

If I'm honest, the subjectiveness of reading is beautiful. It's part of why I love it so and why it prompts good discussion (and disagreement). John Barton said, "You never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time you read it."

I think that's lovely. But that's just my perception. ;)

Do you agree or disagree with this whole perception notion? Anything to add?

If you want to read more about my thoughts on reviews, you can read about why authors love reviews more than chocolate and how I write a book review.

ALSO, there is a party happening on Facebook on Sunday, Nov 18th! Check it out HERE. :)