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Author, Contemporary Romance, Gloria Richard, Guest Blog, Humor, Paranormal, Sherry Isaac, Writer, Writes
QUEST BLOGGING TODAY: SHERRY ISAAC ON HUMOR IN FICTION
Raised by Nancy Drew and Miss Marple, Maggie finalist Sherry Isaac writes tales of love, life and forgiveness that transcend all things, including the grave. Her first collection of short stories, Storyteller, debuted this July. Visit Sherry on the web like her onFacebook, follow her onTwitter, and become a fan on Goodreads. Read more of Sherry’s blog posts on Romance & Beyond.
I am thrilled to WELCOME SHERRY ISAAC back to my hammock. It took little persuasion. I know FAR too many secrets about this published, award-winning author. I shall now roll out of the HAMMOCK, and leave Sherry to impart her wisdom.
ROMANCING THE FUNNY BONE
by Sherry Isaac
Is comedy a lesson? Can humor be taught?
When our oldest was in his teens, my husband used to joke that the boy’s grades were just good enough to apply for Rodeo Clown College, so maybe.
I’ve seen adverts for online classes, promising authors instruction on how to put humor on the page.
Never signed up, but I’ve often wondered, how can these facilitators teach someone what’s funny? Is there a funny switch that can be turned on and off at will?
If so, I’ve misplaced mine. Or sat on it, squashed it, made it inoperable. My back end is expanding. Anything is possible.
I can write to a purpose: create suspense, tenderness, awe, sensuality or sorrow, with deliberation.
But comedy?
No way.
I don’t know how comedians do it.
My mission today? Write a feature post for Gloria Richard who, as her bio will tell you, likes laughter in life, so that’s what she puts on the page. My host might as well wheel in the defibrillator cart. I’m having a heart attack.
Can humor be forced? Are there writers, outside of the comedy circuit, who sit down and purposely write a funny scene? What does their To-Do list look like?
Item #1: Be funny.
Item #2: Create chuckles.
Item #3: Tickle a funny bone or two.
Granted, comedy writers may not set out to task as blatantly as that, but how do they do it? How do they summon funny on command?
I’m told I’m funny. I am so not, though I admit sometimes I say funny things, so when I write funny, it comes naturally, and by accident. A quip, an amusing observation, is never planned.
An arrow of self-deprecation, though well-aimed, is almost always a fluke.
A little like life.
Maybe that’s what comedy is. Those natural, unexpected moments. Perhaps the gift of crafting comedy is the fine art of letting those natural, raw, pure moments of whimsy fall off the pen, so to speak, without filtration, deliberation, or expectation.
Thanks for dropping in, Sherry. Sigh. She refuses to leave the HAMMOCK. Claims she’s staying to field questions and learn from your experences. So, humor her and I may yet get a nap. Does your work include humor hits? Do you enjoy reading humor? What works for you? What doesn’t work? Inquiring minds…
Gloria Richard 
Hi Sherry! You are very funny. Make me LOL all the time. Can it be learned? Maybe, maybe not, but I think it can be tweaked. I think there are tricks that can help, just like Margie’s deep editing. And as for you not being funny? That’s a laugh!
I agree with you, Jessie. Sherry is fun, funny and she enjoys laughter as much as I do. I need a programmed “snort” function key for comments when I critique/review SOME of her work. On others, I need a box of tissues. Still others, I need someone to chase away the boogie man.
I think she “got it” with her last paragraph. Humor on the page (as in life) comes naturally. It happens.
I don’t stare at my screen and think “Hmm. Wonder what would be funny?” I enjoy putting my characters in situations that invite humor hits. They don’t lead “normal” lives, so why surround them with “normal” people, scenes and settings? When a one-liner, character quirk or odd descriptive narrative hits my brain, it hits the page.
Ah, Jessica, but are you laughing with me, or at me? Thanks for the encouragement.
Hi there!
I see you left your bag of u’s at home. Maybe it slipped beneath the hammock. Or Molly made off with it!
Humor is so personal. My DH and I don’t laugh at the same things. We don’t watch comedies together. He likes the slap stick kind, I like the more subtle kind.
I convinced my mom to buy the first 2 books of the Stephanie Plum series. She said she put aside Michael Connelly because the first book made her feel good, made her current situation more palatable. How’s that for book power?
Ah, Carole! SO good to see you here. You, too, are a natural. You, however have hints of sensuality. Perhaps it’s your French Canadian accent. The phrasing you choose. My DH still gets I-wonder-lust (eee! a cliche twist!) look when I tell him I’m meeting Sweet Submission in Atlanta. Oh! Wait! There is a story behind that. Hmmm. What day are you open to guest blog, m’dear?
I hear ya, Carole. My DH thinks the Three Stooges is the epitome of humour. After attempts to get me to watch, while he has tears rolling down his face, I’m sitting next to him with my arms crossed. He’s given up trying to get me to like the stooges, I’ve given up trying to get him to appreciate Mr Bean.
WHOOP! Forgot to thank you, Sherry, for sharing your wisdom and time. I’ll keep the pics and stories private–for now. Until I’m in need of another rockin’ guest blog. 😉
Blackmail. Love it.
Oh, IDK, Sherry. When you drop an “-eh?” bomb in your speech it makes me think of the MacKenzie brothers and that ALWAYS makes me laugh.
Welcome to the blogosphere, Gloria!! WAHOO!
La-la-la-la!
It’s that easy, is it? Just tag an ‘eh’ to every sentence and I’m the next Jim Carrey? Eh?
How aboot that, eh?
Can’t tell a joke to save my life. ALWAYS screw up the punch line.
LOL, Laura! Sherry sent a chat msg and asked, “What does IDK mean? Laura used it in her post.”
My reply, of course was, “I Don’t Know.”
Ooh, A Blogoshphere contest for acronyms turned into a “Who’s on first…routine.” BUT, I have a WIP to whip into shape first.
It does mean “I don’t know, doesn’t it?” If not, shhh, don’t tell Sherry.
Well you make ME laugh over at More Cowbell! I had to come over and see what you two have been up to cause I was having withdrawals. 🙂
I think funny is much more about what you show, rather than what you say and that it is a subconscious way of writing. I’m much funnier through my fingertips than I am through my mouth…they’re just quicker. Plus they can be edited.
I think Janet Evanovich is a stitch, but it’s usually her visuals, her dialogue and her body language more than any over the top actual jokes.
Nice to see your blog, Gloria!!
Hi, Jenny! THE Jenny Hansen of COWBELL dropped by my site? So excited I could spit out a cliche.
That last bit was one of the lines from the LETS DO LaUNCH post in August. Don’t search for it. I chose NOT to follow sage cousel of many (“Use a second blog addy to test b4 you post”).
That first blog? GONE!
How many #Cowbell tweets do I need to earn a guest blog by Jenny Hansen? Sherry adds, “eh?” Note to self: Must contact Jenny CP Laura Drake for story-of-Jenny leverage.
I’m having Cowbell Separation Anxiety. MUST enter the Fighting Dirty Contest. I have a scene written only in my head that will be in my WIP. Can’t think of a better way to test its impact than putting it out there for Tiffany Lawson Inman’s review. Thanks for checking me out.
Jenny! Miss you too! Have been reading the dirty fighting blogs – they are great – but saving my writing for my WIP. Finally back at it after whirlwind promo.
I love Sue Grafton’s humour. Subtle, tongue-in-cheek, smart-ass one-liners. Martha Grimes has some great characters in her Richard Jury novels. But that’s my mystery-loving gene showing.
I’ve been off grid these last couple days, so sorry for the late post, but I must say, Sherry, you are indeed a riot. I don’t really want to bring up the banana bread again, but come on, that was hilarious.
I’m hooked on Harlan Coben lately and I find myself snorting out loud as I read. It’s his character’s dry sarcasm, the way he does parents and their teenagers, and the way I see the ridiculous truth in his characters. In anger, his character ripped apart a fellow colleague for her melon-sized head (that was funny), but recants when the colleague showed signs of intelligence (it’s not that her head is a melon, it’s just her shoulders are narrow.) Anyway, you probably had to be there, but I find the guy funny.
Ah! Harlan Coben. One of my faves, too, Sharon. Humor is unique to to each author AND each character in a book. And, Sherry? A hoot, because she doesn’t try to be. SO glad you took time out to pop in and say hello. Ooh! Do I have to wait until HOTlanta to hit you up for a guest blog? I yes, I WILL have my camera at the ready at all times. You have been warned. 🙂
Sherry- That picture on the cow is good for a smile. I’m like you. I don’t think “funny” comes naturally for me. I think that there are so many different kinds of humor in writing. I love the humor of Jim Butcher and Charlaine Harris, but I know it might not appeal to everyone. I don’t think you can force it as a writer. When my first reader places a “haha” or “lol” note on a manuscript, I’m always surprised. Maybe we are funnier than we think.