Hey there!

Welcome to post #3 in this series! Today, we’re looking at humorous dialogue.

Humour = funny.

That means that humorous dialogue is being funny. This includes jokes, puns, sarcasm, sass, and poking fun.

Personally, I love using sarcasm and sass in my own writing. I’ve always cracked up the most while reading a book when a character says something that’s sarcastic and funny.

When I began this blog back in August, I actually made a draft post on humor in a story, which has been gathering dust since. Let’s take a look at it. It’s called ‘How Important is Humor Exactly?’

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Hey you!

Today, we’re exploring the questions stated in the title above: how important is humor exactly? As in, do we even need humor in our story?

What even is humor? The dictionary states:

humor |ˈ(h)yo͞omər| (Brit. humour) noun1 the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech: his tales are full of humor.• the ability to express humor or make other people laugh: their inimitable brand of humor.

So basically, it’s funny; something that makes people laugh. Laughter is healthy for you; it improves your sleep patterns, decreases stress hormones, and boosts your immune system. Great stuff, right?

But now you’re thinking: Okay, so laughter is good for you, but is it good for my story?

I’m getting to that, don’t worry.

Think for a moment about some books/movies you like. Do any of them have humor?

Let me rattle off a few popular ones: Harry Potter, Marvel, Percy Jackson, Narnia, The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings. More likely than not, you’ve read/watched at least one of these.

Each of them contains humor. I personally find that a story with it is more attractive to me because I like to laugh!

People have started to judge things because of how funny they are. If I go to a movie and come home, I always mention how funny it was.

“Oh, the movie was okay, but it was really funny!”

“It had a good plot, but there wasn’t that much humor.”

“I loved it! There was a great plot line, and it made me laugh so much.”

Think of Disney: all the jokes they add in. And what’s great, is that they have some for every generation. Some only adults will understand, and some everyone can understand. If you re-watch the show years later, you’ll understand more of the jokes, and enjoy it even more than you used to. Awesome.

So yes, you should include humor in your story. It’s probably one of the best choices you can make for it.

But now the question is, where do you put it?

Let’s think: where do people put in their jokes?

At first glance, it’ll seem like all over the place. And that’s okay because people add in jokes at random places. That’s good.

But probably the greatest place to put it in is after a very serious moment.

No, I am not kidding. After something horrible has happened, make your reader laugh. Think Marvel: Avengers. (If you haven’t watched the movie, skip the rest of this paragraph; spoiler!) What happened after everyone thought that Tony was dead? He started making people laugh, cracking jokes. I mean, think about it: Marvel puts in humor during the dangerous parts, and right after they’re over.

But let’s go back to the big question: how important is humor exactly?

If you’ve been paying attention, then you probably know the answer: it’s very important. Humour can attract people to books, and if they laugh while reading your story, they’ll physically feel better after. Maybe not mentally, because they’ll want more, but physically, they’ll be better! (Not so stressed, they’ll sleep better, and if they’re sick, it’ll literally help them get better.)

So now what do we do?

We go off and write our story. And we put in humor. We make people laugh. Help people escape the world, and make their real world a better place in one swoop. Superhero stuff! (kind of, anyway 😆)

-Julia

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I had so many grammar mistakes to fix in there. 😆 And wow, that was not my writing at its best.

But that aside, are you beginning to get an idea about writing your own humor?

So there are two un-official rules about writing dialogue:

1. Don’t underdo it
2. Don’t overdo it

You don’t want too little humor in your book. But you don’t want to shove too much down your reader’s esophagus.

And that’s basically it! (Quick, I know 😆)

My Writing Ventures

As I mentioned to those on my mailing list, I actually am having a bit of trouble with my timeline, and had decided to make it a short story.

But I don’t feel like writing it anymore.

I don’t like that so much time is passing so quickly. Even a short story doesn’t pass over time like that…

If I write my book feeling like I don’t like it, it’ll shine through my writing. Readers wouldn’t like it either.

So I decided to put aside Once Upon a Goose for now.

I don’t know what to do to fix it yet, but I’ll let it simmer inside of my mind for now.

Instead, I’m working on rewriting my book The Triad of Caosdif. (You can check out the My Books section in the menu to learn more about it!)

The Email Opt-In

So as you’ve probably noticed by now, I offer 30 FREE writing prompts to people who subscribe as a bonus. But you guys don’t really seem to like that. So, I thought I’d ask for your opinion on it!

What do you want to have for the bonus? A few days long course in a certain area of writing? A story? Bookmarks?

This is something you’d be getting for free, and I was hoping you’d suggest stuff you’d like to have through the contact page! Please follow these rules, though:

1. Keep it related to writing/book stuff, because that’s what I do.
2. Don’t just limit it to what I suggested above; feel free to suggest anything related to my writing/books theme!
3. You can tell me more than just one of your ideas.
4. Please don’t be rude.

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What do you think about switching my current book project?

Are you going to help me out with the email opt-in?

Julia