Tag Archive | silly

Author Confessions: Hold On To Your Eyeball (Moving Body Parts)

Dec9
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Author Confessions: Hold On To Your Eyeball (Moving Body Parts)

I’m taking a little departure from dangerous emotions (yes, there are more of them!) to do something more specifically writing but does relate to real life because it is how many American’s talk. Autonomously moving body parts in fiction is usually discouraged but doesn’t mean they won’t creep onto the page.

I was explaining this to some non-writer friends and I used the explanation of “His eyes rolled.” as an example. See here the eyes are acting on their own volition which is different from “He rolled his eyes.”

This resulted in some hilarity because it was like the eyes rolled almost like a meatball from the song On Top Of Spaghetti. So we revised the song.

On top of spaghetti all covered with cheeseI lost my poor eyeball when somebody sneezed
It rolled off the table, it rolled on the floorAnd then my poor eyeball rolled out of the door
It rolled in the garden and under a bushAnd then my poor eyeball was nothing but mush.
The mush was as tasty as tasty could be,And early next summer it grew to a tree.
The tree was all covered with beautiful mossIt grew great big eyeballs and tomato sauce.
So if you eat spaghetti all covered with cheese,Hold on to your eyeball and don’t ever sneeze.
Now in spite of us laughing at this ridiculousness, it got even funnier when I learned that my husband had never heard this song! If you click on the song title above you’ll hear a  version of the song with the original lyrics.
So pardon my detour there, but sometimes we just need to be a little silly about these things as they are funny if you think of them literally. Here are some examples:
  • Her eyebrows raised. (Really, raised what? The roof? An objection?) Better: She raised her eyebrows.
  • Her arm swung freely. (Is this like on a swingset?) Better: She swung her arm.
  • Her head turned. (Now I got Friday the 13th vibes). Better: She turned her head to the right.
  • His sad eyes arrested her. (Did they have handcuffs?) Better: His sad gaze arrested her attention.
There could be countless more examples. Let your characters in your writing be the ones making their body’s move instead of them going off on their own as if to steal the scene of your story. Yes, it can be creative but I was recently reading a book by Yakov Smirnoff about how confusing some of the language was as he learned English after moving to the United States, and while it is funny, it can be challenging to a less skilled linguest who might be reading. So be careful as you write, and no matter what, hold on to your eyeballs!

Author Confessions: Humor is Hard to Write

Apr1
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Author Confessions: Humor is hard to write.

As a reader, I’ve enjoyed reading books that have humor. Humor can lighten a dark spot in a story or can make the characters more likeable. Watching a comedian though is far more interesting than reading their act, or listening to them. There is a physicality to humor that can be expressed in the twitch of an eyebrow or a smirk, or even the struggle the comedian has to keep from laughing themselves.

The unexpected can lead to humor. So can quirky characters. Personally, I’m not that funny but unintentionally, yes. But how does that translate to the page? Most of the time it doesn’t.

I attended a few workshops at ComedySportz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin many moons ago. I worked for a while as a hostess and the ticket booth and at that time we were encouraged to be weird and wacky if we desired. Of course, some customers bring it out better than others but they are coming there for improvisational comedy so there was a freedom to not so much tell jokes, but to try to get a smile on someone’s face. Again, this is all in person’s facial expressions, or the clothing I wore as well as tone of voice and words all mingled to get a laugh.

I was never good enough to be a mainstage player. We did workshop shows and I performed well. It was fun to be playing games that facilitated silliness and to do it with other people also trying to be funny. Not every bit was hysterical but we sure had a good time. In the classes we learned games and how to let go of the strict proper control we’ve learned to relax and let the funny come naturally—and work as a team. The biggest lesson when playing the games? Mistakes are funny. That’s why the best players, when they fail, fail big and it entertains everyone.

When I stumble upon a book with humor, I enjoy more, maybe because they are harder to find and difficult to write. When I wrote my first novel, Pesto & Potholes, I did put a silly character in there. She was very dear to me and the reality is there are people in the world like her and it showed the depth of character of my female protagonist in the way she treated this sweet woman named Edith. She was spunky and mentally ill and I towed a fine line between finding the funny and not making fun of those who struggle with such illness. I think I did it well and she as a character brought comedic relief to some emotionally heavier parts of the story. Most people loved Edith. One person commented that they didn’t understand her. Not every humorous moment will strike everyone the same way. I’m OK with that.

I’ve had an editor that has encouraged me to have more of those lighthearted, sillier moments in some of my stories and I’ve worked at that but none of my books would be described as romantic comedies. I’ve found few authors writing those as well although as an editor it is what I would love to edit the most because of the joy of the story.

I want to grow in my ability to write humor but to be honest, my own mind can be a dark place. Oh, I’ve been silly quite often and my husband especially encourages goofiness and draws it out of me because he delights in being goofy and trying to bring a smile to someone’s day. And every day he does that for me. I’m not as uninhibited.

I wrote a Christmas novella this year that deals with heavy topics but has a dash of silliness and wit to it. More than previous books. When I read it again before submitting it I found myself smiling most of the way though for the pure joy of those lighthearted moments in the story. Maybe I’ll be able to grow in that area as an author. I have another story I want to work on and I think when I start it there may be far more humor, though subtle, than some of my previous works. We’ll see.

Wit is not easy to write, but does involve a certain pacing to dialogue to make it work right. We’ll see if readers enjoy those moments as well in my upcoming Christmas novella.

Writing humor is challenging and probably why so many people don’t do it. There’s a desire to not minimize the emotional pains by adding a touch of humor to a story, but they can both exist with a deft pen (or typewriter). Here’s hoping I can grow in this area as a writer as. If I succeed, I hope my readers will appreciate the effort because humor is hard to write.

Do you enjoy humor in fiction or am I the only one?

Thanksgiving

Nov21
Reading Time: < 1 minute

I don’t want to get all sappy on you for this holiday.  We should always be grateful to God for all He does for us daily. I pray you enjoy time with people who love you and build you up. Have a great meal.  And just maybe you can laugh a little too.

‘Twas the Night before NaNoWriMo

Nov7
Reading Time: < 1 minute

If you follow me on facebook, you already know that once again NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has taken over my life and with great joy I have allowed it to (as will 200,000+ around the world!)! Here was my creativity before I jumped into my third historical novel “Sir Michael’s Mayhem.”  So for the sake of silliness. . .

‘Twas the night before NaNo and all over the world

Fingers were stretching to write their first words.

Computers were warmed up and coffee mugs did appear

For NaNoWriMo was finally here.

50,000 words in thirty days

Madcap writing and lives in a craze

To keep up with that word count dost

To be considered a “winner” at any cost.

Word widgets and badges and guilt monkeys galore,

A Viking, a ninja, throw those in and more!

Without warning plot bunnies might strike

But we must keep writing till November 30th at midnight.

So why do we do it? This made dash to write?

When we put the rest of our lives on the back burner each night?

Because there’s a deadline and everyone has a story,

Only some of us quit when the going gets gory.

So press on to the winner circle, my Wrimo friends!

It’s the only way that this month should ever end!

And I’ll celebrate with you as we collapse in a heap,

Rubbing our carpel tunnel wrists as we fall fast asleep.