...especially when free. Please take a moment-won't take much longer than that-and go to http://www.short-story-time.com/remus-2110.html
to read my short story and post a comment.
I'll be ever-so-grateful!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
The Funny Business of Writing Humor for Kids, Part III by Nancy Kelly Allen
Knowing the sensibilities of the audience is imperative to a writer, especially when writing humor. Young readers use books to help discover the world around them, so the more we know about young readers, the better we can develop the humor in our writing.
Humor should not the focus of a story. The story is a vehicle to make readers think and feel. A story without a purpose is probably going to fall flat, with or without humor.
So how do we infuse humor into a story? When I wrote, The Munched-Up Flower Garden, I wrote the basic story first. In revision, I added the humor. I also wrote in first person so I could flavor the story from beginning to end with the character’s attitude and feelings.
Don’t try to make every character and every word in the dialog funny. One funny character or comment will carry the entire scene.
Watch comedians. They set up the humorous situation and the punch line comes at the end of the joke. Use this technique to end the sentence or paragraph with humor.
Read humorous books written for children at various age levels. Compare how the humor is similar or different among the books and the age groups.
Keep the characters realistic to the story. Even those who inject comic relief have to be developed so the readers will care about what happens to them.
Talk with children. Observe them telling stories and laughing. Notice what action or event or words make them laugh. Play with words and sounds. Make your writing business funny business.
Humor should not the focus of a story. The story is a vehicle to make readers think and feel. A story without a purpose is probably going to fall flat, with or without humor.
So how do we infuse humor into a story? When I wrote, The Munched-Up Flower Garden, I wrote the basic story first. In revision, I added the humor. I also wrote in first person so I could flavor the story from beginning to end with the character’s attitude and feelings.
Don’t try to make every character and every word in the dialog funny. One funny character or comment will carry the entire scene.
Watch comedians. They set up the humorous situation and the punch line comes at the end of the joke. Use this technique to end the sentence or paragraph with humor.
Read humorous books written for children at various age levels. Compare how the humor is similar or different among the books and the age groups.
Keep the characters realistic to the story. Even those who inject comic relief have to be developed so the readers will care about what happens to them.
Talk with children. Observe them telling stories and laughing. Notice what action or event or words make them laugh. Play with words and sounds. Make your writing business funny business.
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