Writing Humor: Wordplay, jokes and puns #Writingtip #amwriting #writing #Comedy

In writing the humorous mystery series The Accidental Detective, I explored different types of humor writing. My previous posts addressed physical comedy and quirky characters. Today let’s explore wordplay, including puns, with one example from Something Shady at Sunshine Haven and another from Felony Melanie in the Big Smashup.

Wordplay is simply the manipulation of language with the intent to amuse. Types include Double Entendres ("I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.” (Mae West), Tongue Twisters, Malapropisms (the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, to humorous effect, as in “A rolling stone gathers no moths.”) and Puns. While some of these forms of humor may be disparaged, they were good enough for Shakespeare.

 A pun is a joke that depends on a play on words. It typically involves a word that has several meanings or sounds like a different word. Some people love puns and some people hate them, but even those who love puns agree that the best ones get the audience to groan. Some books, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are filled with puns. Cozy mysteries often have a pun in the title, as in Becky Clark’s Police Navidad and Punning with Scissors. Children often enjoy puns, so you’ll find books such as Bruce Hale’s Chet Gecko Series that are packed full of them.

For most of us, a few puns go a long way, but they can add a chuckle to any story. Here’s an example from Something Shady at Sunshine Haven. Kate has had to admit to her father that she’s investigating suspicious deaths at the nursing home where Kate’s mother now lives. He wants to help and thinks the other senior men in his coffee group would also help.

“If I . . . if we can reduce the list of people to investigate, we can focus on the most likely culprits,” I said. “That does mean more internet research but also talking to people or maybe following them.”

“I can help with that. In fact, all the fellows could help. They’d like to, I’m sure.”

Uh-oh, what had I started? “Dad, it has to be confidential.”

“We don’t have to tell them everything. We can ask them to follow specific people, find out certain things. They won’t ask why if we say it’s a secret. The men in my coffee group may be old retired guys, but we have a lot of life experience. And a lot of free time.”

Having a whole group of helpers might save time and effort, or it might turn the investigation into a Keystone Cops comedy. “I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

“I’ll make sure they understand, but we’ve survived this long. Most of them will think it’s fun, being private detectives for a while.”

I pictured a bunch of seniors in trench coats and fedoras. “Sherlock Holmes had his Baker Street Irregulars, the ragtag kids who gathered information for him. I get an old guys brigade?”

“We could call ourselves the Coffee Shop Irregulars.” He chuckled. “Although at our age, we spend a lot of time trying to be ‘regular’!”

Men. No matter how old they got, they still loved a poop joke.

Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: War correspondent Kate Tessler has followed the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home? Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for my newsletter. Find the book:

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The Teenage Adventures of Felony Melanie series is based on characters from the movie Sweet Home Alabama. People in the South enjoy a lot of humorous sayings, which means that my cowriter and I can draw on those sayings or make up our own.

Here’s an excerpt from Felony Melanie in the Big Smashup, where the girls are annoyed that sexism is keeping Melanie from participating in the junior demolition derby: 

Melanie glared back toward the cabin [at the junkyard]. The porch was empty, so either the boys had gone inside with Mr. Hopkins, or he’d taken them in another direction to find the parts they needed. “Grumpy old fart,” she muttered. “I’ll show them a thing or two.”

“Don’t let it bother you,” Dorothea said. “As my grandpa would say, old man Hopkins is a turd in a punch bowl.”

“My mama likes to say folks like him have the personality of a dishrag,” Lurlynn said.

Melanie started to smile. “He’s as windy as a sack full of farts.”

“He’s so country he thinks a seven-­course meal is a possum and a six-pack,” Dorothea added.

Pretty soon, the girls were shrieking with laughter. Melanie hoped Jake heard it all the way to wherever he’d gone.

Visit the Amazon series page for Felony Melanie: Sweet Home Alabama romantic comedy novels. Sign up for our Rom-Com newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin. These first two chapters from the novel Felony Melanie in Pageant Pandemonium stand alone as a short story

For most forms of writing, it’s probably best not to get carried away with puns. Still, puns and other wordplay can pump up the giggles in a humorous novel and add fun to any kind of writing. Once you start to tune into this kind of language play, opportunities may jump out at you. You can find more extensive articles on writing puns and other wordplay, such as this one from Masterclass.

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Workshop alert! Revision Workout and Creating Exciting School Visits - in person or on Zoom on May 14, with two-part manuscript critique option #writing #amwriting #editing

Nonwriters seem to believe that authors just sit down to work, write a wonderful book, and when it’s published, everybody buys it. Maybe that has happened. In a fairytale. But first drafts usually need lots of revision. And once your book does get published you need to tell people about it, which for children’s authors means school visits.

Luckily, for those of us who do write, mentors like Suzanne Morgan Williams are happy to share their insights and give us tools to make the process less painful. Suzanne will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 14 to teach two in-person or Zoom workshops, called Revision Workout and So You’re Not a Juggler-Creating Exciting School Visits.

Suzanne Morgan Williams wants you to know that revising your work doesn’t mean that your first draft failed. Suanne likens writing to the building process. “Your first draft is akin to gathering the materials and preparing the land so you can build. Revision is when you do the actual building.” In her workshops, Suzanne gives authors an assortment of revision tools. Everyone is different, but everyone should leave the workshop with at least one tool that resonates with them.

Once your book is available to readers, it’s like a building that needs to be inhabited. Invite readers in with school visits. Kids learn about your book(s) and the visits supplement your income. Suzanne says, “A successful school visit engages your audience in a way they won’t forget. You want to make them laugh, cry, and leave wanting to read more.” Teachers love school visits, especially if you ask them in advance what they’re teaching, so you can tie into their curriculum. However, they often don’t have money to pay authors. Suzanne sometimes receives grants that pay her to talk to kids. She’ll discuss how others might do the same.

Sign up for one or both of Suzanne’s workshops (in-person or online) here. You can also learn more about the extra two-part manuscript critique she’s offering with the revision workshop.

Suzanne Morgan Williams is the author of the middle grade novel Bull Rider and eleven nonfiction books for children. Bull Rider is a Junior Library Guild Selection, is on several state award lists and won a Western Heritage Award from the National Western Heritage and Cowboy Museum. Her nonfiction titles include Piñatas and Smiling Skeletons, The Inuit, and China’s Daughters. 

Suzanne has presented and taught writing workshops at dozens of schools, professional conferences, and literary events across the US and Canada. She is on the Nevada Arts Council Artist Roster of teaching artists and was Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Member of the Year, 2012. She is a founder of the Nevada SCBWI Mentorship program, and along with revising her own work, she has mentored near twenty novelists through their own revision processes.

Writing Humor using quirky characters #Writingtip #amwriting #writing #Comedy

This week’s post is on adding humor through quirky characters. This is a great way to pump up the humor in your story. In general, if we think of a character type – grandmother, cheerleader, private investigator, or whatever – a certain image will easily come to mind. That image tends to be based on societal stereotypes.

For example, someone who needs a “grandmother” character might picture a plump woman with white hair who bakes cookies. But not all grandmothers have white hair! Creating a more distinct character might mean going beyond that initial thought. Perhaps this grandmother dyes her hair with blue and purple streaks, is the town mayor, and takes her grandson to the bowling alley for nachos. A more specific character is actually more believable than a generic character – and a lot more fun.

You should always try to go beyond the easy cliché. When writing humor, push it even farther. Create characters who have interesting quirks, unusual hobbies, or strange passions. They don’t have to be over the top, if that’s not your humor style. Simply make each character as fresh and real as the people you know in life. Let’s look at two examples.

In my humorous mystery Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, war correspondent Kate moves back to Arizona to recover from an injury. Kate’s mother is now in an Alzheimer’s unit at a nursing home. That’s not funny. I don’t want to make her mother’s memory problems the butt of jokes. Still, the relationship between Kate and her mother can have touches of humor.

In the following excerpt, Kate visits her mother for the first time since Mom’s Alzheimer’s was diagnosed.

Mom’s room was the third on the left, small but cheerful, with a single bed, dresser, desk, and chair. She looked like herself, although her face twisted in confusion when I entered.

Dad said, “Look who’s here to see you, Mother. Our daughter Kate has come home.”

Mom reached out with both hands. “Kitty!”

I hadn’t gone by that nickname in decades, but it was better than being forgotten.

“You look tired,” she said. “And you’ve cut your hair.”

I was tired, but I’d worn my hair short for over a decade. Was she remembering me from some previous era? If she thought I was still twenty, then “tired” was a delicate understatement for how I’d changed.

She brushed hair off my forehead. “You should grow your hair out again. It looks so nice long, when you bother to style it.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Maybe she hadn’t changed much after all.

While there is humor in the scene, it’s also a poignant moment between Kate and her mother, and I’ll bet a lot of people will identify with having a parent who sometimes makes unwelcome personal comments.

Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: War correspondent Kate Tessler has followed the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home?

Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for my newsletter.

Find the book:    Tule Publishing

Amazon Kindle           Amazon Kindle UK

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GoodReads     BookBub

In the Felony Melanie: Sweet Home Alabama romantic comedy novels, the quirky side characters are more extreme. In Felony Melanie in the Big Smashup, Melanie wants to join the demolition derby with the boys. She gets help from an older woman who use to drive.

“Now that you’re warmed up, let’s see you backwards,” Miz Kitchens said.

“Backwards?” Melanie squeaked.

Miz Kitchens leaned down with her arm across the window frame. “You don’t think you can do the Derby going forward, do you? You have to protect the engine. That’s why the cars mostly run around backward, at least the ones that last.” She shook her head. “Pretty as a pumpkin but half as smart.”

Melanie’s face heated. “I can drive backward.”

“Then do it.” Miz Kitchens straightened and slapped the top of the car. “Come on, tail up and stinger out!”

Melanie bit down on her lower lip, squinted at the rearview mirror, and tried to back the car down the row.

Scrape.

Oops. Good thing all the cars were already damaged. She pulled forward a couple of feet and tried again.

Whoa! Now she was too far in the other direction. She’d barely passed the parallel parking part of her driver’s exam. Her eyes said she should do one thing, but the car didn’t seem to agree.

Miz Kitchens stomped over to her, waving her arms. “No, no, no! You want to putter around in backward circles while they ram you? You’ve got to drive with confidence. Don’t rely on your mirrors – you won’t have them in the derby anyway.”

Melanie twisted around to look out the back window. That gave her more warning when she was going off course. She managed to get down the road. Now she just had to turn –

Whoops. She’d meant to go the other way. Oh well, no one would know what she intended. At least she made it around the row of cars without hitting anything.

No, no, brake! Where was the brake? Her foot got caught under it. She yanked it out, slammed it down, and jerked to a stop. Okay, lesson learned. She had to know where the gas and brake were without looking at them. She touched her foot from one to the other a few times to get the feel for how far apart they were.

Miz Kitchens threw her arms in the air. “This ain’t no tea party! You have to be tougher than any fellow out there. Girls in demolition derby are as scarce as deviled eggs after a church picnic. You fail out there, and they’ll say no girl can do it.”

Visit the Amazon series page for Felony Melanie: Sweet Home Alabama romantic comedy novels. Sign up for our Rom-Com newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin. These first two chapters from the novel Felony Melanie in Pageant Pandemonium stand alone as a short story

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“If you have thought of writing a book for children, this book will take you from the “idea” stage all the way through to the “finished” stage.”

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Writing Humor: Types of humor and a look at physical comedy #Writingtip #amwriting #writing #Comedy

In writing the humorous mystery series The Accidental Detective, I explored different types of humor in writing. Over the next few weeks, I’ll delve into each type and give examples. First, here are the types I’ll address. (Different sources will give a different number and types of humor.)

• Physical comedy, such as slapstick
• Quirky characters
• Wordplay, including puns
• Observational humor, such as comments about the oddity of life

Today, let’s look at physical comedy. This works well in movies and TV shows, where you can see pratfalls, clowning around, people making funny faces, and so forth. It was especially important in silent movies that depended on visuals rather than words. It is more of a challenge in books, where the action must be described in words. Still, some authors use a lot of physical humor – Jana DeLeon is an example. Her humorous mysteries are full of comical explosions, people flying through the air, and messes.

I generally prefer to use a light touch with the physical comedy in my books. Still, these moments can add humor as well as advance the plot. In Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, former war correspondent Kate is back in Arizona recovering from an injury. She uses a cane to support her damaged left leg. An old acquaintance who runs the nursing home where Kate’s mother lives asks Kate to quietly investigate whether something is wrong in the home.

In the following excerpt, Kate has been interviewing an elderly man in a wheelchair when one of her suspects, a cranky employee named Norman Mendelson tries to interfere.

Mendelson joined us, his hands on his hips. “Miss Tessler, I see you’re here again. I hope you aren’t bothering the residents with your questions.”

“I prefer Ms. Tessler, and I was having a lovely chat with a very interesting man.”

Tommy beamed at Mendelson. “Not many people want to listen to my war stories, but this young lady has been humoring me.”

I spotted Mrs. Gregorian and her family. If Mrs. Gregorian was one of the overmedicated patients, that opened up a new line of questioning.

I turned to Tommy. “It was lovely talking to you. I hope we’ll meet again when I’m here visiting my mother. I need to speak to some other new friends now.”

Mendelson scowled and shuffled his feet, but he could hardly keep me from talking to people in the public room.

I grinned. “Have a great day.”

I felt his gaze on me as I turned to cross the room.

Between the residents and visiting family members, the spacious room was a swirl of activity. I waited for a woman using a walker to cross in front of me. My leg ached, so I shifted more of my weight onto my good leg and the cane. A man to my right half turned, gesturing wildly with his arms while he told a story. I flinched back to avoid being hit.

Something slammed into my left leg. I grunted in pain as my leg collapsed. My cane swung upward, goosing the gesturing man and tangling in his legs.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the floor in a heap.

This is a minor moment, but several early readers noted that they laughed when the man got goosed. The scene also moves the story forward, as Kate now wonders if Mendelson tried to stop her from interviewing other people. In addition, it reveals Kate’s character as she has to deal with being the center of attention in a way that makes her uncomfortable.

Small moments of physical comedy can add humor and make a scene more visual too. Here's an example from Felony Melanie in PageantPandemonium: A Sweet Home Alabama romantic comedy novel:

Melanie perched on a stump half hidden among the bushes and weeds. Jake and the gang would be along soon. It was finally starting to cool down a bit, though the humidity still thickened the air. Today had been what her daddy referred to as a “three T-shirt day.”

Something rustled in the bushes behind her. She twisted to peer through the heavy growth. The cherry bombs had made her jumpy. Sure, the woods could hold dangerous critters, but this was most likely only a bird or rabbit. But you had to watch out for wild dogs, and wild pigs were huge and nasty, with tusks like Bowie knives. She sniffed the air for the smell of wild hog, all wet fur and decaying mud and piss, stinking to high heaven. None of that, thank goodness. But was that … body spray?

A new sound rumbled through the dusk. “Eldon, are you hunnnnngry?”

Melanie leapt to her feet. Clinton popped out of a bush a few feet away.

She groaned. Not this again! She spun away from him.

Skinny Eldon stalked her from the other side, grinning. “I’m starving.”

Melanie backed up, but her legs bumped the stump. “No. No, no, no.”

“I could use a Melanie sandwich,” Clinton said.

She darted for the road.

Clinton and Eldon jumped forward and squashed her between them. Clinton’s flowing mullet tickled her cheek as his broad chest smothered her.

Melanie wriggled. “Did y’all forget to shower after the game?” 

So when it comes to physical humor, I usually like a light touch, but it is one of many techniques that can work to make writing funny. In some genres, such as children’s books and romantic comedy, physical humor can be extreme, even over the top. 

As a bonus, a little physical humor might make your book seem more cinematic. Who knows, you could attract the attention of Hollywood!

Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: War correspondent Kate Tessler has followed the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home?

In the humorous Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty.

Find the book:

Tule Publishing
Amazon Kindle
B&N Nook
Apple Books
Kobo
Google Play
Amazon Kindle UK
GoodReads
BookBub

Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for my newsletter. This collection includes a ten-page mystery short story set in the world of “The Accidental Detective” series, information about the series, and the first chapter of book 1. After that are three fun, short stories originally written for children. You’ll also get Lions and Love at the Cat Café, a free 30-page sweet romance set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café, and “22 recipes from the cat café.”

Advanced Plotting now free via Kindle Unlimited!

“The Plot Outline Exercise is a great tool!”

“Advanced Plotting is helping me to stop and ask the right questions, to dig deeper.”

“The essays really help you zero in on your own problems in your manuscript.”

You Can Write for Children: Write Great Stories, Articles, Books for Kids and Teenagers, is available in Kindle, in paperback, or in Large Print paperback.

“If you have thought of writing a book for children, this book will take you from the “idea” stage all the way through to the “finished” stage.”

“This is a terrific resource book for anyone who has considered writing for children. Each chapter has a tip section as well as specific resources, concrete examples, and easy to understand explanation of terms and topics. Excellent book!”