Author Topic: what if you find yourself just writing jokes?  (Read 6252 times)

wherethewild

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on: July 02, 2008, 12:39:10 PM
Okay, so I've got a few things written now, enough to work out that I have a style. This is a big step for me. I'm not saying it's good, nor unique, but at least it seems to be consistent.

However, it results in short, short stories which are basically one amusing concept after another. Puns, jokes, one-liners, innuendo, slapstick. The biggest criticism I get is that it isn't detailed enough; that people can't empathise with the characters; that it's short and funny but has no weight to it.

This is all true. I can see that, I just can't work out how to change it. Honestly, every time I write more, try to pad it out or add more depth, it feels like it weakens the funny. I like the funny. I like short and sharp and to the point.

So my question. Should i just write jokes? Try for stand up comedy or sitcom writing? Or should I keep hammering at short fiction and hope than someday someone will say "Yes it is cute and funny and dammit we WILL publish it for there is space for short and funny with no real weight to it here!"?

Or can someone offer any advice on how to expand and deepen WITHOUT losing the funny?

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Russell Nash

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Reply #1 on: July 02, 2008, 01:01:43 PM
Your writing sounds a whole lot like your talking.

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DKT

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Reply #2 on: July 02, 2008, 04:25:26 PM
What does add detail mean?  Expand the plot of something, or describe things better? 

Honestly, I think you just keep trying to crack it.  Add depth to your characters.  Even if they're bastards, give them something that makes them human.  And add detail. 

Sometimes, the hardest part is when you know what's wrong, you just haven't figured out how to fix it yet.


Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #3 on: July 03, 2008, 03:31:24 AM
You might consider reading more authors who you think write successfully deep and funny stories. I recommend Terry Pratchett. Pratchett, Pratchett, Pratchett. ;-)



Russell Nash

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Reply #4 on: July 03, 2008, 10:23:17 AM
I've seen Wherethewild's bookshelves.  There's about a four-foot long section of Pratchett.  I guess we know what she'll be reading soon.



wherethewild

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Reply #5 on: July 03, 2008, 03:53:36 PM
You might consider reading more authors who you think write successfully deep and funny stories. I recommend Terry Pratchett. Pratchett, Pratchett, Pratchett. ;-)

We do have them all (as Russell noted), I guess I now need to reread them with an eye for the craft. What a terrible way to spend a weekend.

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Schreiber

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Reply #6 on: July 05, 2008, 04:39:08 PM
You might consider a career as a comic.



Windup

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Reply #7 on: July 05, 2008, 07:34:30 PM
You might consider a career as a comic.

Or as a comedy writer...

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #8 on: July 05, 2008, 08:43:21 PM
However, it results in short, short stories which are basically one amusing concept after another. Puns, jokes, one-liners, innuendo, slapstick. The biggest criticism I get is that it isn't detailed enough; that people can't empathise with the characters; that it's short and funny but has no weight to it.

You could stop writing Nash's biography and try writing fiction.

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Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #9 on: July 05, 2008, 09:18:41 PM
There are enough people out there (and in here) who claim they can't "do funny", you should exploit the gift.

I'm pretty funny (look, see... Russell is laughing already!), and I think the trick is in taking the jokes, and stringing them together.  I invite you to my blog for examples; currently, the stuff intended to be funny is either here or here.  These are anecdotal, of course, which means I had a story in mind, and the wisecracks and one-liners came out of the situations*.  But I can send along some examples where the jokes came first and drove the narrative, if you're inclined.

The trick is to take the short/sharp/weightless bits, and find the common thread between them.  (Analysis kills funny, so don't overthink it; treat it like a Rorschach test.)  Then build some kind of framework between the jokes, and use logic to tie them together.

Or, you could do like most American comedic films seem to do, and just get wasted and act like an arsehole on camera.  :)

*The Commander actual said those ridiculous things in real life, so the reason it's funny is the same as the reason Archie Bunker was funny.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2008, 09:21:15 PM by Tango Alpha Delta »

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SteveCooperOrg

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Reply #10 on: July 09, 2008, 11:45:41 AM
How about throwing a scene to the wolves?

Post a scene here. Have people look over it, and suggest ways in which *that scene* can be made more of a story than a witticism.



Planish

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Reply #11 on: July 17, 2008, 08:14:07 AM
I really like it when characters delivers one-liners in a book/movie/show. The trick is that it has to be just right, for THAT character, in that situation, and preferably to break the tension. Some jokes make no sense whatsoever when taken out of context, and having a fully-fleshed character to deliver them takes a lot of work. (Which is why I don't write.) I'm thinking of, say, the kinds of things you might hear on Firefly, for one. In a case like that though, you might argue that the one-liners are there to help develop the character and further the plot, or that the plot exists in order to provide a context for the jokes (as with a sit-com). It is "entertainment", after all.
("Further" - can that be used as a transitive verb?)

That being said, there's nothing wrong with a bunch of one-liners and such, one right after the other. Stephen Wright, Emo Philips, and that "Deep Thoughts" writer do very well.

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wherethewild

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Reply #12 on: July 18, 2008, 04:21:08 PM
Thanks for the responses everyone, I'm taking it all on board. And as soon as I dig up the courage (and the points) I'll throw one out to the howling crit pack and let them feast ;)

The Great N-sh whispers in my ear, and he's talking about you.


Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #13 on: July 19, 2008, 03:32:55 AM
Thanks for the responses everyone, I'm taking it all on board. And as soon as I dig up the courage (and the points) I'll throw one out to the howling crit pack and let them feast ;)

Arrrr-OOooooo!   :o


We're very kind and gentle, and Anarkey does the most scholarly critting you've ever seen.  And I think Erin is kind of fluid on the points.  (At least while she's on vacation.)

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