Adding Dollops of Humor into our Stories

Humor is one of the most lovable elements of a story/book. If a book can make a reader laugh, I am sure the book will be read several times. I love books that make me  laugh. I  make it a point to read them again and again. Even the humorous passages in books that do not fall into that category  have me rereading them.

Humor I feel is one of the most important elements in our stories and also the hardest to get it right. As writers we do not have a visual medium to portray humor. But we have words at our disposal. With words we can create humorous situations. There are several ways to add humor into our stories. Here are few of them.

1.  The names of characters/places and objects can be funny. 

2. We can also give  characters  some quirks: a twitch, a distinctive style of   

     talking or a weird way of dressing. 

3.  One of the best way of adding  humor can be  through Descriptions.  

     Funny  descriptions  make the readers laugh.  Eg “she had spread like  

     melted  butter.” “A bee could get lost in the hair on his body.”

                    4.  As writers we can  use words to conjure up Situations  which can be

                        comical by creating a Comedy of  Errors.

                    5.   Dialogues can be infused with  mega doses of humor to bring on the

                         laughter. Dialogues are the best places to add humor. I am working on

                         this  aspect.

                    6.  The way a character thinks (the internal conversation ) can be humorous.

                         This can be one of the easiest way to bring the element of humor into our

                         stories.

                     7.  We have to find new and funny way to say the same  often repeated old

                          thing.

                      8. A fantastic way to add humor is via Satire and Irony. Irony is the use of

                          words to express the opposite of their literal meaning. Satire is the use of

                          irony or wit to attack something. But its also extremely difficult  because  

                          if not handled well it can  leave the reader confused. I seldom use satire

                          and irony as I am not very confident I can do them justice.

                       9. We can use  funny metaphors and similes that  can  give a comical twist

                           to a familiar image  in a reader's mind. “ He was as thin as a breadstick.”

                          “Her skin was as soft as a caramel custard,  “His chin wobbled like jelly.”

10. One of the best advice  for adding humor is to stir the senses.  Sensory

      Humor is giving funny descriptions when describing something with  

      the  five senses: especially while describing sounds, tastes and smells.

           

Whether  we writers are personally funny or serious is not important. What is important is whether we can make readers   think that our characters, dialogues and situations are funny. Whether we can make our readers laugh.  

       

How do you  all add humor in your stories? Is there any humor secret/wisdom you would like to share? Please tell us, we all can learn from it.