Hey, everyone. Originally, I was going to post something along the lines of what Katana wrote last week, except that my post would likely would have involved less gaining of intellectual insight and more corruption of the pure minds of youth. So it goes when my pen touches paper (or, in my case, bendy fingers touch greasy, worn-out keys).
In a way, I suppose I am glad my original topic was used, because it forced me to think about my contribution a bit more and come up with a weightier representation of my writing philosophy. As I sat in my bed, pondering many epic, life-changing thoughts, I came to realize the power I wielded - the power to open eyes concerning the immense potential of writing and language. My post, if written just right, could possibly change the world as we know it.
But, instead, I came up with this. Sorry, everyone.
Humor Me: The Wisdom of Wit in Writing
Why do you write? Everybody has his or her reason. Maybe you write because your teachers force you to. Or perhaps you write to escape from the horrors of everyday life. Or maybe you are just a big geek. Whatever the reason is, it is there.
I have many reasons to write, but perhaps the most compelling reason of all for me is writing's ability to make people laugh. Laughing is fun - there are few greater joys in life. Of life's best joys, it is also one of the easiest to partake in, along with eating good food and taking a long leak after holding it in for two hours on the road (do not pretend you have never enjoyed this - we have all been there).
But funny writing does more than make us laugh and feel good. Humorists have a great deal to teach us about the craft of writing. A good joke requires two things - a good idea and solid execution. The best humorists have mastered English to perfection in their pursuit to make people laugh. They know all the rules, they know when to bend them and they certainly know when to break them.
At least 90 percent of what I have learned about English has come from reading authors who are funny as hell and also got me to look twice at what they did to make me laugh. For an example of one such writer, take Dave Barry. Please. Barry is not the most complex writer in the world, but he clearly knows his way around the language and uses it to great effect in his columns and books.
Here is a typical Barry-style sentence about Barry's disappointment about a canceled luncheon he was to have with Hillary Clinton (as found in "Let's Do Lunch" from his book Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus):
So there was no luncheon. I think is a shame, because I bet it would have been a fun occasion, possibly culminating, if we really hit it off, in my showing the first lady how to make comical hand noises.
It is a device I am particularly fond of - using commas to create suspense in a sentence leading up to the reveal of the punchline at the end. To me, it is like taking a twisty path through a forest and finding an apple grove at the end. Except the apples are hilarious instead of delicious.
Silly analogies aside, though, I think the sentence is solid. It has a nice rhythm to it, and the way the sentence is structured brings a clear focus to the ending. Plus, comical hand noises are always funny.
There is more to humor writing than knowing one's way around the language, of course. Humorists need to be imaginative to make people laugh, because people have read it all before. If a writer recycles something, then maybe it gets a laugh, but that laugh will not be as big as it would be for something fresh.
Paying attention to the imagery and metaphors/similies humorists use can give a person an appreciation for the depth of imagination one must possess to be a good writer. One of my favorite funny metaphors is from the great Slaughterhouse-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut, who is probably my biggest influence in writing. This metaphor describes Roland Weary's .57-mm anti-tank gun:
The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the zipper on the fly of God Almighty.
Is that not a wonderful metaphor? It's clever, memorable and visceral. Isn't that exactly how you would imagine a huge gun like that sounds?
Thinking way outside the parameters of existing ideas is something every writer should do. These things do not just apply to humor writing; the lessons humorists impart extend to every form of writing imaginable. It is just that, to me at least, it is easier to pick up on these lessons because it's obvious what humorists are aiming for - the laugh. If someone makes you laugh, it's easy to see why.
There are so many things a great humorist does well that I can't even go over now because 1) This post would be way too long, and 2) I am so dizzy right now that I am almost ready to throw up while writing this sentence. One last thing I absolutely have to highlight, however, is dialogue.
Humorists know how people speak. They listen. They store conversations away. They analyze the tone, the inflection and the rhythm of how people converse. Reading a humor writer run through a conversation with two or more people is a thing of beauty. They just get it, and it shows.
Joseph Heller's Catch-22 has some of the funniest, most natural dialogue I have ever read, which is practically a miracle considering the unnatural, illogical nature of many of the novel's conversations. I could literally open my copy of the novel to any page and find something wonderful to reference. In fact, I am going to do that right now:
(From the beginning of Chapter II, "Clevinger.")
"Clevinger, what do you want from people?" Dunbar had replied wearily above the noises of the officers' club.
"I'm not joking," Clevinger cried.
"They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly.
"No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried.
"Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked.
"They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone.
"And what difference does that make?"
It's a simple give-and-go conversation with Clevinger and Yossarian tugging at each other. What they are talking about - Yossarian's extreme paranoia on the battlefield - is out of the realm of normal experience, but the perfectly logical way Heller has them discussing this is brilliantly funny. Heller knows how people speak, and he especially knows how two bull-headed people who believe completely in their arguments would interact with each other. Every word used is natural; nothing is out of place.
I think I should have more to say, but my brain is too weary to write much more. So, instead, I will depart with a list of great books by authors who are funny as hell and whose styles have been beneficial to my development as a writer:
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes by Terry Southern (maybe the funniest collection of short stories I've ever read)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson
Everything Dave Barry has every written
Hopefully some of you will take these recommendations and enjoy them as much as I have. Also, I am hoping to God this post wasn't way too long, as my posts tend to be.
