What's So Funny?

Welcome, all! You’re just in time for the monthly (1^st Wednesday) on-line gathering of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, where you’ll find helpful tips, handy resources, the latest trends in publishing, and a comfortable place for hundreds of writers – just like you and I – to  share our writing journeys! 

Feel free to meander and mingle. Our gracious co-hosts this month are:

Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre, Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

Even if you’re not there yet, sooner or later, your writing journey will undoubtedly lead you to the marketing stage, and this month’s IWSG Newsletter happens to offer invaluable guidelines for effective promotions! 

For member news and often funny movie reviews, our founder, Alex Cavanaugh has it all!  

Speaking of funny…

One sweltering morning on the somewhat crowded beach of a seaside village, I sought shelter in the shade of a utility pole to crack open a new book while my camping comrades, each in varying stages of late-night aftermath, laid sprawled around the camp beneath dampened towels and rapidly melting icepacks. Not more than a few pages into the book, I laughed right out loud and chuckled for several seconds after. At that unmistakable, “somebody’s staring at me” feeling, I glanced up to find that, in fact, everyone in camp was staring at me. “What was so funny?” they wanted to know. “Was I reading a comedy?” 

Actually, it was a Stephen King novel. So, it wasn’t exactly a comedy. But the spontaneous burst of laughter made me feel I could handle whatever the King of horror had in store for me. After all, I’d already connected on a realistic level with the fictional main character. 

According to “Dessert First” author Dean Gloster there are at least seven good reasons to include a bit of humor in serious fiction. I tend to agree, though I’m not (usually) a comedian. 

But what, exactly, is funny to whom? I decided to do a little research by way of interviewing a couple of my younger friends whose responses had my eyebrows twitching: Adult humor – whether they ‘get’ it or not, metaphorical sarcasm, and Dad jokes. 

Dad jokes?  “The fattest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.”  ~ boredpanda.com  

“Oh,” I said, “the jokes dads tell.” Like when I asked my dad (many, many moons ago) what he thought of my new (fake) perfume called “Evening in Paris” and he replied “Afternoon at the Garbage Dump.” Hmm, I think I’ll stick with the first two responses – at least for what I’m working on now.

Question of the Month: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)? 

While I’d much rather live vicariously through my characters, I’m sure there’s an inadvertent bit of me in many of them. For instance, in the acrophobic elevator mouse, a warrior with the sniffles, a ghostly bus stop dweller; befriending lonely riders. And then there’s the ghost who doesn’t know he is one – or does he?

Do you appreciate humor in literature? Do you use it in your writing? Do you know a funny ‘Dad Joke’?

I may be a bit slower with visiting this time around, but no worries, I’ll see you soon!

Proceeding Titles

Welcome Writers! And a Happy Great Outdoors Month to everyone! 

There is so much to celebrate this month, and not the least of which is today, and here’s why:   Take a look around our awesome group by clicking the links below and check out the extensive list of writing tips and resources offered by the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by Alex Cavanaugh, right here and right now on this first Wednesday of the month, when IWSG members convene through blogging, Facebook, and Twitter to talk about whatever is on our writing minds and agendas. See what we’re all talking about here. 

As for me:

I’ve chosen to answer the optional question of the month: “What’s harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?”

When you think about it, Titles are pretty important. In describing your status at work, a title can inspire you to strive for a higher position. Along with a registration, a title will prove that you own the car that might have traveled a half-mile over the speed limit.  If not for titles, can you imagine having to search for the exact piece you’d been working on in an endless succession of unnamed “documents”?  

In fact, I usually have a title in mind whenever I begin a new manuscript, though I know it’s only temporary. For instance, The Lawn Mower Wheel sounds like an absolute yawn of read until you consider the hilarious chain of events that occur after one (wheel) shoots across the lawn on an otherwise ordinary afternoon. Add to that the unfortunate concussion incurred by an over-zealous developer intent on mowing down a picturesque neighborhood for the sake of a glass-walled high-rise and the finished story might well be called “The Mower”; a title more likely to pique a reader’s interest. In relation to books, titles aren’t simply important; they are highly potent marketing tools.

I love naming Characters! I’ve actually named a few who went unnamed in a story, if only for my own reference. On occasion (when it fits) I’ve named a menacing rabid dog Sweet Pea while her diminutive mild-mannered owner went by the name Thor.  In my experience, the perfectly normal propensity to discover and use the most unique, and therefore memorable, character names can backfire.  If the name is too long, too unusual, or frankly, forgettable, so becomes the character to the reader (also my experience). It can be challenging at times, but in the interest of keeping a reader’s interest, it’s worth considering 😉

So, how’s your journey? What will you write this summer? What was the last Drive-In movie you went to see?

Happy Writing!

IWSG - Writing for Impact

“All writers are waiting for replies. That’s what I’ve learned. Maybe all human beings are”
― Niall Williams, History of the Rain

Happy February all! And best wishes for International Expect Success Month’. Now is as good a time as any for me to concentrate on National Time Management Month ;- and I expect I will -  just as soon as I take part in this first Wednesday of the month, when IWSG members convene through blogging, Facebook and Twitter to talk about whatever is on our writing minds and agendas. See what we’re all talking about here.

The optional question of the month “How has writing affected your reading?” is interesting to me since I spoke of nearly the same thing last year at this time. It’s amazing how magnified the view is, only one year later. Oh, I still read for the joy of it, even as I watch for grammatical errors (grin). When I realized I was also watching (or waiting) for impact, it occurred to me that it wasn’t just for my enjoyment, but how I hope to be enjoyed. Through brooding skies and silent tears, and nails bitten down to the quick, we must have our sun-buttered mornings to ward off the devil’s stick – with impact.

Do you remember the first book you just had to own? (For me it was “Miss Lollipop’s Lion”) Do you remember where you read it first? Chances are it was at your school or local Library, where nearly all great titles are shared at almost no charge. Small wonder there are ‘Starving Writers’, right? But consider this, according to statistics shown in a recent study by Codex Group, only a third of books consumed actually generate revenue for authors and publishers alike, whereas reader word-of-mouth increases awareness (and sales) – for free! Will yours be the next book everyone talks about?

“We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.” — Philip Pullman