Why Is Humour the Orphan of the Literary World?
Good humour writing is seriously hard work.
It is indisputable that laughing is good for your mind and body (1). But, like beauty, humour is in the eye of the beholder. There are distinct differences between different cultures, and indeed sub-cultures) find amusing. What might be a knee-slapper in your local bar over a beer may cause pursed lips at a dinner party over wine.
For some reason, many people look down on witty writing. They seem to believe that it requires little skill, and zero writing craft and certainly won’t put you in the pantheon of the writing gods. Or make you rich. As Willy Loman said, ‘everybody loves a kidder but no-one lends him money.’ (2)
Sure, some stand-up comedians and comic actors in film and TV can get rich but people who write humour rarely do. And they find it very hard to be accepted by publishers, let alone get paid for their work. It seems editors much prefer the millionth piece of elegant prose/poetry about autumn (cue cycle of life analogies) or existential angst about finding your true nature (cue misanthropic musings).
But, happily, many writers ignore reality and write funny anyway, fame and money be damned. The best of their stories and poems seem to share these common elements:
- They span cultures and tap into the universal.
- They are well crafted (that seemingly effortless piece of wit has probably been re-written several times).
- They punch up, not down. The privileged are fair game but not the world’s battlers.
- Put downs, snark, and mockery are not their stock in trade (almost every TV sitcom, I’m looking at you).
- They don’t assume that everyone is mired in consumer culture (food, fashion, binge TV, the Royals etc).
So where do these craftspeople go to get published? Certainly not the alleged ‘humor’ sites that seem frozen in their undergrad past. Search humour sites on the web and the usual suspects are always near the top of the list. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Onion, The Daily Mash,
Points In Case, Slackjaw, American Bystander etc. Let’s just say subtlety is not their strong suit.
Greener pastures are to be found in Little Old Lady Comedy, Defenestration, Funny Pearls and a handful more. Some ‘serious’ publishers are happy to accept humour but they are hard to find. (Please add to this list in the Comments.)
For those publications that value true humour and wit and absurdity and revel in irony and puns, there are some basic no-no’s that will automatically get you a rejection.
- Pieces that use a sledgehammer to nail a tack.
- Work that is gratuitously offensive.
- Thinly disguised comedy routines.
- Writers who think excretion or genitalia or four-letter words are inherently funny.
- Current political satire, including fake news. This is done to death on a daily basis on other sites.
- Work that requires a detailed understanding of other places and cultures to ‘get the joke’.
So, how do you learn from the best and hone your humour writing skills?
- Sounds obvious but read anything that you can get your hands and eyes on that other people think is funny. You might start with Oscar Wilde, Sue Townsend, Douglas Adams, Roddy Doyle, Nora Ephron, James Thurber, John Clarke, Spike Milligan, and Garrison Keillor, to name but a few.
- Send some drafts to kind but honest friends and listen to their feedback. (Under no circumstances bite their heads off if they don’t think you are hilarious.)
- Submit to mags and sites that say they are looking for humour, knowing that they are going to look for evidence that you know your craft and that this is not a first draft. (Nothing will get you sent to the junkpile quicker than a piece full of typos and spelling errors.)
- Develop a thick skin and know that if your work shows genuine talent, it will eventually find a home.
So, what say you? Any and all thoughts are welcome in the Comments section (even the snarky ones).
References
(1) https://theconversation.com/laughing-is-good-for-your-mind-and-your-body-heres-what-the-research- shows-145984
(2) ‘Death of a Salesman’ — Arthur Miller
Bio: Doug Jacquier is an Australian writer whose work, including some humour pieces, has been published in over 100 magazines and books in Australia, the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and India. He is the editor of the humour site, Witcraft. https://witcraft.org/ , which has published over 200 humour writers from around the world.
