post_id
stringlengths 5
7
| domain
stringclasses 69
values | upvote_ratio
float64 0.5
1
| history
stringlengths 11
39.7k
| c_root_id_A
stringlengths 7
7
| c_root_id_B
stringlengths 7
7
| created_at_utc_A
int64 1.27B
1.68B
| created_at_utc_B
int64 1.27B
1.68B
| score_A
int64 -644
43.5k
| score_B
int64 -2,846
43.5k
| human_ref_A
stringlengths 0
18k
| human_ref_B
stringlengths 0
13.6k
| labels
int64 0
1
| seconds_difference
float64 0
346M
| score_ratio
float64 -2,292
2.5M
| metadata_A
stringclasses 1
value | metadata_B
stringclasses 1
value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
w61u37 | writing_train | 0.97 | Does anyone have any advice on writing inner monologue in the third perspective? I am writing a book in the third perspective and I have a funeral scene where the main character comments on the attendants but how am I supposed to do it in a story in the third perspective do I use () or "" ? | ihdnlsi | ihdg72f | 1,658,616,482 | 1,658,613,189 | 1 | 0 | Italicized with no quotations. > *He is really fat* she thought. > *Am I ever going to win the championship?* He mused. | *'I simply write my inner thoughts like this. Italicized with apostraphies instead of quotation marks.'* | 1 | 3,293 | 1,000 | ||
w61u37 | writing_train | 0.97 | Does anyone have any advice on writing inner monologue in the third perspective? I am writing a book in the third perspective and I have a funeral scene where the main character comments on the attendants but how am I supposed to do it in a story in the third perspective do I use () or "" ? | ihdg72f | ihdpkuz | 1,658,613,189 | 1,658,617,394 | 0 | 1 | *'I simply write my inner thoughts like this. Italicized with apostraphies instead of quotation marks.'* | Find a book you enjoy and see what they do | 0 | 4,205 | 1,000 | ||
w61u37 | writing_train | 0.97 | Does anyone have any advice on writing inner monologue in the third perspective? I am writing a book in the third perspective and I have a funeral scene where the main character comments on the attendants but how am I supposed to do it in a story in the third perspective do I use () or "" ? | ihdpq17 | ihdg72f | 1,658,617,460 | 1,658,613,189 | 1 | 0 | “John stared bluntly at the other attendants at the funeral. Did they have any idea of who his mother had been? They seemed just in for the misery. The woman of the purple hat was particularly irksome, with her loud, meaningless moans.” Do you mean something like this? Maybe mention the character who is having the thoughts and then continue (if you think it works). | *'I simply write my inner thoughts like this. Italicized with apostraphies instead of quotation marks.'* | 1 | 4,271 | 1,000 | ||
w61u37 | writing_train | 0.97 | Does anyone have any advice on writing inner monologue in the third perspective? I am writing a book in the third perspective and I have a funeral scene where the main character comments on the attendants but how am I supposed to do it in a story in the third perspective do I use () or "" ? | ihdq18z | ihdg72f | 1,658,617,607 | 1,658,613,189 | 1 | 0 | I think a master of this is McEwan. He seems to infuse the narrator's voice with that of the person he s describing so he subtly. Try a bit, see if you like the way he does it. | *'I simply write my inner thoughts like this. Italicized with apostraphies instead of quotation marks.'* | 1 | 4,418 | 1,000 | ||
w61u37 | writing_train | 0.97 | Does anyone have any advice on writing inner monologue in the third perspective? I am writing a book in the third perspective and I have a funeral scene where the main character comments on the attendants but how am I supposed to do it in a story in the third perspective do I use () or "" ? | ihdg72f | ihdwab5 | 1,658,613,189 | 1,658,620,578 | 0 | 1 | *'I simply write my inner thoughts like this. Italicized with apostraphies instead of quotation marks.'* | Read The Old Man and the Sea. Half the book is the old man talking to himself in his head. It'll give you a good idea of what good inner monologues look like. | 0 | 7,389 | 1,000 | ||
w61u37 | writing_train | 0.97 | Does anyone have any advice on writing inner monologue in the third perspective? I am writing a book in the third perspective and I have a funeral scene where the main character comments on the attendants but how am I supposed to do it in a story in the third perspective do I use () or "" ? | ihdg72f | ihe5ay8 | 1,658,613,189 | 1,658,624,929 | 0 | 1 | *'I simply write my inner thoughts like this. Italicized with apostraphies instead of quotation marks.'* | I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for but in the Revenge of the Sith novelization, Matthew Stover absolutely kills it with all the internal dialogues. He would occasionally stop the book altogether to describe a character’s entire state of being, including their thoughts. This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, forever: >*This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, forever:* >The first dawn of light in your universe brings pain. >The light burns you. It will always burn you. Part of you will always lie upon black glass sand beside a lake of fire while flames chew at your flesh. >You can hear yourself breathing. It comes hard, and harsh, and it scrapes nerves already raw, but you cannot stop it. You can never stop it. You cannot even slow it down. >You don’t even have lungs anymore. >Mechanisms hardwired into your chest breathe for you. They will pump oxygen into your bloodstream forever. >*Lord Vader? Lord Vader, can you hear me?* >And you can’t, not in the way you once did. Sensors in the shell that prisons your head trickle meaning directly into your brain. >You open your scorched-pale eyes; optical sensors integrate light and shadow into a hideous simulacrum of the world around you. >Or perhaps the simulacrum is perfect, and it is the world that is hideous. >Padme? Are you here? Are you all right? you try to say, but another voice speaks for you, out from the vocabulator that serves you for burned-away lips and tongue and throat. >*Padme? Are you here? Are you all right?* >*I’m very sorry, Lord Vader. I’m afraid she died. It seems in your anger, you killed her.* >This burns hotter than the lava had. >*No…no, it is not possible!* >You love her. You have always loved her. You could never will her death. >Never. >But you remember… >You remember all of it. >You remember the dragon that you brought Vader forth from your heart to slay. You remember the cold venom in Vader’s blood. You remember the furnace of Vader’s fury, and the black hatred of seizing her throat to silence her lying mouth… >And there is one blazing moment in which you finally understand that there was no dragon. That there was no Vader. That there was only you. Only Anakin Skywalker. >That it was all you. Is you. >Only you. >You did it. >You killed her. >You killed her because, finally, when you could have saved her, when you could have gone away with her, when you could have been thinking about her, you were thinking about yourself… >It is in this blazing moment that you finally understand the trap of the dark side, the final cruelty of the Sith — >Because now yourself is all you will ever have. >And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the shadow who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were. You are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow. >In the end, you do not even want to. >In the end, the shadow is all you have left. >Because the shadow understands you, the shadow forgives you, the shadow gathers you unto itself- >And within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame. >This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker. >Forever… | 0 | 11,740 | 1,000 | ||
ke5pg9 | writing_train | 0.86 | My writing has been suffering ever since the first lockdown. I've lost my mojo. I've realized I enjoy writing as the outlet for my imagination moreso than writing for itself. However, I am contemplating another project : A book in which you're the hero. Hi guys. So I can't write much of anything anymore (clocked in about 80k words this year, most of it in the first half of the year and half of it in unfinished short stories and a novel left without a 3rd act), and with the lockdown driving me nuts, I've found I can't really write anymore. I used to be a "writing everyday no matter what" kind of guy, but I feel as though the ideas well has run dry as far as being able to stick through the writing process without completely writing nonsensical garbage. However, I've been toying with the idea of writing an interactive book instead, as my worldbuilding and story-crafting capacity is still there (just can't write out a narrative like I used to anymore). The way I've seen it done is in numbered scenes, and depending on your choice, you're sent to another page and a specific scene, which leads you to the next, one after another. Sometimes, with an inventory system and even combat stats using dice rolls, pretty much like a solo tabletop roleplaying session where the DM is the book. The game aspect has always appealed to me and the branching paths and giving readers a choice as to how to advance is something I'm really interested in. I'm thinking of writing it as a supernatural murder mystery or something along those lines, so putting together clues, interrogating people, being able to get blackout drunk and end up face down in a ditch, stripped of all your money and whatever else. I know writing it out one scene after the other will be tedious and inevitably lead to me missing things or random dead ends if not careful, so is there any specialized program (preferably free) where I could lay out all the scenes and be able to view them in relation to one another, kind of like a brainstorming exploded view with all the paths linking to one another etc? To make everything cohesive. Sorry if I'm not making any sense, I'm french 🥖 | gg2qx8f | gg0kvaf | 1,608,155,930 | 1,608,109,691 | 2 | 1 | Just break out the pencil and paper and draw a flowchart. Or google "free flowchart maker". Also, interactive storytelling these days is mainly done in the realm of games and visual novels these days. Maybe check out r/visualnovels and r/vndevs | You want to write a book where the reader is the hero? | 1 | 46,239 | 2 | ||
zgqe2k | writing_train | 0.92 | Dutifulness ruins the fun of writing for me. Whenever I write, I feel obliged that it should turn out good, because I don't have much time for writing. I wish I could fucking skip work anytime I want, and I wish I could cancel IRL responsibilities, but since I can't, I have to milk every minute I want to write. But the fun of it is ruined by the rush, by my want to see good results really fast. I don't speak English irl daily, I only ever speak it online and when I write. I have to say I'm quite getting out of practice for the past few months. Sure, I can communicate through the language, but I fear I have lost my ability to create art, to paint scenes with just barely my words. I feel like my vocab is getting weaker. I even lost interest in reading lately :( So does anyone here have any advice? Every month I journal at least a few times in English. It helps, kind of, but it's different from creating stories. I have maladaptive daydreaming, I like to daydream before I sleep. If I try to write the images in my head down, they don't translate quite well. They don't impress me. I have quite a wild imagination, and I wish I could draw like a pro. At least drawing would give me an outlet for the images in my head but since I don't have art materials, writing would be the only way to get them out of my head, for now, but again, I always get writer's block. So, TLDR I have so little time to write and every time I do, it's not fun because I try to get good results. I never am satisfied with anything I write. So I abandon all my wips lol | izi6lcs | izii9te | 1,670,571,819 | 1,670,581,808 | 1 | 9 | I wish I had some advice but honestly I am in the same boat with my writing lol | Give yourself permission to write poorly. First drafts are for getting the story down. Revision passes are how you get it right. You can't fix a blank page. | 0 | 9,989 | 9 | ||
zgqe2k | writing_train | 0.92 | Dutifulness ruins the fun of writing for me. Whenever I write, I feel obliged that it should turn out good, because I don't have much time for writing. I wish I could fucking skip work anytime I want, and I wish I could cancel IRL responsibilities, but since I can't, I have to milk every minute I want to write. But the fun of it is ruined by the rush, by my want to see good results really fast. I don't speak English irl daily, I only ever speak it online and when I write. I have to say I'm quite getting out of practice for the past few months. Sure, I can communicate through the language, but I fear I have lost my ability to create art, to paint scenes with just barely my words. I feel like my vocab is getting weaker. I even lost interest in reading lately :( So does anyone here have any advice? Every month I journal at least a few times in English. It helps, kind of, but it's different from creating stories. I have maladaptive daydreaming, I like to daydream before I sleep. If I try to write the images in my head down, they don't translate quite well. They don't impress me. I have quite a wild imagination, and I wish I could draw like a pro. At least drawing would give me an outlet for the images in my head but since I don't have art materials, writing would be the only way to get them out of my head, for now, but again, I always get writer's block. So, TLDR I have so little time to write and every time I do, it's not fun because I try to get good results. I never am satisfied with anything I write. So I abandon all my wips lol | iziia4b | izix9fe | 1,670,581,816 | 1,670,591,982 | 3 | 4 | Take it from someone who knows that feeling too well: NEVER force yourself to write. The human brain hates it when you force it constantly every day. You shouldn’t force it, but you should however encourage it to do so. What I mean by that is never tell it “you must do it or else” but rather “it’s your dream, it’s your goal, you can do it” | Just let yourself write crazy. Who cares if it turns out bad or not? You will get better at writing when you just let yourself have fun and experiment. Creativity breeds genius, not the other way around. | 0 | 10,166 | 1.333333 | ||
zgqe2k | writing_train | 0.92 | Dutifulness ruins the fun of writing for me. Whenever I write, I feel obliged that it should turn out good, because I don't have much time for writing. I wish I could fucking skip work anytime I want, and I wish I could cancel IRL responsibilities, but since I can't, I have to milk every minute I want to write. But the fun of it is ruined by the rush, by my want to see good results really fast. I don't speak English irl daily, I only ever speak it online and when I write. I have to say I'm quite getting out of practice for the past few months. Sure, I can communicate through the language, but I fear I have lost my ability to create art, to paint scenes with just barely my words. I feel like my vocab is getting weaker. I even lost interest in reading lately :( So does anyone here have any advice? Every month I journal at least a few times in English. It helps, kind of, but it's different from creating stories. I have maladaptive daydreaming, I like to daydream before I sleep. If I try to write the images in my head down, they don't translate quite well. They don't impress me. I have quite a wild imagination, and I wish I could draw like a pro. At least drawing would give me an outlet for the images in my head but since I don't have art materials, writing would be the only way to get them out of my head, for now, but again, I always get writer's block. So, TLDR I have so little time to write and every time I do, it's not fun because I try to get good results. I never am satisfied with anything I write. So I abandon all my wips lol | izi6lcs | izix9fe | 1,670,571,819 | 1,670,591,982 | 1 | 4 | I wish I had some advice but honestly I am in the same boat with my writing lol | Just let yourself write crazy. Who cares if it turns out bad or not? You will get better at writing when you just let yourself have fun and experiment. Creativity breeds genius, not the other way around. | 0 | 20,163 | 4 | ||
zgqe2k | writing_train | 0.92 | Dutifulness ruins the fun of writing for me. Whenever I write, I feel obliged that it should turn out good, because I don't have much time for writing. I wish I could fucking skip work anytime I want, and I wish I could cancel IRL responsibilities, but since I can't, I have to milk every minute I want to write. But the fun of it is ruined by the rush, by my want to see good results really fast. I don't speak English irl daily, I only ever speak it online and when I write. I have to say I'm quite getting out of practice for the past few months. Sure, I can communicate through the language, but I fear I have lost my ability to create art, to paint scenes with just barely my words. I feel like my vocab is getting weaker. I even lost interest in reading lately :( So does anyone here have any advice? Every month I journal at least a few times in English. It helps, kind of, but it's different from creating stories. I have maladaptive daydreaming, I like to daydream before I sleep. If I try to write the images in my head down, they don't translate quite well. They don't impress me. I have quite a wild imagination, and I wish I could draw like a pro. At least drawing would give me an outlet for the images in my head but since I don't have art materials, writing would be the only way to get them out of my head, for now, but again, I always get writer's block. So, TLDR I have so little time to write and every time I do, it's not fun because I try to get good results. I never am satisfied with anything I write. So I abandon all my wips lol | iziia4b | izi6lcs | 1,670,581,816 | 1,670,571,819 | 3 | 1 | Take it from someone who knows that feeling too well: NEVER force yourself to write. The human brain hates it when you force it constantly every day. You shouldn’t force it, but you should however encourage it to do so. What I mean by that is never tell it “you must do it or else” but rather “it’s your dream, it’s your goal, you can do it” | I wish I had some advice but honestly I am in the same boat with my writing lol | 1 | 9,997 | 3 | ||
ujah0d | writing_train | 0.79 | Advice on co-writing a story, what has worked for you better? I started co-writing a story with a very close friend, but I'm really worried I might get too invested in the story and put a strain in our relationship, or that I end up uninterested in the story if I let them take the reins. What has been your experience with cowriting? Any useful tips? (If I shouldn't be posting this here please feel free to erase it haha) | i7hws9g | i7hwmbq | 1,651,798,099 | 1,651,797,989 | 5 | 2 | Play to each other's strengths. If you love world-building and they're is into character development then split the work along those lines. Also, be very clear at the beginning about who is responsible for what. If you do most of the initial writing and then just expect your partner to edit without establishing that first then you might end up with problems. | I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's really the same as doing a group project in college. You might become better friends and learn from each other or he might not be interested. If it doesn't click or you don't finish its not the end of the world. Don't lose your friendship over it. | 1 | 110 | 2.5 | ||
ujah0d | writing_train | 0.79 | Advice on co-writing a story, what has worked for you better? I started co-writing a story with a very close friend, but I'm really worried I might get too invested in the story and put a strain in our relationship, or that I end up uninterested in the story if I let them take the reins. What has been your experience with cowriting? Any useful tips? (If I shouldn't be posting this here please feel free to erase it haha) | i7hwmbq | i7i6kup | 1,651,797,989 | 1,651,802,960 | 2 | 5 | I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's really the same as doing a group project in college. You might become better friends and learn from each other or he might not be interested. If it doesn't click or you don't finish its not the end of the world. Don't lose your friendship over it. | Oo~ I'm co-op writing with one of my friends on something right now. Here's what we're doing: 1. I ask for an idea when I'm stuck and see if we can figure out something 2. I often ask her to read, or even not read at times. Not only does this work for encouragement and motivation, but we can also confirm that I wrote what we were looking for, and gives another pair of eyes to check over my writing for mistakes. 3. We don't just text, we actually talk about it in person. It can create more depth in the conversation and ideas that we share. These are the main reasons, but I'm sure there're more. | 0 | 4,971 | 2.5 | ||
ujah0d | writing_train | 0.79 | Advice on co-writing a story, what has worked for you better? I started co-writing a story with a very close friend, but I'm really worried I might get too invested in the story and put a strain in our relationship, or that I end up uninterested in the story if I let them take the reins. What has been your experience with cowriting? Any useful tips? (If I shouldn't be posting this here please feel free to erase it haha) | i7hwmbq | i7ivm72 | 1,651,797,989 | 1,651,817,925 | 2 | 3 | I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's really the same as doing a group project in college. You might become better friends and learn from each other or he might not be interested. If it doesn't click or you don't finish its not the end of the world. Don't lose your friendship over it. | Only time I did this, I ended up writing both the story and the script while my writing partner leaned heavily on his ADHD as a crutch and only contributed ideas. I write alone now. | 0 | 19,936 | 1.5 | ||
ujah0d | writing_train | 0.79 | Advice on co-writing a story, what has worked for you better? I started co-writing a story with a very close friend, but I'm really worried I might get too invested in the story and put a strain in our relationship, or that I end up uninterested in the story if I let them take the reins. What has been your experience with cowriting? Any useful tips? (If I shouldn't be posting this here please feel free to erase it haha) | i7hwmbq | i7j7voj | 1,651,797,989 | 1,651,828,427 | 2 | 3 | I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's really the same as doing a group project in college. You might become better friends and learn from each other or he might not be interested. If it doesn't click or you don't finish its not the end of the world. Don't lose your friendship over it. | I constantly co write with my best friend. At first it was awkward because we didn't know how to do it but overtime we got practice and trust. My tips? 1) Communication. While we're writing, I always have either discord open or any chatting website so we can discuss in real time as we write. Any ideas or concerns I bounce to my friend and vice versa. We brainstorm together and if one of us has an idea we tell the other. 2) Play your strengths. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesess. For example, I'm good at writing emotions and descriptions of enviorments and scenes. My friend is good at keeping pace and dialogue. I'm good at short bursts of high intense emotions while my friend is better at a slow pace or the "in between" of each high intense scenes. They're good at grammar and spelling, I'm good at creating. So we split task. We write the bare bones and skeletons of the story, I add the filling to make it readable and add some details, my friend polishes the story to something readable and not riddled with spelling errors and grammatical errors. 3) Keep on the same track. If you're not a psychic then I recommend having a sort of map or storyboard that both of you can see. That way there's less likely for any of you to be derailed or blindsided by your co writer's direction on a story. For me and my friend, I'm the "map maker". I make the story and generally push to stick to the story while my friend adds some fun scenes in between to keep things interesting or light hearted. Sometimes we get derailed but I'm good at pulling us back to our intended story, or change it up to fit the narrative we have gone to. 4) It's more of a technique than anything. Me and my friend write "role-play style". One of us takes a character and we "act" out the scene. We write what that chatacter would say and only that character, that way we can get in the right mindset with our character's personalities and make their actions seem real instead of being forced or mixed. This works best for dialogue and simple actions like Character A screamed at them "HOW COULD YOU!" Character B takes a step back Chatacter A sobs into their hands Chatacter B "I'm sorry..." Like that. It's what worked for us for 4 years so hopefully it helps! | 0 | 30,438 | 1.5 | ||
jxc36a | writing_train | 1 | The one thing my grandfather wants more than anything is for someone to write the story of his life. Tips? I’m a published sports writer and have been doing it for quite some time. My grandfather loves my writing and asks me every now and then to help him write a book about his life. Now that my life has settled down a bit I’d really like to sit down and do this for him but admittedly, although I’m a good sports writer, I’ve never written an actual book or story before. What tips, tricks or advice could any of you give to someone who really wants to not only do this, but do it really well? | gcvjgb2 | gcvj31s | 1,605,823,054 | 1,605,822,912 | 2 | 1 | Memoirs and biographies/autobiographies are different beasts with different rules and styles. Figure out which you want to write and dig into those rules a bit. I recommend memoir for its flexibility. Get a voice record app and if it's safe to visit in person go over for coffee. Ask about his parents and siblings ask about school first job wjatever get him to tell you all the stories conversationally then write from the recordings. Doesn't matter if he talks in order you can sort it all out later. | See if he can dictate his stories for you to edit for clarity and arrange. | 1 | 142 | 2 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1bb328 | j1cwo1c | 1,671,757,459 | 1,671,792,649 | 4 | 6 | Play 20 Questions with your main characters. What was their favorite thing about childhood? How do they feel about their own looks? What annoys them? Who are they closest with? The more you know about them, the easier it is to write them as real people with believable actions and reactions. | It's always about the fundamental questions: what does your MC want, and why hadn't s/he gotten it by now? Think about both short-term, and long-term. The reason must be understandable by your audience. Then something happens, and the hero is pushed into another world, so to speak. Luke Skywalker: wanted adventure beyond being a "moisture farmer", but has to take care of Uncle Owen and aunt Beru who raised him. He was even thinking about joining the Imperial Academy. Until he bought the two droids to help the farm, and one of them had a hidden holo-message... Every young man dreams of grand adventures right? Mr. Anderson in the Matrix: he knows he's more than just an office drone, and he moonlights as a hacker named Neo. Until he gets the message about following the white rabbit... | 0 | 35,190 | 1.5 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1ckkvn | j1cwo1c | 1,671,782,899 | 1,671,792,649 | 3 | 6 | I am writing my first novel now and I have decided to base my characters on people I know in real life who I’d like to see in the situations I’m creating. My protagonist is based loosely on my sister, and my antagonist on a manipulative ex boyfriend since he turned out to be a true villain in the end despite initially looking like a hero. | It's always about the fundamental questions: what does your MC want, and why hadn't s/he gotten it by now? Think about both short-term, and long-term. The reason must be understandable by your audience. Then something happens, and the hero is pushed into another world, so to speak. Luke Skywalker: wanted adventure beyond being a "moisture farmer", but has to take care of Uncle Owen and aunt Beru who raised him. He was even thinking about joining the Imperial Academy. Until he bought the two droids to help the farm, and one of them had a hidden holo-message... Every young man dreams of grand adventures right? Mr. Anderson in the Matrix: he knows he's more than just an office drone, and he moonlights as a hacker named Neo. Until he gets the message about following the white rabbit... | 0 | 9,750 | 2 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1clwzw | j1cwo1c | 1,671,783,957 | 1,671,792,649 | 4 | 6 | If you’re already working a plot, I recommend Story Genius by Lisa Cron as being very much worth a read. | It's always about the fundamental questions: what does your MC want, and why hadn't s/he gotten it by now? Think about both short-term, and long-term. The reason must be understandable by your audience. Then something happens, and the hero is pushed into another world, so to speak. Luke Skywalker: wanted adventure beyond being a "moisture farmer", but has to take care of Uncle Owen and aunt Beru who raised him. He was even thinking about joining the Imperial Academy. Until he bought the two droids to help the farm, and one of them had a hidden holo-message... Every young man dreams of grand adventures right? Mr. Anderson in the Matrix: he knows he's more than just an office drone, and he moonlights as a hacker named Neo. Until he gets the message about following the white rabbit... | 0 | 8,692 | 1.5 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1cwo1c | j1ct6h9 | 1,671,792,649 | 1,671,789,818 | 6 | 5 | It's always about the fundamental questions: what does your MC want, and why hadn't s/he gotten it by now? Think about both short-term, and long-term. The reason must be understandable by your audience. Then something happens, and the hero is pushed into another world, so to speak. Luke Skywalker: wanted adventure beyond being a "moisture farmer", but has to take care of Uncle Owen and aunt Beru who raised him. He was even thinking about joining the Imperial Academy. Until he bought the two droids to help the farm, and one of them had a hidden holo-message... Every young man dreams of grand adventures right? Mr. Anderson in the Matrix: he knows he's more than just an office drone, and he moonlights as a hacker named Neo. Until he gets the message about following the white rabbit... | Figure out what the characters wants are in life and what’s holding them back from it. Think of how these characters deal with conflict. Importantly make sure their ways of life and traits work with their backstory. Don’t get hung up on making black and white strength and weaknesses, think instead of certain traits they have and how they can be interpreted as a strength or a weakness depending on the context and so on. | 1 | 2,831 | 1.2 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1ct6h9 | j1bb328 | 1,671,789,818 | 1,671,757,459 | 5 | 4 | Figure out what the characters wants are in life and what’s holding them back from it. Think of how these characters deal with conflict. Importantly make sure their ways of life and traits work with their backstory. Don’t get hung up on making black and white strength and weaknesses, think instead of certain traits they have and how they can be interpreted as a strength or a weakness depending on the context and so on. | Play 20 Questions with your main characters. What was their favorite thing about childhood? How do they feel about their own looks? What annoys them? Who are they closest with? The more you know about them, the easier it is to write them as real people with believable actions and reactions. | 1 | 32,359 | 1.25 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1ckkvn | j1clwzw | 1,671,782,899 | 1,671,783,957 | 3 | 4 | I am writing my first novel now and I have decided to base my characters on people I know in real life who I’d like to see in the situations I’m creating. My protagonist is based loosely on my sister, and my antagonist on a manipulative ex boyfriend since he turned out to be a true villain in the end despite initially looking like a hero. | If you’re already working a plot, I recommend Story Genius by Lisa Cron as being very much worth a read. | 0 | 1,058 | 1.333333 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1ct6h9 | j1ckkvn | 1,671,789,818 | 1,671,782,899 | 5 | 3 | Figure out what the characters wants are in life and what’s holding them back from it. Think of how these characters deal with conflict. Importantly make sure their ways of life and traits work with their backstory. Don’t get hung up on making black and white strength and weaknesses, think instead of certain traits they have and how they can be interpreted as a strength or a weakness depending on the context and so on. | I am writing my first novel now and I have decided to base my characters on people I know in real life who I’d like to see in the situations I’m creating. My protagonist is based loosely on my sister, and my antagonist on a manipulative ex boyfriend since he turned out to be a true villain in the end despite initially looking like a hero. | 1 | 6,919 | 1.666667 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1ct6h9 | j1clwzw | 1,671,789,818 | 1,671,783,957 | 5 | 4 | Figure out what the characters wants are in life and what’s holding them back from it. Think of how these characters deal with conflict. Importantly make sure their ways of life and traits work with their backstory. Don’t get hung up on making black and white strength and weaknesses, think instead of certain traits they have and how they can be interpreted as a strength or a weakness depending on the context and so on. | If you’re already working a plot, I recommend Story Genius by Lisa Cron as being very much worth a read. | 1 | 5,861 | 1.25 | ||
zt1za5 | writing_train | 0.7 | Any advice on writing deep and interesting characters readers can connect with? I have had a book idea for almost a year now, I have the plot and even certain scenes lined up but I don’t want to start writing until I can make characters that are interesting, and that readers can that readers can connect with, any tips? | j1e1uto | j1fusyu | 1,671,814,294 | 1,671,842,471 | 1 | 2 | Familiarize yourself with their "tragedies", as I call it. Basically what struggles they go through, and how they deal with it. Oftentimes we forget about their own unique set of reactions to certain stimulus in favor of catering to plot progression. That may just break immersion. | My best advice for these types of characters is to not filter them through the “likeable” angle. We, as writers, tend to write characters in a certain way to make sure readers love them. In the process, the characters lose authenticity and makes them less relatable. Stay true to the character! Even if that character is raw and rough and acts in a way some readers won’t like. | 0 | 28,177 | 2 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy75ns | isy4b3j | 1,666,194,725 | 1,666,193,596 | 50 | 2 | One of the core tenets of humor is truth. Recently I came across a 3-panel comic where a cat is sitting at a persons feet and says ‘pet me’. The person goes to pet the cat. The cat shys away in absolute disgust saying ‘with your eyes!’ I found this absolutely hilarious, one of the only comics that has actually made me laugh out loud. Why? Because I have a cat who does the exact same thing— it’s funny because it’s true. To non-cat owners or people who don’t care about cats or even people who don’t have a cat with that specific behavior, it’s not nearly as funny. And if the comic was about a dog I bet pretty much no one would find it funny, because even people who have never owned a cat know the stereotype of an aloof cat, but that doesn’t match the stereotype of a dog at all. That’s also why in-group out-group jokes tend to be so divisive. Let’s say we have a red group and a blue group. When, say, a blue person makes a joke about red people, he’s basing it off of what he thinks red people are like. And, if he’s not actually familiar with red people, it’s probably going to be based off of simplified stereotypes. That might be funny to other blue people people who share his beliefs about red people, but to actual red people, it doesn’t ring true and is therefore not funny. What’s is personally/subjectively true changes between person to person, day to day, group to group, so true universality is impossible to grasp, but some things are far more constant than others, and that’s the secret to a timeless joke. (Of course that doesn’t tell you how to make it actually funny but…) | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 1,129 | 25 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | isy75ns | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,194,725 | 2 | 50 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | One of the core tenets of humor is truth. Recently I came across a 3-panel comic where a cat is sitting at a persons feet and says ‘pet me’. The person goes to pet the cat. The cat shys away in absolute disgust saying ‘with your eyes!’ I found this absolutely hilarious, one of the only comics that has actually made me laugh out loud. Why? Because I have a cat who does the exact same thing— it’s funny because it’s true. To non-cat owners or people who don’t care about cats or even people who don’t have a cat with that specific behavior, it’s not nearly as funny. And if the comic was about a dog I bet pretty much no one would find it funny, because even people who have never owned a cat know the stereotype of an aloof cat, but that doesn’t match the stereotype of a dog at all. That’s also why in-group out-group jokes tend to be so divisive. Let’s say we have a red group and a blue group. When, say, a blue person makes a joke about red people, he’s basing it off of what he thinks red people are like. And, if he’s not actually familiar with red people, it’s probably going to be based off of simplified stereotypes. That might be funny to other blue people people who share his beliefs about red people, but to actual red people, it doesn’t ring true and is therefore not funny. What’s is personally/subjectively true changes between person to person, day to day, group to group, so true universality is impossible to grasp, but some things are far more constant than others, and that’s the secret to a timeless joke. (Of course that doesn’t tell you how to make it actually funny but…) | 0 | 481 | 25 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy7i6n | isydd4h | 1,666,194,862 | 1,666,197,172 | 10 | 31 | Humor is extremely difficult to execute. And it's a skill set all in its own. If I were in your shoes, I would just focus on the first draft being a good story and then give it some time and try to work on it here and there whenever you have a good idea on how to make it funny. It might take a couple of years so you will probably want to start on a different book and have this completed first draft on the back burner | It's better if you don't think about humor in fiction as "jokes," but rather part of your story's world in some way. Is the world itself funny or absurd, and the characters are interacting with it in a funny way? Is the world normal, but your characters are absurd, doing funny or unexpected things? Is everything normal but your characters have funny dialogue? Is your narrator humorous? Is it some combination thereof? Find what it is you want to be funny, but also find your own sense of humor. It might take some extra reading to identify the type of humor you want in your story. A humorous book will likely have both contextually funny things and just plain funny things. | 0 | 2,310 | 3.1 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isybc8s | isydd4h | 1,666,196,382 | 1,666,197,172 | 9 | 31 | Read/Skim (yep, this suggestion again) books and articles by humorist authors. This is a skill of timing and language that has to read to be understood. It’s as much about pacing as subtlety. Good luck and good on you for writing things sorely needed. | It's better if you don't think about humor in fiction as "jokes," but rather part of your story's world in some way. Is the world itself funny or absurd, and the characters are interacting with it in a funny way? Is the world normal, but your characters are absurd, doing funny or unexpected things? Is everything normal but your characters have funny dialogue? Is your narrator humorous? Is it some combination thereof? Find what it is you want to be funny, but also find your own sense of humor. It might take some extra reading to identify the type of humor you want in your story. A humorous book will likely have both contextually funny things and just plain funny things. | 0 | 790 | 3.444444 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isydd4h | isy4b3j | 1,666,197,172 | 1,666,193,596 | 31 | 2 | It's better if you don't think about humor in fiction as "jokes," but rather part of your story's world in some way. Is the world itself funny or absurd, and the characters are interacting with it in a funny way? Is the world normal, but your characters are absurd, doing funny or unexpected things? Is everything normal but your characters have funny dialogue? Is your narrator humorous? Is it some combination thereof? Find what it is you want to be funny, but also find your own sense of humor. It might take some extra reading to identify the type of humor you want in your story. A humorous book will likely have both contextually funny things and just plain funny things. | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 3,576 | 15.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isydd4h | isy5x7c | 1,666,197,172 | 1,666,194,244 | 31 | 2 | It's better if you don't think about humor in fiction as "jokes," but rather part of your story's world in some way. Is the world itself funny or absurd, and the characters are interacting with it in a funny way? Is the world normal, but your characters are absurd, doing funny or unexpected things? Is everything normal but your characters have funny dialogue? Is your narrator humorous? Is it some combination thereof? Find what it is you want to be funny, but also find your own sense of humor. It might take some extra reading to identify the type of humor you want in your story. A humorous book will likely have both contextually funny things and just plain funny things. | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | 1 | 2,928 | 15.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy7i6n | isyfzt4 | 1,666,194,862 | 1,666,198,196 | 10 | 11 | Humor is extremely difficult to execute. And it's a skill set all in its own. If I were in your shoes, I would just focus on the first draft being a good story and then give it some time and try to work on it here and there whenever you have a good idea on how to make it funny. It might take a couple of years so you will probably want to start on a different book and have this completed first draft on the back burner | Pratchett and Douglas Adams are good places to start. | 0 | 3,334 | 1.1 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy4b3j | isy7i6n | 1,666,193,596 | 1,666,194,862 | 2 | 10 | There's always animals doing weird things | Humor is extremely difficult to execute. And it's a skill set all in its own. If I were in your shoes, I would just focus on the first draft being a good story and then give it some time and try to work on it here and there whenever you have a good idea on how to make it funny. It might take a couple of years so you will probably want to start on a different book and have this completed first draft on the back burner | 0 | 1,266 | 5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | isy7i6n | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,194,862 | 2 | 10 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | Humor is extremely difficult to execute. And it's a skill set all in its own. If I were in your shoes, I would just focus on the first draft being a good story and then give it some time and try to work on it here and there whenever you have a good idea on how to make it funny. It might take a couple of years so you will probably want to start on a different book and have this completed first draft on the back burner | 0 | 618 | 5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isybc8s | isyfzt4 | 1,666,196,382 | 1,666,198,196 | 9 | 11 | Read/Skim (yep, this suggestion again) books and articles by humorist authors. This is a skill of timing and language that has to read to be understood. It’s as much about pacing as subtlety. Good luck and good on you for writing things sorely needed. | Pratchett and Douglas Adams are good places to start. | 0 | 1,814 | 1.222222 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyfdhc | isyfzt4 | 1,666,197,957 | 1,666,198,196 | 5 | 11 | folks are giving good advice, so i'll offer a practical tidbit: **don't punch down**. have you tried watching a 90s sitcom in recent years? it's painful, because the jokes are made at the expense of marginalized people and their gender, sexuality, culture, etc. you can avoid jokes aging badly if you poke fun at the systems that cause harm, rather than the underdogs. another trend i've noticed that's harder to anticipate: you can tell when humour has aged because the jokes are over-explained. we now can infer punchlines we used to be surprised by, so using actual punchlines is no longer funny, unless they subvert our expectations. in short, jokes are getting shorter and quippier, but idk how to 'future proof' today's humour, or if we should even try. | Pratchett and Douglas Adams are good places to start. | 0 | 239 | 2.2 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyfzt4 | isy4b3j | 1,666,198,196 | 1,666,193,596 | 11 | 2 | Pratchett and Douglas Adams are good places to start. | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 4,600 | 5.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyfzt4 | isy5x7c | 1,666,198,196 | 1,666,194,244 | 11 | 2 | Pratchett and Douglas Adams are good places to start. | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | 1 | 3,952 | 5.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyexg2 | isyfzt4 | 1,666,197,781 | 1,666,198,196 | -1 | 11 | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | Pratchett and Douglas Adams are good places to start. | 0 | 415 | -11 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isz4ipy | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,207,664 | 9 | 7 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | 1 | 3,899 | 1.285714 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyfdhc | iszewey | 1,666,197,957 | 1,666,211,563 | 5 | 9 | folks are giving good advice, so i'll offer a practical tidbit: **don't punch down**. have you tried watching a 90s sitcom in recent years? it's painful, because the jokes are made at the expense of marginalized people and their gender, sexuality, culture, etc. you can avoid jokes aging badly if you poke fun at the systems that cause harm, rather than the underdogs. another trend i've noticed that's harder to anticipate: you can tell when humour has aged because the jokes are over-explained. we now can infer punchlines we used to be surprised by, so using actual punchlines is no longer funny, unless they subvert our expectations. in short, jokes are getting shorter and quippier, but idk how to 'future proof' today's humour, or if we should even try. | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | 0 | 13,606 | 1.8 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isyhfqr | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,198,754 | 9 | 3 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | *farts* your nose knows! I once read humor is all in the surprise. Keep them guessing. Also, the three stooges. Ummmmm, let’s see what else… Dramatic irony, only the thing that your character doesn’t know is funny. See also, the three stooges. Talking animals? I’m trying to think what *everybody* finds funny, including my blind, deaf, and lame grandmother, but so far she’s only laughed at the fart joke. Also, tie-ins. People like the surprise/recognition of a tie-ins! Honestly, don’t try that hard. Humor requires a light touch. Once something is funny, add to it, but don’t overdo it. If you’re going to overdo anything, do it to an obnoxious degree so as to be charmingly ridiculous. Good luck, and keep writing! | 1 | 12,809 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszbfz4 | iszewey | 1,666,210,261 | 1,666,211,563 | 3 | 9 | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | 0 | 1,302 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isy4b3j | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,193,596 | 9 | 2 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 17,967 | 4.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isy5x7c | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,194,244 | 9 | 2 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | 1 | 17,319 | 4.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyvlir | iszewey | 1,666,204,265 | 1,666,211,563 | 2 | 9 | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | 0 | 7,298 | 4.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isz5ywy | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,208,215 | 9 | 2 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | 1 | 3,348 | 4.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isyo8jc | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,201,399 | 9 | 1 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | 1 | 10,164 | 9 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyw2d2 | iszewey | 1,666,204,449 | 1,666,211,563 | 1 | 9 | Steal from Shakespeare? Or learn from him? | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | 0 | 7,114 | 9 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszewey | isz749d | 1,666,211,563 | 1,666,208,649 | 9 | 1 | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | I’d say just maybe have fun when writing, try to keep the tone light and fast; I find that typing in sprints and overall just not giving a fuck about writing conventions (I write fanfic and it’s really fun) and just putting out whatever my mind comes up with Basically, have fun, don’t be slow, let your mind wander :) | 1 | 2,914 | 9 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszdxow | iszewey | 1,666,211,199 | 1,666,211,563 | 1 | 9 | Imo just write conversationally. If you’ve ever read Stephen King, that’s what I mean. Write as if the character or narrator is talking and you’ll find spots where you can poke fun at stuff. Can be like the narrator is giving a knowing kinda wink through the writing or maybe the way you describe things is silly and takes some unexpected turns. When writing is too formal the jokes can be lost, but when it’s simple/conversational then the reader can more easily find the humor in it | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | 0 | 364 | 9 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyexg2 | iszewey | 1,666,197,781 | 1,666,211,563 | -1 | 9 | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | Brent Forrester has a theory called "comic contradiction" that says great character-driven comedy comes from the difference btw how the character thinks they're coming across vs how others actually perceive them. | 0 | 13,782 | -9 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isybc8s | isy4b3j | 1,666,196,382 | 1,666,193,596 | 9 | 2 | Read/Skim (yep, this suggestion again) books and articles by humorist authors. This is a skill of timing and language that has to read to be understood. It’s as much about pacing as subtlety. Good luck and good on you for writing things sorely needed. | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 2,786 | 4.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isybc8s | isy5x7c | 1,666,196,382 | 1,666,194,244 | 9 | 2 | Read/Skim (yep, this suggestion again) books and articles by humorist authors. This is a skill of timing and language that has to read to be understood. It’s as much about pacing as subtlety. Good luck and good on you for writing things sorely needed. | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | 1 | 2,138 | 4.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyfdhc | isz4ipy | 1,666,197,957 | 1,666,207,664 | 5 | 7 | folks are giving good advice, so i'll offer a practical tidbit: **don't punch down**. have you tried watching a 90s sitcom in recent years? it's painful, because the jokes are made at the expense of marginalized people and their gender, sexuality, culture, etc. you can avoid jokes aging badly if you poke fun at the systems that cause harm, rather than the underdogs. another trend i've noticed that's harder to anticipate: you can tell when humour has aged because the jokes are over-explained. we now can infer punchlines we used to be surprised by, so using actual punchlines is no longer funny, unless they subvert our expectations. in short, jokes are getting shorter and quippier, but idk how to 'future proof' today's humour, or if we should even try. | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | 0 | 9,707 | 1.4 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyhfqr | isz4ipy | 1,666,198,754 | 1,666,207,664 | 3 | 7 | *farts* your nose knows! I once read humor is all in the surprise. Keep them guessing. Also, the three stooges. Ummmmm, let’s see what else… Dramatic irony, only the thing that your character doesn’t know is funny. See also, the three stooges. Talking animals? I’m trying to think what *everybody* finds funny, including my blind, deaf, and lame grandmother, but so far she’s only laughed at the fart joke. Also, tie-ins. People like the surprise/recognition of a tie-ins! Honestly, don’t try that hard. Humor requires a light touch. Once something is funny, add to it, but don’t overdo it. If you’re going to overdo anything, do it to an obnoxious degree so as to be charmingly ridiculous. Good luck, and keep writing! | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | 0 | 8,910 | 2.333333 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz4ipy | isy4b3j | 1,666,207,664 | 1,666,193,596 | 7 | 2 | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 14,068 | 3.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | isz4ipy | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,207,664 | 2 | 7 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | 0 | 13,420 | 3.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz4ipy | isyvlir | 1,666,207,664 | 1,666,204,265 | 7 | 2 | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | 1 | 3,399 | 3.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz4ipy | isyo8jc | 1,666,207,664 | 1,666,201,399 | 7 | 1 | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | 1 | 6,265 | 7 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz4ipy | isyw2d2 | 1,666,207,664 | 1,666,204,449 | 7 | 1 | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | Steal from Shakespeare? Or learn from him? | 1 | 3,215 | 7 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyexg2 | isz4ipy | 1,666,197,781 | 1,666,207,664 | -1 | 7 | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | There is a reason some old humor has stood the test of time. It's because it focuses on putting the characters in funny situations, rather than telling jokes, or making gags that are esoteric to that time period. Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O Henry. It's over a hundred years old and still hilarious. The prat-fall humor is timeless. Even Shakespeare is funny, it's just more difficult to understand because of the antiquated language. Watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. It's from the 60s, but set in ancient Rome. A hilarious classical farce. Full of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, innuendo. None of which is dated. Put characters in trouble. Disappoint them in ways that almost defy reasoning. Allow us to laugh because the situation is laughable. Let the reader know things the characters don't. Exploit their ignorance in ways that surprise and delight the reader. | 0 | 9,883 | -7 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy4b3j | isyfdhc | 1,666,193,596 | 1,666,197,957 | 2 | 5 | There's always animals doing weird things | folks are giving good advice, so i'll offer a practical tidbit: **don't punch down**. have you tried watching a 90s sitcom in recent years? it's painful, because the jokes are made at the expense of marginalized people and their gender, sexuality, culture, etc. you can avoid jokes aging badly if you poke fun at the systems that cause harm, rather than the underdogs. another trend i've noticed that's harder to anticipate: you can tell when humour has aged because the jokes are over-explained. we now can infer punchlines we used to be surprised by, so using actual punchlines is no longer funny, unless they subvert our expectations. in short, jokes are getting shorter and quippier, but idk how to 'future proof' today's humour, or if we should even try. | 0 | 4,361 | 2.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | isyfdhc | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,197,957 | 2 | 5 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | folks are giving good advice, so i'll offer a practical tidbit: **don't punch down**. have you tried watching a 90s sitcom in recent years? it's painful, because the jokes are made at the expense of marginalized people and their gender, sexuality, culture, etc. you can avoid jokes aging badly if you poke fun at the systems that cause harm, rather than the underdogs. another trend i've noticed that's harder to anticipate: you can tell when humour has aged because the jokes are over-explained. we now can infer punchlines we used to be surprised by, so using actual punchlines is no longer funny, unless they subvert our expectations. in short, jokes are getting shorter and quippier, but idk how to 'future proof' today's humour, or if we should even try. | 0 | 3,713 | 2.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyfdhc | isyexg2 | 1,666,197,957 | 1,666,197,781 | 5 | -1 | folks are giving good advice, so i'll offer a practical tidbit: **don't punch down**. have you tried watching a 90s sitcom in recent years? it's painful, because the jokes are made at the expense of marginalized people and their gender, sexuality, culture, etc. you can avoid jokes aging badly if you poke fun at the systems that cause harm, rather than the underdogs. another trend i've noticed that's harder to anticipate: you can tell when humour has aged because the jokes are over-explained. we now can infer punchlines we used to be surprised by, so using actual punchlines is no longer funny, unless they subvert our expectations. in short, jokes are getting shorter and quippier, but idk how to 'future proof' today's humour, or if we should even try. | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | 1 | 176 | -5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyhfqr | isy4b3j | 1,666,198,754 | 1,666,193,596 | 3 | 2 | *farts* your nose knows! I once read humor is all in the surprise. Keep them guessing. Also, the three stooges. Ummmmm, let’s see what else… Dramatic irony, only the thing that your character doesn’t know is funny. See also, the three stooges. Talking animals? I’m trying to think what *everybody* finds funny, including my blind, deaf, and lame grandmother, but so far she’s only laughed at the fart joke. Also, tie-ins. People like the surprise/recognition of a tie-ins! Honestly, don’t try that hard. Humor requires a light touch. Once something is funny, add to it, but don’t overdo it. If you’re going to overdo anything, do it to an obnoxious degree so as to be charmingly ridiculous. Good luck, and keep writing! | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 5,158 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | isyhfqr | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,198,754 | 2 | 3 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | *farts* your nose knows! I once read humor is all in the surprise. Keep them guessing. Also, the three stooges. Ummmmm, let’s see what else… Dramatic irony, only the thing that your character doesn’t know is funny. See also, the three stooges. Talking animals? I’m trying to think what *everybody* finds funny, including my blind, deaf, and lame grandmother, but so far she’s only laughed at the fart joke. Also, tie-ins. People like the surprise/recognition of a tie-ins! Honestly, don’t try that hard. Humor requires a light touch. Once something is funny, add to it, but don’t overdo it. If you’re going to overdo anything, do it to an obnoxious degree so as to be charmingly ridiculous. Good luck, and keep writing! | 0 | 4,510 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyhfqr | isyexg2 | 1,666,198,754 | 1,666,197,781 | 3 | -1 | *farts* your nose knows! I once read humor is all in the surprise. Keep them guessing. Also, the three stooges. Ummmmm, let’s see what else… Dramatic irony, only the thing that your character doesn’t know is funny. See also, the three stooges. Talking animals? I’m trying to think what *everybody* finds funny, including my blind, deaf, and lame grandmother, but so far she’s only laughed at the fart joke. Also, tie-ins. People like the surprise/recognition of a tie-ins! Honestly, don’t try that hard. Humor requires a light touch. Once something is funny, add to it, but don’t overdo it. If you’re going to overdo anything, do it to an obnoxious degree so as to be charmingly ridiculous. Good luck, and keep writing! | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | 1 | 973 | -3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszbfz4 | isy4b3j | 1,666,210,261 | 1,666,193,596 | 3 | 2 | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | There's always animals doing weird things | 1 | 16,665 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | iszbfz4 | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,210,261 | 2 | 3 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | 0 | 16,017 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszbfz4 | isyvlir | 1,666,210,261 | 1,666,204,265 | 3 | 2 | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | 1 | 5,996 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz5ywy | iszbfz4 | 1,666,208,215 | 1,666,210,261 | 2 | 3 | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | 0 | 2,046 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszbfz4 | isyo8jc | 1,666,210,261 | 1,666,201,399 | 3 | 1 | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | 1 | 8,862 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszbfz4 | isyw2d2 | 1,666,210,261 | 1,666,204,449 | 3 | 1 | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | Steal from Shakespeare? Or learn from him? | 1 | 5,812 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz749d | iszbfz4 | 1,666,208,649 | 1,666,210,261 | 1 | 3 | I’d say just maybe have fun when writing, try to keep the tone light and fast; I find that typing in sprints and overall just not giving a fuck about writing conventions (I write fanfic and it’s really fun) and just putting out whatever my mind comes up with Basically, have fun, don’t be slow, let your mind wander :) | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | 0 | 1,612 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyexg2 | iszbfz4 | 1,666,197,781 | 1,666,210,261 | -1 | 3 | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | Don’t get your advice on humor from here. Go find a comedic book you like and try to figure out why it works. | 0 | 12,480 | -3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy4b3j | iszhmti | 1,666,193,596 | 1,666,212,595 | 2 | 3 | There's always animals doing weird things | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | 0 | 18,999 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszhmti | isy5x7c | 1,666,212,595 | 1,666,194,244 | 3 | 2 | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | 1 | 18,351 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyvlir | iszhmti | 1,666,204,265 | 1,666,212,595 | 2 | 3 | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | 0 | 8,330 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz5ywy | iszhmti | 1,666,208,215 | 1,666,212,595 | 2 | 3 | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | 0 | 4,380 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszhmti | isyo8jc | 1,666,212,595 | 1,666,201,399 | 3 | 1 | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | 1 | 11,196 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszhmti | isyw2d2 | 1,666,212,595 | 1,666,204,449 | 3 | 1 | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | Steal from Shakespeare? Or learn from him? | 1 | 8,146 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszhmti | isz749d | 1,666,212,595 | 1,666,208,649 | 3 | 1 | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | I’d say just maybe have fun when writing, try to keep the tone light and fast; I find that typing in sprints and overall just not giving a fuck about writing conventions (I write fanfic and it’s really fun) and just putting out whatever my mind comes up with Basically, have fun, don’t be slow, let your mind wander :) | 1 | 3,946 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszdxow | iszhmti | 1,666,211,199 | 1,666,212,595 | 1 | 3 | Imo just write conversationally. If you’ve ever read Stephen King, that’s what I mean. Write as if the character or narrator is talking and you’ll find spots where you can poke fun at stuff. Can be like the narrator is giving a knowing kinda wink through the writing or maybe the way you describe things is silly and takes some unexpected turns. When writing is too formal the jokes can be lost, but when it’s simple/conversational then the reader can more easily find the humor in it | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | 0 | 1,396 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyexg2 | iszhmti | 1,666,197,781 | 1,666,212,595 | -1 | 3 | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | Just write a normal story and tell it funny. | 0 | 14,814 | -3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy4b3j | iszvlzv | 1,666,193,596 | 1,666,218,213 | 2 | 3 | There's always animals doing weird things | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 24,617 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isy5x7c | iszvlzv | 1,666,194,244 | 1,666,218,213 | 2 | 3 | In my experience, humour is always more difficult to execute than any other type. I get best results when I start thinking something funny, then write it as plain as if I’m telling someone about it. Then I let it rest for a couple days. After that I return to edit it and give it to its final form. | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 23,969 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszvlzv | isyvlir | 1,666,218,213 | 1,666,204,265 | 3 | 2 | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | 1 | 13,948 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz5ywy | iszvlzv | 1,666,208,215 | 1,666,218,213 | 2 | 3 | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 9,998 | 1.5 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyo8jc | iszvlzv | 1,666,201,399 | 1,666,218,213 | 1 | 3 | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 16,814 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszvlzv | isyw2d2 | 1,666,218,213 | 1,666,204,449 | 3 | 1 | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | Steal from Shakespeare? Or learn from him? | 1 | 13,764 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszvlzv | isz749d | 1,666,218,213 | 1,666,208,649 | 3 | 1 | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | I’d say just maybe have fun when writing, try to keep the tone light and fast; I find that typing in sprints and overall just not giving a fuck about writing conventions (I write fanfic and it’s really fun) and just putting out whatever my mind comes up with Basically, have fun, don’t be slow, let your mind wander :) | 1 | 9,564 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszdxow | iszvlzv | 1,666,211,199 | 1,666,218,213 | 1 | 3 | Imo just write conversationally. If you’ve ever read Stephen King, that’s what I mean. Write as if the character or narrator is talking and you’ll find spots where you can poke fun at stuff. Can be like the narrator is giving a knowing kinda wink through the writing or maybe the way you describe things is silly and takes some unexpected turns. When writing is too formal the jokes can be lost, but when it’s simple/conversational then the reader can more easily find the humor in it | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 7,014 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | iszo9g7 | iszvlzv | 1,666,215,173 | 1,666,218,213 | 1 | 3 | I spent a few years writing comedy at The Second City in Chicago. I think my best general advice would be to keep things brief. Nothing kills a joke quicker than making it long winded. Unless the joke is how ridiculously long winded someone is. My other bit would be to replace the common “don’t punch down” advice with “don’t be a dick”. If you’re constantly thinking “ope, is this specific group too marginalized?” your writing and jokes will never feel genuine. Everyone can take a joke, just try and avoid going so far to make people feel rough, and if you do get that far, try and bring them back around immediately after. Comedy is always walking that line of taboo and inclusive and if you’re constantly worrying about how people will react… it probably won’t be funny. | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 3,040 | 3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyexg2 | iszvlzv | 1,666,197,781 | 1,666,218,213 | -1 | 3 | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small sub-genre. Don't try to make it a story for everyone. It is an author's fallacy that you can be all things to all people. Pick your genre and write for that audience, even if it is a small subgenre. Personally, I do not like humorous books. I like my suspense plausible, my crime noir gritty, and my science fiction science plausible. Don't write trying to be funny. Make the tone light instead of serious and the humor will shine through. Unless you are writing a joke book, don't write jokes. It is hard to write a story when you are always reaching for a laugh. | 0 | 20,432 | -3 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyvlir | isyo8jc | 1,666,204,265 | 1,666,201,399 | 2 | 1 | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | 1 | 2,866 | 2 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyvlir | isyexg2 | 1,666,204,265 | 1,666,197,781 | 2 | -1 | In my work, I interject some levity with puns. Specifically, bad puns. But I've also tried to set the reader up to expect them, by having my narrator comment that character B always manages to find bad puns. That way, they aren't just bad puns for the sake of bad puns and therefore, something to cringe at, but instead are intrinsic to the understanding of that character. | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | 1 | 6,484 | -2 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyo8jc | isz5ywy | 1,666,201,399 | 1,666,208,215 | 1 | 2 | Don't try to be funny. It'll only come off as forced. Let it unfold naturally, either in your dialogue or narration. You can always fine-tune later, in editing. If it makes you laugh as you're writing/editing, it's funny! The lines my readers remember as most funny are almost always things I came up with off the cuff. Focus on the story and characters, and be open to opportunities. | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | 0 | 6,816 | 2 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isyw2d2 | isz5ywy | 1,666,204,449 | 1,666,208,215 | 1 | 2 | Steal from Shakespeare? Or learn from him? | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | 0 | 3,766 | 2 | ||
y85ivj | writing_train | 0.88 | Any advice on humor writing? Trying to write a humorous story that applies to everyone at any time period. However, it appears that a lot of humor is actually ephemeral and heavily context-dependent and only works in a given place at a given time. On the other hand, some jokes appear to work with nearly everyone. I'm going for those ones. Any nuggets of wisdom about what is funny to everyone who's ever lived? | isz5ywy | isyexg2 | 1,666,208,215 | 1,666,197,781 | 2 | -1 | A request that I throw out there occasionally: I once read a wonderful article on exactly why Douglas Adams is so funny. The author went into detail about how a joke will be set up, then played out, and then, when you least expect it, really hit you. (And if you know anything about Petunias you'll know that Adams might even wait about three books for the big punchline.) And I've never been able to find that article again. It's worth a shot. | There are a few different ways to make someone laugh. Exaggeration, randomness and absurdity are your best bet. Write something your reader would not expect to read "He was floating in the air in exactly the same way that bricks didn't" Give the reader information about the joke and then hit them with the random part. In my current humorous novel I mention at some point a "boxing club". Later on, it turns out it's a boxing club but also a baseball training ground (because baseball bats are clubs), a night club and a hidden casino (cause clubs, in the cards). And the protagonist shouldn't even go there in the first place, there's a men's underwear store that sells boxers, called the boxer club and they mistook it. Anyway, try to add randomness and/or absurdity in a response, a situation, a place, anything. I would write in more detail but I'm in the gym. Hit me up if you want any help | 1 | 10,434 | -2 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.