Funny or Not Funny?

I recently had what I thought was a funny experience with an editor, and I shared it at a critique group meeting. The first two people I told thought it was funny. The next person just looked at me and shook her head. She didn’t think it was funny at all, even though I was laughing at the situation. She thought it was unprofessional.

Who was right? We both were. I was laughing at a situation in my life that if I didn’t laugh, I would probably cry. My friend didn’t laugh because she put herself in my position and reacted the way she would have if it had happened to her.

Humor is a funny thing -- no pun intended -- and yet that rolled off my fingers as glib as if I'd meant it.

Each person, (insert each reader), has their own sense of humor, meaning that what you find hilarious, another person will tilt their head in a good imitation of the RCA Victor dog.

We've seen a lot of good tips for writing humor this month, and they are all valid. One consideration when writing humor is to consider your reader so that you pen words of hilarity that they will understand.

Do you write for kids? Then many of your humorous lines will include mention of body odors, weird mouth noises, and references to current movies.

Do you write for the older population? Then you can make reference, as I did, to the RCA Victor dog, and they'll get the point.

No matter who you write for, you will want to put yourself in their shoes, if you aren't in that demographic, and use references they will understand.

I once had a friend who claimed she had no sense of humor. People would tell her jokes and she never got them. If she tried to repeat a joke she’d heard, she’d mess it up in the telling. She never laughed because she thought something was funny. And yet she made people laugh. We laughed at her complete lack of humor.

Humor can lighten a harsh word. It can teach the reader a lesson they wouldn’t want to hear otherwise. Humor can ease the tension in a scene, and it can draw the reader into the story by allowing them to lose themselves in the fictional world you create.

And, isn’t that really the purpose of our stories?

Humor

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
(Proverbs 17:22 NIV)

Once in a blue moon I am funny. Today my moon isn't blue. I weigh out with that whole dried up bones idea. Which is all the more reason I need humor, the topic for the Inkwell this month.

For many years I read a lot of women's fiction--deep, penetrating, take it somewhere stuff. And I believe someday I will again. But when the stress levels get high I grab books that have a light heart. There's something about chuckling through a story that helps me face the difficulties of life. (For my latest favorite light fare series visit this post at GraceReign about Erynn Mangum's books.) Humor is good cheer for the aching heart, and like the Scripture says, a cheerful heart is good medicine. For that reason alone I believe humor should be an important element in the stories of Christian novels. Obviously not every story lends itself to much humor, but even a serious read can incorporate a wry sort of humor.

There are a few things that make humor an important tool in the hand of a fiction writer. The most obvious is comic relief. During (or after) an intense scene the reader often needs emotional release. One way to provide this is through humor. Think about all the movies you've seen where just when the tension reaches what you think will be its climax, something funny happens. You chuckle with the rest of the audience, take a deep breath, and then are off and running with the hero again. Or after all the pain is over, the heroine quips a line that causes you believe all will be well as that wry smile tickles your lips.

Emotional relief is important, but one of best roles for humor in fiction is to help your reader let go of defenses. How many times have you heard a speaker who gets you laughing then (when your heart is wide open to him) says something that hits you between the eyes? You really hear that nugget of truth because the walls around your heart have been penetrated by humor, and you were ready grasp it.

One series that has done this for me is Sister Chicks by Robin Jones Gunn. I spent an evening reading Sister Chicks in Sombreros. I chuckled as I read, and when I closed the books I suddenly realized that within the light-hearted story the Lord (and Robin!) had placed the exact truth I needed that night. It didn't hit me between the eyes, it just saturated my heart as I chuckled my way through the sweet story.

This blog entry started with a Scripture that shows the importance of cheer, but some days cheer is had to come by. I close this post on humor with this promise for you and for me.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. (Job 8:21 NIV)