LAUGHTER IS GOOD MEDICINE

When you read a good book laced with humor what makes you laugh? Is it the witty dialogue of a character; the descriptive attire of a character or setting; or maybe a character caught in an embarrassing or silly situation? We all have different taste. One person might roll on the floor in uncontrollable laughter over a scene involving a convertible, a carwash, and a big dog, another person might emit only a small grin, and still another may shake their head. There are as many different situations to induce laughter as there are authors who write them.

First, you must introduce humor to your reader on the first page and plant humor throughout your book. Is the set up and delivery of your humorous scenes important? Absolutely. Make those scenes come alive with well placed action verbs that show rather than tell, and spot-on dialog.

You only need one humorous character. Sometimes it’s necessary to remove all of your own logic and sensibility to reach the core of your humorous character. The humor in your story doesn’t have to be your sense of humor. Remember, your goal is to make your reader laugh, not your characters.

Continually ask yourself what would make this scene or situation funnier. Let the obvious reaction brew and percolate inside you, then pour it onto the page and ask yourself: What hysterical concoction can I create that the reader doesn’t expect to receive?

Weigh your romantic comedy against the amount of drama. If the emphasis is on comedy, you’ve written a romantic comedy. If the balance swings toward drama, you've penned a romance with humorous elements. Romantic comedy usually has three main elements of conflict. Global: characters and their world. Direct: characters against characters. Inner: character at odds with themself. To remove one of these conflicts, you risk lessening the stakes the characters have in the story.

Even the lightest romantic comedies have underlying emotional elements. Without them, all you’ll have is a collection of comic skits void of any emotion to glue them together. The reader might be amused, but they won’t be drawn into a deep connection with the characters. You must tap into your characters deep point of view to demonstrate a relationship growing between two people.

Don’t forget, well placed comic lines serve an important function. They offer a great way for the author to relax the pace for a moment and allow the reader to pause and catch their breath before the next intense round emerges. Comic lines in dialogue also create great relief and reduce the intense pressure in a serious or suspenseful scene. Let your reader slow their pounding heart, rest their anxious soul, and relax their white-knuckled grip on their book.

So, what makes you grin, giggle, laugh, or roll on the floor in hysterics? Do you write humor into your stories?