TECH: The Six Basics of Writing Humorously (moldy oldie) (1200 words!)

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 Original posting May 10, 2019

Writer's Digest, June 1990, pages 18-22, has an article by J. Kevin Wolfe, about writing humor. The title is "The Six Basics of Writing Humorously." The subtitle goes into more detail. "You can write funny articles, books, scripts, greeting cards – whatever – even if you don't consider yourself a comedian. Here's how to capture on paper the wealth of humor that waits within you."

Sounds interesting! So let's see…

Kevin starts by telling us that "deep inside each of us lurks a Bozo." He assures us that anybody can write funny. "All that's required to write comedy is a sense of humor." Aha!

Then he turns to that burning question, "What's so funny?" Unfortunately, analyzing comedy often kills it. But, Kevin recommends thinking about what's funny in yourself. Your quirks, your habits, your biases, your point of view can be great sources of material. Think about what irritates you about other people, too. You might laugh at their shortcomings, but you can also look at why that irritates you. What about the problems in your own life, the tricks that fate plays on you?

"None of us is perfect; our flaws make us laughable. Write a few jokes about yourself. Humor is many times a painfully honest comment about ourselves, individually and as a species."

Fairly often, humorists are the butt of their own jokes. "Our lives are filled with events that can be translated into humorous stories and anecdotes. Look for them."

Pay attention to your specialties. Whatever you know best, that's also what you are best qualified to joke about.

"Whether the humor you write grows from within you or comments on the world we live in, we can generalize to say that people laugh at two things: surprise and misfortune."

Surprise? Put together two things that don't fit together. The Pope skateboarding. "Surprise humor lead you in one direction and then takes a sharp turn. When a skateboard goes flying past, you don't expect the Pope!

Misfortune? The rich and famous, the poor and ethnic, life where we are, being our self. Think about the butt of the joke. Somebody gets slammed. "There is usually an element of cruelty involved here, either verbal or physical, subtle or blatant."

Sometime surprise and misfortune get mixed up. Misfortune can be surprising, and vice versa.

Next, Kevin takes a look at the building blocks of humorous writing. He assures us that deciding to introduce humor into your writing is more important than exactly which kind of humor you are going to write. A book with occasional humor, a television sitcom or stand-up comedy routine with a lot of humor, the big difference is the amount of humor, the intensity and style of the humor. But they use the same techniques. "To produce laughs, use these elements."

The key is the joke. Just like the sentence, "the joke is the element that humor is built from." So, what's a joke? Well, anything that makes you laugh. Pay attention, take it apart, pinpoint what made you laugh, and there's a joke!

Now, jokes may seem complex, but they're really made up of two parts. The setup, and the punchline. The setup introduces the elements needed to get the joke. It makes a little bubble, that the punchline bursts. The setup introduces something we relate to. The punchline delivers the surprise, casting an absurd light on that thing. Sometimes setups present a humorous concept, and then the punchline comments on that concept. For example…

Setup: Mattel has a new doll – Teenage Mutant Ninja Barbie.
Punchline: She's the girl next-door, provided you live next door to a paramilitary gun shop.

Sometimes there are implied setups, or punchlines that start right at the beginning and then grow. Learn to spot these concealed jokes, and then you can do it yourself. The examples he gives focus on building humor, with a repeated refrain, that then gets reversed in the final punchline.

"It is often said that effective humor lies in the timing, the second basic element of humor-writing." Timing? Well, compare it to music. When jokes are told out loud, the setup establishes a rhythm. Stay on topic, keep the momentum going, then… Deliver the punchline. "The timing of a verbal joke also depends on the beat in the rhythm that you skipped before and after a punchline." Pause to give the audience time to absorb the setup and get ready for the punchline. The second pause? Give them a chance to laugh!

Now, how do you print or write a pause? Well, sometimes a period does the job. A comma followed by and or or might do it.

"The sad thing about the 60s was that the three most remembered voices of the decade were those of John F. Kennedy, Walter Cronkite, and Mr. Ed."

The punchline should always be the last example.

"When writing a humorous story, try this method to skip a beat: place some brief action in the dialogue between the set up and the punchline." Not too long. Sometimes a he said or she said is enough. Then, end the paragraph after the punchline.

The third building block? Internal logic. Admittedly, your humor is going to push situations to extremes, but the logic of the situation should remain consistent. You might start with an absurd premise, but then keep it constant.

The fourth element is somewhat related, internal consistency. Usually you want to stick with one type of humor, don't mix them up. Biting satire with a slapstick food fight? No. So if you start with satire, end with satire.

The fifth building block, though, is that your audience expects you to be unpredictable. If you're not unpredictable, the audience may be surprised, but they're not going to laugh. Make sure the audience can't predict where you are going. When your punchlines get stale, change. Old jokes are usually predictable. Use your own fresh material. Now, plenty of humor is based on clichés, commonplace situations, stereotypes. They're predictable, and don't take very much set up. You can make them unpredictable by twisting or parodying.

Last building block? "The best humor is concise." Make it short, make it quick.

"As I said, all humor begins with the joke, and so must you. Search out the humorous stories you have to tell. But tell them carefully; trust your audience and your writing ability. Be confident: if your writing is funny, the audience knows when to laugh."

There's a sidebar that takes apart humorous stories. He looks at four different stories and analyzes them in terms of four elements: a funny opening, colorful narration, colorful characters, and a concise plot. Let's see… nope, I'm not going to try to summarize that. He's got examples of each of these, and he points out exaggeration, reverses, quirks, outrageous parodies, humorous flaws, irony, all that stuff! It's a great introduction to humor in a very short space, but you gotta read it yourself.

Okay? An exercise to go with this? Well, you could take something you've read that was humorous, and see how they've used the six building blocks, jokes with the set up and punchline, timing, internal logic, internal consistency, unpredictability, and conciseness. Or, you could take something you're working on and try adding some humor. Maybe just someone telling a joke to another person, maybe a sub plot that is humorous itself. Either way, enjoy the laughs.

tink

TECH: Writing Role-Playing Games (moldy oldie)

[mbarker]

 Original Posting May 17, 2019

Writer's Digest, June 1993, pages 38-41, had an article under the banner "An Untapped Market:" about Writing Role-Playing Games. By G. W. Thomas, it's a little bit dated now (I'm pretty sure there are lots of people doing this), but let's take a look at it.

Thomas starts off by talking about what role-playing games are. "Unlike a board game, which is played over and over again in a set pattern, a role-playing game involves different plots that the players follow." The stories or plots are presented as game modules, the instructions and information needed to play. Gaming companies and game magazines may create the games and the additions to the rules, but the modules, the individual plots, are usually written by freelancers. That's the lure of this article, try writing these games and make some money!

Then Thomas goes into more depth on just what is a role-playing game. "A role-playing game (or RPG) is a story game." Rules and Games Master work together with the players to create the game. "The GM's goal is to provide a challenging and entertaining experience for the players, who together must work their way through the story."

So the GM has reference books, dice, and the module. Thomas gives an example of characters in a fantasy game entering a dragon's cave. There's a description in the module, a map, and so forth. The players, of course, "assume the role of a character." The characteristics and skills and so forth of the characters may be described in the materials or determined by rolling dice. Strength, intelligence, dexterity, skills, possessions… There's a profile that the player uses to guide their actions. Run away, attack, play a trick. The Games Master also has information about the Dragon. And of course their encounter! Everybody gets turns, and the GM tells them what happens. "Very soon, everyone is caught up in the fantasy, and all the rules and numbers and dice fade to insignificance as the story unfolds. The experience has been described as like being inside a book!"

So, how do you plot and write a module? Well, Thomas describes his process.

– Start with the setting. Describe that. What could the characters encounter here?
– Select a final, climactic monster. The most exciting events should happen last.
– Why is the adventure taking place? Quest, mystery, whatever it is. There are often objects or odd things – MacGuffin's – to help get things rolling. A treasure, a map?
– Draw a map of all the important places in the story. Don't worry if you include extra things, the GM and the characters may very well use them.
– Fill in the remaining details between the starting point, whatever sets off the adventure, and the climax, facing that monster. How many events, and the kind of events – that's for you to decide. Most modules have 12 to 15 major plot points. A magazine module might have 6 to 8.

Make sure you have small clues leading to the climax all the way through. Objects, characters, bits of gossip. You can provide some, and the GM may provide more.

You also want to include red herrings. You don't want to be too mechanical and straightforward. Sometimes, you want to mislead them. This can also add plausibility and humor. Just don't make it too hard for the players to find out the truth.

– Playtest your module. Get a group or two to try out your module. You may have made it too hard or too easy. And you'll need to revise it. Pacing is a big problem. You want to make sure the game moves right along.

You, as the module writer, need to understand the game system. What are the mechanics, and what is the spirit of the game. You may want to try playing in some games, and even being the Games Master a few times.

Publishers want finished game aids. What you submit should reflect the style and format of their system. Don't change the rules or details about the game. Make sure that you use their terminology. You also need to know the background that they have set up. Some games let you put your own background in, others have a large canon that you need to use. Finally, you need to provide maps. These can be rough sketches because most publishers will have an artist make the final version.

How do you submit a module? Well, start by getting the guidelines from the game company. You should probably query first, listing your ideas. You are probably going to work on speculation, but it's still good to see if they are interested before you'd spend too much time on it. You should also check what's already been done, and make sure you're really suggesting something new.

Thomas has a list of game publishers and magazines. Of course, 1993 and 2019… I'll just leave those out.

Thomas ends with some warnings. First, many game companies are not terribly financially sound. In other words, they may go under while you are writing or before they publish your work. Second, the pay may not be high. In 1993, Thomas said the rates were $0.02-$0.06 per word. So it's not a get rich quick scheme. But, you might enjoy the challenge, taking a look at role-playing games from another angle. Publication, some cash, and "the enjoyment of watching others experience something that came from inside you." Not bad!

So, get out the rules, dig out your dice, and roll for initiative. Then try writing a role-playing game module!

tink