I’m going to cover the basics for turning something fairly trivial and possibly not that funny into a humour post. This may not sound like your cup of tea, especially if you’re a “serious” blogger or even, God forbid, an InfoPreneur, but hear me out because humour is a powerful tool.
While writing these points I am primarily thinking of humour posts, rather than posts that merely incorporate humour, but I believe the points are relevant regardless, so long as humour is used as a medium.
Start, Middle, End
It’s all a bit cliché, enough to give one a headache in fact, but having a clear idea of the start, finish and all the filling is crucial. Before I even begin writing a humour post I can see these in my head, fair enough they are in back-of-a-packet draft form, but they are there nonetheless.
When you have these down it is so much easier to get a draft post written, and having a decent backbone to the post right from the start significantly improves the structure of the post.
Bang, Bang, Bang
Start with a bang, finish with a bang, and make sure there are a couple of bangs in the middle. Listen, if you start poorly, people may not continue reading, but if you start with a bang, they are enticed.
This is not just relevant to humour writing, I’m sure we all know that, you have to draw the reader in, regardless of what you have to say or what you are selling. It goes without saying that you need to keep their interest, keep them focused, keep them reading to the end.
Finishing well is again a bit of a given, blindingly obvious in fact, but I have to say it anyway. A bad ending can make a reader’s visit their last one, but on the other hand a mind-numbingly brilliant ending will keep them coming back.
Anticipate the Readership
Understanding who your readers are, what they are after and why they keep coming back, allows you to shape your general content to meet their expectations or at least, satisfy what they are reading for.
I’ve learned from experience that a humor post is not necessarily successful because of the story itself, it is the telling of it that drives success. A post based on a scarily mediocre incident can be incredibly successful if told well. Time and time again I’ve turned what ultimately is a directionless incident in a pointlessly-boring day into a post that my readers have loved and responded to. This is achieved by filling the content itself with carefully-crafted metaphors, similes, comparisons and feelings that my readers can relate to.
Conclusion
Start and finish well, know the rough outline before you begin and weave your words carefully, while considering your readership, so that the majority of your readers will find something to smile about.
Mo is a software developer, late twenties. Lives in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, with his wife and young daughter. Writer of the blog Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin, a wacky take on the world with a focus on observational humour, people-watching and literary quality. He loves nothing more than to sit in a pub with a pen and paper, sipping a strong dark beer and capturing life’s humour, richness and colour.
Hey Mo,
Sounds Interesting mo:). “Start, Middle, End” It’s really cliché
man.
Really great idea about Humor Posts. Good stuff man. keep it up.
Thanks for sharing this great post.
~Dev
Dev | Technshare´s last [type] ..Technshare Monthly Report 3: May 2010
I may have to start chucking in clichés just for you my friend.
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
Mo. First of all it was nice to read humour spelt correctly!
Secondly, i am going to have to respectfully agree to disagree.
Humour is not something that can be merely injected into an existing story, it is a character trait of an individual that is able to do this – like you do (yes, I like your style over at madd0g)
What I read from this post is that if you are not currently injecting humour into your posts then you should. I agree with you there, but think there are some people out there that just could not do it.
The feedback I get is that my posts are quite humerus, perhaps it’s because I put a little elbow grease in them (hahahahahah GROAN!OK that was sad – but I LOVE SAD!)
Seriously though, humour is something that comes naturally and for some, forcing it into their posts would simply deflate the message or ruin the flow.
Alex
(My wife just came to say that my pun wasn’t funny. – what does she know?!)
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I took some liberties and changed the spelling in the title to make it more American correct.
Alex, I have to somewhat disagree…
I believe we all could learn some humor (or is it humour). We may not be stand up comics, but I think we could all stand to lighten up posts somewhat, and try to bring smiles across the faces of our readers and viewers. Like I said, doesn’t have to be one rolling laugh after another, but I truly believe, to an extent, people can learn and change things about themselves, and I don’t see why spicing up our posts, or out “stories”, or our public speaking can’t be improved with a little humor.
Thoughts?
I suppose you’re probably right Alex in the sense that some find injecting humour easier than others. Your wife is wrong my friend, you are a comedy genius.
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
Mo, I use “humour” in small doses, when the inspiration hits me while writing. I rarely decide that I will intentionally write for smiles or laughs.
But I do think that humor helps people bond with me as a writer, especially when it’s self-deprecating or at least not done at another’s expense.
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John,
Thanks for your comment. It may have come across that I’m saying posts need humour – but I don’t actually think that. What I’m intending to convey is techniques I use for writing a humour post or threading humour through a post. But actually, using humour in “small doses” is extremely valuable, it can bridge the gap between the impersonal and personal, that’s part of Humour’s magic I think.
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
Hi Mo, I guess writing a humour post is not that different to writing a normal post really – start, middle and end?
I certainly think that writing about a serious subject in an amusing style is certainly a good way to get the message across.
But, I must confess I’m confused. Are you a humour blogger or blogger who writes humourously?
Could this post have been written humously?
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..How to Grow Your Business (Part
I’d say I’m a humour blogger. I think. But good question, it’ll keep me up tonight I expect.
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
I like this quote: “I’ve learned from experience that a humor post is not necessarily successful because of the story itself, it is the telling of it that drives success.”
It reminds me of what my favorite authors says about people believing what you say… That people don’t always believe what you say but will listen to see if YOU believe what you’re saying.
It’s not JUST the message but how it’s delivered as well that can make all the difference.
Great post here Mo!
Eric´s last [type] ..Changes In Progress… Along With Learning
Bang on the money there Eric. In some ways I’ve written some very obvious stuff here, but at the same point, it is something I’m (geekily) quite excited about, so much depends on the delivery.
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
Hi Mo,
I have been doing a little humour in my posts, I can’t really say if it goes down well because no-one has ever said if they like it or not. I’m just kind of practising really, but I do like to read a post every now and then that has some humour.
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Whether or not it is explicitly responded to doesn’t matter so much. Sometimes I’ve thrown in quite a few gags or threads and only a few get a reaction, or if the post/tale itself gathers a lot of responses then often some bits of the humour – explicit lines that I’ve woven in – perhaps get overlooked, or simply accepted as part of the whole package.
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
One thing I’ve learned when writing humor posts is to always try to direct the humor towards yourself rather than to other people. This endears you to your readers and shows everyone that you are just like them too
Julius´s last [type] ..What Can a Musical Genius Teach Us About Accessibility?
yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Better to make fun of yourself and not your readers.
Good points. I generally like to focus humour on myself, though a fair part of what I do is use what I see – but even then, you can use humour gently, or in ways that are definitely less endearing. I go for the gentle approach as much as possible!
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh
Very timely for me as I’m in the process of writing a guest post for Keisha. Just this morning, I though of injecting humour (I’m Down Under) into it.
2 firsts for me here: guest posting and injecting humor (more like it?). We’ll see how it goes. I’m so in it for the experience.
Bang, bang, bang! Have a good one Mo!
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Glad this was helpful Gines, hope the guest post gets a good response!
Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last [type] ..John Smith and the Blue Mackintosh