Pink Think: “I also found child’s play – stuff that was not considered serious, but goofy – was the stuff I liked to do, so I still do it as an adult.” – Matt Groening
Art from maraftim.blogfa.com
Just got word that I made the first round of judging in an online flash fiction contest. Will know if I won in July. I submitted a piece that I wrote tongue-in-cheek in response to a fellow blogger who said he had the hiccups and that wasn’t good as a surgical tech. I had fun writing that piece.
Really, the funnest pieces to write are the ones where I am not taking myself seriously and just write what comes to me. But sometimes when I overthink, or when I try to be funny, I usually come off flat.
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Yesterday, I found shade under the only tree at a mobile home park near a movie theater where my kids were watching their weekly movie fix (thanks to the PTA, what a cool idea for parents that need a little bit of me-time!). Then I proceeded to end weeks-long drought by writing more towards my current story. Decided to write goofy just to have fun so that I could be in keeping with my initial premise “This is going to be a NOT serious story!”
Speaking of a novel that started out goofy, then turned solemn, I was reading Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side a couple of weeks ago. Loved the opening. Loved the goofiness. Then it changed towards the end, more dark and serious, and well, I was disappointed. The moral of the story: if you are going to set up your readers for humor, then consistency is the key.
But it is hard. I know, because I have tried. That breezy, funny way of storytelling is just something that comes or doesn’t at the first try. Comes from that part in your brain that distills the quirkiness of life and shapes it into something fun!
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What makes YOU laugh?
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