Hey, fellow writers, wanna hear a joke? Here’s one that my nieces love… Why was Cinderella bad at basketball? She always ran away from the ball!

Ha… ha…

But, hey, even the cheesiest of jokes always get a laugh out of somebody, right? Especially me, if anyone. I unapologetically love a good pun.

So, recently, I’ve noticed… well, not really recently, because I’ve realized this, actually, long ago, but… I’m pretty into comedy. You know, sitcoms, SNL, all the funny bits. And then, without realizing this part until now, I’ve been unconsciously pumping all of my writing full of humor as of late.

There’s just something about laughing. We can all agree on that, right? I mean, the wise words “laughter is the best medicine”? Because, frankly, the past few years I’ve also realized that having a sense of humor can change how the whole world looks.

So… why not incorporate humor into your writing, too? I mean, comedy doesn’t have to be the main genre you’re aiming for, but, perhaps like me, you could certainly give a full-out funny-focus book a try!

Comedy, really, is in everything, though. I mean, the modern version of “comedy”—the funny stuff. Comedy back in Shakespeare’s time, as I’ve read, was a little different.

But, today, and really think about this… every good or great or even halfway decent story has some element of comedy/humor in it. It’s what makes it relatable, because we’ve all experienced laughter, and we all generally know what should make us laugh. And, though there are a lot of cultural and language specifics when it comes to humorous content, there are also some universal jokes as well—for example… the slap-stick, non-verbal Mr. Bean, anyone? And, anyway, when you write, you normally stick to one language, and then your humor will naturally focus on the culture(s) that primarily use your language.

So… why not give it a try? Even adding one small piece of joking dialogue in a completely serious thriller story can change the whole outcome for the reader. Remember, I said before that the best stories utilize a number of different genres, otherwise… we all might just get bored.

And boring is the opposite of fun, which is literally in the word funny! And, another thing to remember…

If it makes you laugh, then chances are it’ll make someone else laugh, too.

I rely on that idea a lot when I write. I mean, think about it—if you think one thing is funny, it’s because you have experience that tells you it is humorous, and this experience was probably socially observed; I’m sure someone else had a similar social observance, if not tens or tens of thousands of someone elses.

And, hey, even it turns out not as funny as you thought it would be, it can still contribute to your story, maybe in a different way. Not all entertainment is humorous, but all humor sure is entertaining!

…Does that make sense?

These just some thoughts I’ve thought up recently (yes, actually recently), and I also thought they’d be worth sharing with my fellow writers here. I truly think anyone can be funny; everyone is funny; we just have to try!

…Please tell me I’m right.

–Kari