(Aug 10, 2012) Friday Writing Essential: Let's Focus on Humorous!

Howdy!

Another great, but busy week. I'm in the middle of a booksellers convention that has been going really well. Next week I'll have an awesome announcement to make! Going to be finalizing things over the weekend, then in my next prompt I'll spill the beans. :-)

Baby has been kicking a lot lately! And the cutest thing in the world happened the other night. :-) Around two in the morning, I was on my side, facing my hubby, and suddenly the baby started kicking a TON. I reached down to see why, and found that my husband's hand was very slightly touching my stomach - light enough for me not to feel it, but the baby sure knew he was there! It was like she was saying, "Hi, Daddy!" Or maybe, "Leave me alone!" Either way, it was cute. :-)

Anyway, I can't wait until I can say what's in the works. :-) And I'm really excited for today's prompt! I LOVE humorous!

As you know, we're focusing on specific fiction genres each week. We've covered:

• Romance
• Historical fiction
• Contemporary
• Children's Fiction
• Mystery
• Horror
• Sci-fi/fantasy
• Thrillers
• Crime/Detective
• Inspirational
  

If you want to write something regarding one of the above genres, click on it, read the prompt, write your post, and link to it in a comment on today's prompt. (I won't find it otherwise, even if you tag it correctly, since I don't monitor the tags after their due date.)

The order in which these genres will be covered:

• Humorous (Today)
• Westerns (August 17)
• Short Fiction (August 24)

If I've missed a genre, see my previous post here regarding how to submit ideas for more genres. Leave a comment on this prompt, letting me know that you've submitted an idea.

Today's Prompt:

I absolutely love funny books. Writing humor is not one of my talents - I can pull off strong tense, scary, or fantasy scenes full of imagination, but I have to really work hard to tickle other people's funny bones. Therefore, I greatly admire authors and writers who write in this genre! Some of my very favorite humorous authors are: Patrick F McManus, Erma Bombeck, and Dave Berry. All authors my grandpa introduced to me. :-)

Ways in which you may respond to this prompt:

• Post something you've written in this genre
  
  • It can be any section of your work, and that section doesn't necessarily have to be an "example" of humorous, so long as the work in its entirety is considered to be that genre.
  • It can be any of the subgenres within the humorous market. (And any other genre that would use humorous materials.)
    
  • It can be something you're working on and for which you're needing feedback. (Specify if you want critiques. I recommend the first few paragraphs of your book - those are the ones that usually need the most strengthening.)
    
  • It can be something you've already finished/published/don't want to work on more.
    
  • Don't make it too long (if posts are too long, people are discouraged from reading them and lose interest).
    

More ways to respond:

• Respond to all (or some) of the questions below, giving short answers
• Respond to one of the questions below, giving a long answer

Questions you could answer as a possible prompt response:

• What sort of things make you laugh when reading?
• What are some of your favorite humorous authors/books/movies?
• What sort of things do you NOT find funny?
  
• Have you read any books in this genre lately?
• Who is your favorite author in this genre? Why?
  
• For those of you who write humorous, were you more like me at first - struggling to be funny - or did it just come naturally?
• What is the most difficult part of writing in this genre? The easiest part?
  

What other questions do you want answered or do you think I should ask? Put them in the comments below, or ask and answer them in your post!

Remember:

You have until Thursday, August 16, 2012 at midnight to write and post, and it can be in any format.

I will read, comment on, and feature your responses a week from today.

* Have your title say FWE or Friday Writing Essential, and have the initials "LFOH" (Let's Focus on Humorous) in it.

* Make sure to post to the Writing Essential Group.

* Put FWE or Friday Writing Essentials and the initials "LFOH" in your tags. (I won't find your post without these tags.)

Good luck! Can't wait to read the responses!