Dribbles From the Pencil

“Reader” Humor - Comedy for the sake of the reader

“In Universe” Humor - Comedy for the sake of furthering in-universe situations.

“Reader” Humor is likely what aspiring authors on the likes of Wattpad and Tumblr find difficult to write. Or perhaps a reader may find humor in incompetence, which is not our goal here today.

Let us first keep in mind demographic. For an example, let us look to my first reading of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. As a young child, I lacked cognitive ability to comprehend the jokes in the book at such a young age, and haven’t picked up the book since. I should really get to that. But yes, demographic plays a mighty roll in writing humor (clearly, I was not a target for the book) for it determines tone and themes in such. You may be tempted to travel to the risque side of comedy, which I shall condone if your jokes don’t find their way into being forced.

Another factor that comes to play is perspective. Take first-person books, ones that have a unique sense of voice that give leeway to possibilities such as exceedingly random thoughts, which may bring a bout of laughter due to it’s pure reliability. Of course, you could always go the meta route and break the fourth wall every five seconds (I only condone such if one’s main goal is comedy. In plot-driven books, it’s slightly jarring and breaks the world-building one may have striven to create).

As for “In Universe” Humor, there is a drastic shift in difficulty. This idea revolves around the concept of character building, mostly (forms of “In Universe” Humor can fall under the category of “Reader Humor” as well, but it is more common and effective when used in TV shows or performances). What better way to showcase a goof than having them crack a terrible pun? Having a cunning character leave every rival with enough sarcastic quips to leave the reader’s head spinning? And not only the actions of the characters can be of benefit, but the reactions of the others can prove to be rewarding. One may groan or remain dis-pleasingly stoic to a joke, killing two birds with one stone. Either way, this form of “comedy” is easy to tread and ultimately beneficial.