Creating Character Empathy, Part Two: stirring empathy in the reader

If you missed Part One of this post, you can read it here.

I can pick up this pencil, tell you its name is Steve, and then snap it in half - and part of you dies, just a little bit on the inside. Because people can connect with anything. We can sympathize with a pencil, we can forgive a shark... People can find the good in just about anything except themselves.

— Jeff Winger, Community.

It's true, isn't it? You might think, for instance, you could never sympathize with a rat. But the creators of the children's movie Ratatouille got us to do exactly that.

The miracle of human empathy is what enables a writer to create a powerful emotional response in the reader. The reader knows the people she is reading about are not real.

Yet still, she cares. 

And if she cares enough about the character, she cares (even quite deeply) what happens to him.

She's invested in the story.

This is the experience every author should strive to create in the reader.

But how? We can't make someone care for an imaginary person, can we?

Well, no - not exactly. Stirring our reader's emotions to create an empathic connection is not like pressing a button on a CD player - it's more like wooing a lover by playing the violin. 

There's an art to it, a subtlety. It takes practice, and each musician brings their own style and flavor to the piece. 

But like any instrument, it can be learned.

Here are some skills to add to your repertoire.

1. Capture the little human details

Your first job is to convince the reader that your character is, in fact, real. To make them so flesh-and-blood, so living and breathing, that the reader stops thinking of them as a character in a book and regards them instead as a real person.

You can do this by incorporating the small, realistic, quirky details that seem lifelike precisely because they imitate life - in all its variety and personality and color.

Jodi Picoult is a master at capturing lifelike details in just a few sentences. Take this simple description of the protagonist's grandma:

"She was the same as always, picking the skin off the roasted chicken to eat when my mother wasn't looking, emptying her purse of perfume and makeup samples she'd collected for my sisters, discussing the characters on All my Children as if they were friends she visited for coffee." - Jodi Picoult, The Storyteller

Picoult doesn't describe the grandmother's hairstyle or wrinkled skin here: instead she captures personality. In these couple of sentences we get a feel for who this woman is. 

It's the little things that make a character seem real. An author could tell us a string of facts about this old lady and who she is or where she's lived, but none of that is as vivid as showing us an image of her picking the skin off her chicken over dinner.

2. Use deep POV

This is an entire subject on its own - but suffice it to say that your use of Point of View can either create distance between the character and reader, or bring the reader right inside the character's head.

One way to do this is by expressing the character's thoughts right in the flow of narrative, without setting
them off in italics. In the classic, "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers", Browne and King state, "One of the signs that you are writing from an intimate point of view is that the line between your descriptions and your interior monologue begins to blur."

For instance, instead of this: 

Stacey looked at her boss lounging in his chair, stomach bulging over his belt, and felt revulsion. I wish that lazy pig would do something for himself instead of ordering us around! she thought.

Try this:

Stacey looked at her boss lounging in his chair. His stomach bulged over his belt. Ugh. What a disgusting pig of a man. If only he could be bothered to lift a pinky finger for himself once in a while instead of sitting there ordering everyone else around, then perhaps he wouldn't be such a lump of lard.

The difference? There's no need to "tell" the reader that she "felt revulsion" - we're inside her head, experiencing her revulsion firsthand. This sort of intimacy is essential to creating empathy.

3. Give your character a wound

Even an unlikeable character can be made empathetic if we know the reason why they are the way they are.

I've just seen the movie Saving Mr.Banks, which portrays the author of the beloved Mary Poppins books as a crotchety, rigid woman, impossible to please and generally quite rude to everyone around her.

And yet, by the midpoint of the movie I felt for this wholly unlikeable woman so deeply that I was dabbing away tears several times before the end. How did the screen writers achieve this? (Spoiler alert)

By giving her character a backstory - a larrikan father who loved his daughters and delighted them with his playful nonsense, and yet ultimately drank himself to an early grave. Throughout the movie we were shown this tragic decline through the intimate eyes of his daughter: the father's slow slide into alcoholism, the way his irresponsible behaviour shamed and ruined his family, the increasing stark hopelessness of the mother. 

Without being told, we could intuitively understand how a young girl would be scarred and shaped by these events for the rest of her life -- how she might re-make herself as a person as far removed from her loveable but reckless father as possible: hard-edged, sensible, determined.

4. Use humor

The thing about giving your character a wound is to avoid making her a helpless victim. Someone who sits around feeling sorry for herself and moaning "Woe is me!" doesn't inspire empathy so much as irritation.

Sue Monk Kidd does this brilliantly in her novel, "The Secret Life of Bees." On the third page, we're let in on the fact that Lily's mother died when she was four. Lily carries a deep wound in her heart, that much is quickly clear, but there's nothing maudlin about the way she tells us:

That night I lay in bed and thought about dying and going to be with my mother in paradise. I would meet her saying, 'Mother, forgive. Please forgive,' and she would kiss my skin until it grew chapped and tell me I was not to blame. She would tell me this for the first ten thousand years.

The next ten thousand years she would fix my hair. She would brush it into such a tower of beauty, people all over heaven would drop their harps just to admire it. You can tell which girls lack mothers by the look of their hair. My hair was constantly going off in eleven wrong directions, and T. Ray, naturally, refused to buy me bristle rollers, so all year I'd had to roll it on Welch's grape juice cans, which had nearly turned me into an insomniac. I was always having to choose between decent hair and a good night's sleep.

It takes a very good author to take a tragic circumstance and inject humor, without taking anything away from the real feelings involved. Instantly, we're on Lily's side, and we feel for her deeply.

So there are four ideas for creating empathy in the reader. There are so many more! Why don't you share some of your tips in the comments section? Which of these comes naturally for you, and which do you struggle with?

Karen Schravemade lives in Australia. When she's not chasing after three small children, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website and Twitter.

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The 20-step Process to Publication

Sometimes we complicate things a wee bit too much, so I thought we'd get back to basics today. Here is my 20 step program for writing and publishing a novel. Easy, right?



How To Write and Publish a Novel

1. Think of a fun, hooky story idea, and complete your research.
2. Create some quirky, realistic characters
3. Outline (or if you are a SOTP writer like me, start writing...)
4. For those who outlined... start writing. For those pantsters... keep writing.
5. Finish your perfect first draft!! (Pansters will get to this point sooner...)
6. Call your mother (or whoever your cheerleader is) and let them tell you how wonderful your book is and how it will probably be the next bestseller and promise to buy them a car out of your seven-figure advance.
7. Read your first draft and realize what a pile of crap it is. (Panster's drafts will be much more crappy though...)
8. Cry.
9. Get over yourself and sit down to edit.
10. Finish editing and pat yourself on the back.
11. Repeat steps 6 - 10 until you really hate your novel because you've read it so much.
12. Let a paid-editor/crit partner/crit group read your book and splatter it with red ink.
13. Repeat steps 8 - 10.
14. Go eat some chocolate.
15. Submit some agent queries.
16. Get rejected a billion times, edit some more, repeat steps 1 - 15 on more books
17. Finally snatch an agent.
18. Lose all your fingernails because you bite them while waiting for answers from publishers.
19. Resort to biting your toenails when an editor takes your manuscript to pub committee.
20. Throw a big party because, WOOHOO, you've got a contract, baby! 

(Please note, the time frame for this process varies depending on the author/agent/publisher/book)

Down Home Humor Ingredients

On Friday night of the ACFW conference, a gaggle of Alley Cats met in one room. Our greetings quickly slid past formality into down home humor. This lasted way into the next morning. Most of us had never seen each other before, yet we had a common link which fueled the conversation and roaring laughter, The Writers Alley.

Mary's definition of Down Home Humor:  the exchange of a short statement which calls to mind something previously experienced by both parties. The event itself may have had something embarrassing happen, or reference an unusual custom, etc. 

The greatest fun with down home humor is having others present who do not know about the previous experience. The joke is then enhanced by the puzzled look on the outsider's face as they witness the insiders guffaw over a few cryptic words between breaths. 

Ah hah, you have a memory of this, don't you? You're picturing two people laughing so hard they can't breathe, yet they fuel the laughter with a single word here or there, or they see someone looking at them weird, maybe it was you, and burst into a new level of laughing.

Wouldn't it be fun to include down home humor in your work? I'd wager it would be one of the most memorable scenes.

This week I read a book loaded with fantastic examples of down home humor.

How to set up a Down Home Humor scene

The following quotes are used with Tina Radcliffe's permission
AND Tina will be giving one copy of Oklahoma Reunion away today!

1. Set up the scenerio: The set up should take many chapters. It gives the reader a chance to belong in the setting, become familiar with the characters and feel at home with them and their story.

In Tina Radcliffe's book, Oklahoma Reunion, Kait returns to her rural hometown to put her parent's house on the market. Her intent is to cut all ties and return with her daughter to city life out east. 

During her visit, Kait has several encounters with Ryan, her high school sweetheart. Ryan offers his services to help fix up her parent's house. One day, he brings pizza and ice cream.

2. Don't spill the beans: Crucial point. RUE. Tina expertly holds back explanations allowing the reader to walk with the characters.

Ryan goes home after the meal, no hints of anything unusual. Typical get-to-know you event.

Everything sounds normal, right?

3. Roll the next scene, snowball style: Pull references, events, traditions, any microscopic detail from the first chapters as fodder for humor. Think of a small snowball rolling down a slippery, long hill gathering more snow as it moves. Tina starts the motion this way:

Kait's friend Molly stops by her home sometime after Ryan left. The conversation starts with Molly,

"Besides, I had to get out of the house. My oldest daughter and her husband are staying here for a few days. Her boys are making me crazy. Why, last night we got a call they were at Miller's Dairy Farm. In the middle of the night, mind you....Someone convinced them to go cow tipping."

Kait burst out laughing.

"They're city kids. They believe anything."

4. Speed up the avalanche: Hold back nothing at this point. This is the time to show the humor. Since the readers have walked with the characters, they will understand without any explanation.Kait has been living in the city for eight years. She has become a city girl. This is what Tina used to propel the avalanche into down home humor.

When Kait opened the freezer, Molly exclaimed, "Braum's!  see you're getting reacclimatized to Oklahoma the right way."

"Ryan brought that."

"What did I tell you? He's courting. A man doesn't bring Braum's butter pecan unless he's courting."

Kait laughed. "You're kidding, aren't you?"

"Not hardly. Next thing you know it'll be Mazzio's Pizza."

Kait choked on another laugh. She pointed to the empty pizza box on the far counter.

"Good night, that's a man after my own heart. What a charmer. Moves straight from Braum's to Mazzio's in one day. Watch out, Kaitey-girl. Next thing you know it'll be Goldie's. He'll be proposing over burgers and homemade pickles."

"Molly!"

Yah got to buy this book to see what happens to Ryan and Kait. It's a great story. 

The key to down home humor is building a firm foundation of material. These are not jokes. Down home humor must be nurtured in the beginning of the book, built up in the middle, and spilled out in the last third. Like watching a balloon expand as air is blown inside...at what point will it...P O P? 

With the Writers Alley we have our own loop where we share prayer requests, chat about our own lives, our writing  . . . for hours sometimes. Sympathizing, laughing, and chewing on issues through text. Two years of material came together in the hotel room at the ACFW conference this year. Talk about a firm foundation of material! Betcha can't guess the meaning behind the photo. That's okay, we're laughing.

Tina Radcliffe set up chapters of background material which she later played with and used in the down home humor sections. I found at least four, only mentioned one above.

Your turn. Tis the season to share some down home humor. You can reference a book, tell something from your family, or friends. We may or may not understand it as outsiders, but we will definitely laugh with you.

Tina will be giving a copy of her book Oklahoma Reunion to one person who comments today. Winner will be chosen by a third party. USA residents only. Please include your email address.

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This blog post is by Mary Vee

Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes contemporary Christian fiction with a focus on the homeless population and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.

Visit Mary at her website www.maryvee.com

Step into Someone Else's World

Ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids http://www.mimaryvee.blogspot.com

Writing Contest Contradictions - Prepare Yourself Ahead of Time

In lieu of the Genesis contest, I wanted to share a little on the kind of feedback you might get with your returned entries.

I'm currently a BIG advocate of contests so I strongly encourage you to enter them if you have the chance (can't you tell by the graphic to the right?). But I also encourage you to stay true to yourself and I want to let you know that there might be contradictions you will have to weed through.

Just want to say ahead of time, this is only based off my experience and feedback from others. You might not experience this from contests at all, and even if you do, this isn't about telling you to disregard feedback. It's about trying to help prepare yourself for varying feedback so you can use it to your advantage.

So...here are some contradictions you might come across.

Backstory

Let me give you an example. I got feedback from eight judges on the first chapter of a recent story I wrote. The comments about backstory were all helpful but half said, "I don't need to know this yet!" (I'm paraphrasing here) and the other half said something to the effect of "This is great! Give me more!" See? Subjective. So sometimes you've got to go with your gut, and if feedback is pretty equal, stick with what you feel is right.

Humor

My first attempt at romantic comedy was...well, fun. But let me tell you, it was judged, and out of four judges, not one thought the same parts were funny. Personally, I thought they were hilarious (okay, at least mildly amusing), but humor is still subjective. If more than one person likes it, it's probably pretty funny. If only one person doesn't like it, it doesn't mean it's not funny, just that maybe that particular judge had a different sense of humor.

Deep POV

Oh, I don't even know where to begin on this. I might get myself in trouble here, but even this topic can be a bit subjective. My advice? Study up on Deep POV, write it to the best of your ability, and try to get your reader in your character's head as much as possible. And as far as taking advice on Deep POV? If you trust that person, or they're a judge you know has particular experience with this, go for it!

Pacing and Hooks

Again, you're probably going to get varying feedback on this topic. Some judges will say, "Great opening! You kept me hooked" and other judges might say, "You didn't hook me right away, maybe start further into the story and keep up the pace!" Yes, your goal is to start the story in the right place. And going with the majority here might be a good idea. But if you're getting varying feedback, again, stick with what you feel is right.

Basically the point of this post is to let you know that not EVERY single thing a judge says is the right way to do it. Rule of thumb, if more than one judge agrees on something that needs improvement, you might want to consider reworking it. If it's half and half, that's more your call and what you feel is right. If only one judge comments on it...decide what you feel is best. Sometimes what they're telling you, you can readily agree with. It makes sense. And sometimes what they're telling you is just opinion and it doesn't mean what you're doing is wrong or needs to be changed immediately.

I know many of you out there have entered contests in the past. Have you encountered specific contradictions in feedback? And for those of you entering for the first time or who haven't entered before, what kind of feedback would you expect might be hard to deal with?

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Cindy is a Colorado native, living near the mountains with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She writes contemporary Christian romance, seeking to enrich lives with her stories of faith, love, and a touch of humor.

To learn more about Cindy, visit her at her personal blog, www.cindyrwilson.blogspot.com

Making Your Readers Giggle

Hi everyone! First off, I want to thank you all for the warm welcome, and I also want to thank my fellow Alley Cats for allowing me to team up with them. They truly are such a blessed, gifted group of women, and I consider it a privilege to be counted among them.

If you read my interview, you probably remember that I write southern romantic comedy, and I love my genre! So for my first blog post, I'm going to talk about something I'm still learning myself... how to make people laugh. These are tips I've gathered from ACFW workshops taught by people like the fabulous Jenny B Jones and Janice Thompson, as well as a few things I've figured out myself along the way. Hopefully you'll find they work for you as well!

You may be thinking, "Well, this is good and all, but I don't write comedy. How does this blog affect me?" I'm glad you asked. Even what we consider literary classics make use of comedy--take a look at Shakespeare. You don't have to be a romantic comedy writer to throw a joke or two into your prose. Giving the reader a comedic moment will allow him or her a little breathing room to process the deeper message of your book. And if you do write comedy, all the better!

1) Be specific. This is something I picked up from Jenny B Jones. It's amazing how the more specific you are, the funnier something becomes. Maybe your character burns a batch of brownies. (I know, you're thinking--that's not comedy, that's a tragedy--but stick with me.) Not very funny, right? But what if smoke begins to fill up the kitchen, and she's on the phone with her neighbor who sees the smoke coming out her open window, and then the neighbor calls the fire department, and the first firefighter on the scene is the very attractive man your character met last week, and then she realizes she's wearing fuzzy socks and her Hello Kitty pajamas?

2) Be ironic. Establish an expectation for the reader, and then surprise them. I'm not talking about the kind of surprises that will make your readers hate you, like killing off a beloved character without warning. I'm talking about inverting an expectation for the sake of humor. One way to do this is to put a twist on an old cliche: "Before you gossip, walk a mile in her Spanx--you'd be grouchy too." Another way to do it is to take a stereotype and then twist it for the sake of humor. The possibilities are endless.

3) Be yourself. I think grammar jokes are funny. I run and flail when I see a wasp. I inwardly cringe before touching public doorhandles. In real life, these things make me a nerd. On paper, these things suddenly become funny. Start paying attention to the details in your own life, and you'll realize your quirks make excellent fodder for your characters. Do you sing loudly to yourself in the car? Do you have a unique way of cleaning ceiling fans? What do you do when you see someone in the mall who you don't want to speak with? Write that in your book. Don't worry. We won't tell anyone these embarrassing moments actually happened to you.

4) When in doubt, use a kid, a grandmother, or an animal. For some reason, these things are always funny.

Have you tried your hand at writing comedy? What tips do you have to share that helped you find a humorous note in your writing? Can you think of any examples from your day to day life that might work well as a comedic scene in your book? I'd love to hear your funny stories. :)

*Dog photo taken from http://piccsy.com/2011/12/no-idea-6exq1cdmr/

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Ashley Clark writes romantic comedy with southern grace. Born and raised in the South, her favorite vegetable is macaroni and cheese, and she loves sweet tea. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. She's thrilled to be represented by the fabulous Karen Solem. You can read more of Ashley's thoughts on writing, crafts, and life on her personal blog: http://ashleyclarkwrites.blogspot.com/. She's also on Facebook and Twitter (writerashley).

What's Up The Street For Next Week?

Photo Credit

Our weather has been cold here lately, I just wish we had some white stuff to go with it.

Yes, you heard me right. If I'm gonna be cold, I want something pretty to look at. :-) What about you?

But it certainly isn't cold here on the Alley and we've got a great line up of posts for you. Sure to warm your heart and fire your enthusiasm for that cold WIP.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The famed Jeff Gerke is Pepper's guest on Monday, be sure and not miss the chance to drink from his wisdom.

Tis the season for giving and Sherrinda has gifts right up a writer's alley on Tuesday.

Mary continues her mentoring series on Wednesday with turing the Water to Wine.

Finishing your word count even with no inspiration. Casey is your hostess on Thursday.

Give a shout out to our Krista as she finishes up her edits for Abingdon Press!! She will be posting on Friday


Sidewalk Talk...

Pepper continues her Christmas song series on her blog with the poem Twas the Night Jesus Came on Saturday.

Beth Vogt launches her new website

Casey made her vlogging debut yesterday on her blog. If you're brave, check it out. ;-)

Keli Gwyn continues her Copy-Editing with Keli series on her blog

Want to add humor to your writing? Check out this post.

Photo Credit

Make 'Em Laugh - Writing Humor in Fiction

Anyone here love to laugh?
Just stick me in the Mary Poppins’ scene where they have tea on the ceiling with Dick Van Dyke.
I love to laugh.
But laughing, and writing humor are two very different things.

Using a fantastic article from the latest edition of Writer’s Digest and combining it with some things I’ve learned along the way, I want us to look at the fine art of writing humor.

Now, I am no Mary Connealy, Deeanne Gist, or Janice Thompson – nor do I have the wit of fellow Alley Cats, Krista Phillips or Sarah Forgrave, but I know a funny scene when I read one.

Humor is about distorting reality or turning it on its head in some way. Kind of like those carnival fun-mirrors. The image might still be you, but it’s funny looking because your lips look like they’re up by your forehead or it appears that you’re eating your feet. Distorted. Funny.

Let’s look at some important tips to writing humor based on Leigh Anne Jasheway’s list from Ways to Improve your Writing By Thinking Like A Comedy Writer (Writer’s Digest, July/August 2011)

 Incongruity – “Incongruity is the main reason we laugh.” Its’ the whole idea of expecting one thing and the unexpected happens. What’s so funny about the Cliffs of Insanity swordplay scene in the move The Princess Bride? It’s unexpected. Two guys are trying to kill each other, all the while being so very polite, and complimenting each others’ skill in fighting.

It causes your brain to hiccup. Wait, that’s not what I expected.

That’s why I think that God has a sense of humor. The Bible is FILLED with incongruity.

A shepherd boy becomes a king.

A hot-headed fisherman becomes a mighty servant of God.

A donkey talks?

A man is swallowed by a great fish to get him back on God’s path

A man in a landlocked country is told to build an Ark

The CREATOR of the world is born as a baby

 Keep Them on Their Toes – basically it’s when the writer changes directions from the expected course. “Misdirection” – as Leigh Anne Jasheway refers to it.

This is particularly true when phrases we know are changed.  That’s why we get such a kick out of kids’ sayings. My daughter once looked out the window and said, “It’s raining hats and frogs.”

 Use Familiarity to your Advantage – the ‘running gag’, a situation, character, or phrase that the reader can always expect to bring the comic relief. We all can think of that particular character. The one who enters the scene and we grin, knowing they’ll provide a silly phrase, foible, or witty comment to make things a little funnier. Even in the epic movie, Lord of the Rings, we knew that Gimli (the dwarf for those of you who are not Tolkien-ites or elves) is going to provide us with some humor any time he is on the page or screen. In Pride and Prejudice, it’s Mrs. Bennet (among others).

 Employ the Power of Play – if you’re a little silly, have fun pets, or young kids, use them to provide the necessarily inspiration. To write funny, you need to have the internal tools to do it. Which means…. A playful spirit yourself. Leigh Anne says “Make sure your inner 5-year-old has a chance to play at least once a day, and even more often when you’re facing a deadline.”

Use the Power of 10 – Before deciding on a perfect title, character name, or plot point, make a list of 10 possibilities and pick the best one. Don’t stop with just one or two – go all the way to 10.  “It takes more writers approximately 10 attempts at a joke to create the funniest punch line.”

Expose Yourself – learn from other funny authors. Expose yourself to their work and discover the way they make you laugh.

How do we add humor?

Well, here are a few ways:

Through witty dialogue – male-female banter, sarcasm, overexaggerations, complete honesty (usually internal monologues J.

Using interesting or funny similies & metaphors. Shannon LAusch refers to this as Wordplay.

Situational Humor – where the situation is just plain funny.

Parody – a ‘spoof’ off of something else

Slapstick or physical humor – think Lucille Ball or Sandra Bullock-type comedy here (Three Stooges too, if any of you writers even know who those are ;-)

Here are a few examples:

Here are the first lines from Laura Jensen Walker’s book, Miss Invisible.

One size does not fit all

“Not women like me,” I muttered as I tried to wriggle the cotton peasant skirt over my double-wide-trailer hips in the cramped dressing room.

Or what about this wonderful clip from Liz Curtis Higgs latest masterpiece, Mine is the Night. (gentle humor)

Jack looked at her beneath the velvety blue sky, riding as close as he dared.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your employment, Mrs. Kerr. I’m afraid I must dismiss you as my dressmaker.”

She pretended to be greatly offended. “Lord Buchanan! Is this how you repay my many hours of service?”

“Even worse, madam, I insist you marry me within the month.”

Elizabeth laughed softly. “I believe I was the one who proposed marriage.”

“So you did, my dear.”

Lorna Seilstad really shows some nice physical humor in her newest release, A Great Catch. Her heroine is a Lucille Ball act-alike.

In this scene, Emily Graham is trying to cut and eat a waffle, while her soon-to-be love interest, Carter, is at the table talking to her grandmother. Btw, Emily has a sprained wrist – so she only has good use of one hand.

Emily bit her lip and used the side of her fork to try to cut off  the corner (of her waffle). Ah. Success.

She glanced up and caught Carter grinning at her. Heat flooded her cheeks and she dropped her gaze back to her breakfast. Even without looking, she knew he was still watching. She’d show him she was a woman who could tackle anything – big or small.

Her grandmother thumbed through the ledger. “And Carter studied finance, Emily. Since your brother is busy running your father’s business, I’ve asked Carter to help me manage my assets.”

“But I thought – “ Emily jerked. The bite of waffle on the tip of her fork, drenched in strawberry syrup, went flying across the table.

Instinct alone propelled Carter to catch the chunk of waffle midair. The contents squished in his palm, and he grabbed his napkin from the table.

Fun, eh?

Okay – last example. How could I pass this up without putting in some of Mary Connealy humor?!?

From her book, Sharpshooter in Petticoats:

Mandy is trying to get her telescope from Tom Linscott, who just kidnapped her kids (so to speak) and has told Mandy that she’s marrying him (which in Mandy’s mind is still a matter of question).

Mandy said, “I’d like it now, please, Mr. Linscott.”

A far more earthly phrase full of dire threats and insults was pressing to escape from her lips. But the children were close at hand.

“Call me Tom.” Then Tom tilted his head and in the dark seemed to look down at Angela. “And you can call me Pa, little girl.”

“Pa!” Angela kicked her feet, which stuck out almost straight on both sides of the broad backed black Tom rode. Mandy could just barely see her little moccasins.

“Do not call him Pa!” Mandy could not sit idly by while that travesty occurred.

“Pa!” Catherine, on Mandy’s lap, twisted around and grinned up as if the order were a joke.

Jarrod’s legs were encased in that papoose-like pack on Tom’s back, but the little boy’s arms were free, and he waved them wildly and yelled, “Papa!”

“That’s right. I’m your pa. You might as well call me that right from the start.”

If one of our goals as writers is to grab the readers’ attention and hold on – then learning to write humor is a fantastic way to do that. Not all of us are humor writers, though, but even sprinkling it into more dramatic pieces can make your work stronger.

Your homework? Go play with some kids or pets. Look for the fun, imagination, and humor in the moments – and incorporate the joy into your writing.

Do you have any examples you want to post of your own writing humor?

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photos courtesy of www.writersdigest.com
http://www.alicia-logic.com/capspages/caps_viewall.asp?titleid=15

Author Hillary Manton Lodge on Writing and Being Funny (Plus a Giveaway!)

If you've come to hear about my adventures in Paris, SURPRISE!!! I have something even better. I'm so, so, so excited to have Hillary Manton Lodge here today! AND she's graciously offered a copy of Simpy Sara as a giveaway for all our commenters, so be sure to leave a comment with your email address!

Hillary is one funny and fabulous writer. Here's a little bit about her: Hillary writes Generation-Next Contemporary fiction. Her books usually center on normal people learning to live, laugh, heal, and try to understand the concept of God in a crazy world. Her first released novel, Plain Jayne, is now available nationwide. Her second, Simply Sara, released Sept. 1, 2010. Both books are "Urban Amish," and totally not your mom's Amish books. Except for the Amish. They're still there.

Now before I get to the official interview, you'll have to bear with me while I give you the backstory of how I discovered Hillary's books and then met her at ACFW!

It all started a year ago when I started plotting a lighthearted romance with Amish flavor, and I thought, "Hmm, I wonder if this has been done before." So I ventured onto Amazon, looked through all the Amish fiction books, and one cover stood out. It had a small Amish buggy on it, but the hero and heroine's pictures looked like non-Amish people. It was Hillary's book, Plain Jayne. I ordered it and ended up reading it in one day. It was funny, poignant, and amazingly written.

Fast forward to the ACFW Conference in September of this year. I saw that Hillary was doing book signings, and I also knew that Simply Sara was released in September. So I made a beeline for the bookstore and bought up half of Hillary's books (I was Christmas shopping early). Then I marched over to Hillary's table with my arms loaded down and proceeded to gush like a 12-year-old at a Justin Bieber concert (minus the ear-piercing squeals).

Poor Hillary, she didn't know what hit her. But she was sweet and gracious and talked to me a little bit about her writing journey. I was so thrilled to have her sign my books, but I was more thrilled to make a new friend. And now I get to introduce her to you. :-)

Hillary, you told me a little bit at ACFW about how you ended up writing "urban Amish". Can you share the story for our readers here?

First off, I didn't think you gushed at ACFW. It was very dignified. And I was delighted to have someone to chat with!

I connected with editors at Harvest House in 2007. After sending in the completed manuscript of my first novel, after a few months I heard from a second editor, who invited me to coffee. Since I lived in Eugene, Oregon at the time, getting to meet with an editor in person was actually an option! After several conversations I learned that while many editors at Harvest loved the book I'd written, they were really wanting to focus on their Amish fiction line. I was approached to do an Amish novel, but my own spin. "Sassy Amish" is what I was told. After several months of research and some rewrites, I wrote three chapters that became the start of Plain Jayne. Harvest loved it and offered me a two-book contract. The whole process took the better part of a year - there's nothing quick about publishing!

So true. That explains why most writers are manic depressives and/or addicted to coffee. So what five words best describe your writing process?

Oh, gracious. Distraction, inspiration, scribbling, Starbucks, and note-cards. Can I cheat on note-cards? I really can't live without them!

I guess I'll let you cheat since you proved my coffee point with your Starbucks answer. I loved, loved, loved Jayne in Plain Jayne. She was hilarious! How did you come up with the idea to create a motorcycle-loving girl who would become obsessed with making quilt squares with the Amish?

My initial concept with Jayne was to come up with a person who was as different from an Amish woman as possible. She's independent and sarcastic with a definite rebellious streak. But I also wanted her to be teachable, to be the kind of person who would be open-hearted enough to learn from her experiences. As she grew and changed throughout the book, the quilt squares became a physical metaphor for how she was recreating her life and piecing it together. The fact that they gave plenty of opportunity for comedy only made it that much more fun to write.

You had amazing sales right out of the gate with Plain Jayne. What do you think was the secret to its success?

I had a lot of retailer support with Jayne. They loved the cover and the concept. I think the idea of a very modern woman experiencing the Amish had a lot of appeal. Other than that? I have no idea!

Sara in Simply Sara had a very different voice from Jayne, but the story was just as fun (I also read it in 24 hours...I don't do that with just any old book, people). How difficult was it to switch voices and perspectives between the two books? Did you use any tricks to make the switch in your head?

I'll be honest - Sara gave me fits, and getting the voice right was the hardest part. I knew how to write her, and how she would sound - she was so well-defined in Jayne. But getting that voice to propel the book was a challenge. If I got stuck with Jayne, I'd have her say something witty, but that wasn't Sara's style. Sara was so much more internal, so much more thoughtful. It's not that she couldn't be funny, it's just that it didn't occur to her very often. I don't know that I had any specific tricks to switch the voices, other than to sit back and try to hear her in my head, hear how she would phrase things. I had one draft reader in particular who was very helpful - she'd pick on me every time something I'd written didn't sound quite like Sara. Knowing I had someone keeping such a close eye on me helped me make sure I kept my voices straight!

Where would you say most of your humor inspiration comes from? From your own life experiences? From your Great Aunt Maude's genes?

Hard to say. Great comedy can certainly be found in my family. They're kind of like the Portokalos family in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, only they're not at all Greek, they're just entertaining.

When I read this question, it made me think of the quote from Chariots of Fire: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast." For some reason, God decided I would have a particularly twisted sense of humor. It drove me nuts when I was younger - we'd go on youth retreats and everyone would take turns saying nice things about each other. Other people would be praised for their generosity of spirit or their smile or what have you. Invariably, I was praised for my sense of humor. I always felt it was a cop-out. Now I see it as a gift. It's nice being able to go through life with the ability to see humor in everyday events. Laughter is healing. Humor, when used correctly, is disarming. Comedy can tear down or build up. I try to use my powers for the forces of good. :-)

Wow, I got a little teary-eyed when I read your answer. Powerful stuff. Okay, so when does the humor really start to shine in your manuscripts? Do you have funny lines out the wazoo in your first drafts and have to tone it down in the second? Or do you start out with a Plain-Jayne first draft (sorry for the bad pun...couldn't resist) and laugh it up in future versions?

I'm going to reveal something here I don't like to share - I tend to be a one-draft writer. That one draft takes forever and a day to write, gets edited up one side and down the other, but it's the version that tends to go to print.

So most of the jokes are original. Very rarely, a couple get edited out (there was one such line in Sara, but I'm saving it for a rainy day). Sometimes, I'll add a line or two while I'm editing a scene in the polishing process. But the humor very much tends to propel the writing process; the funny scenes are my favorite to write.

I will say, I was very surprised when I turned in my draft for Jayne. I was sure my editor would think it was too wack-a-doodle, sure she would ask me to tone it down. To my surprise, the parts I thought she'd object to were the parts she loved best!

Wack-a-doodle...Love that word. It's been known to leak out of my mouth on occasion. What advice do you have for someone who's thinking about exploring their funny side in fiction?

Consume funny media. See how other people do it. I think the book The Princess Bride is a master's thesis on writing humor. TV shows such as Gilmore Girls are another wonderful example. If there's a movie you find particularly funny, listen to the director's commentary. Garry Marshall does great commentaries for The Princess Diaries and The Runaway Bride. I love Nora Ephron's commentary for You've Got Mail. Pay attention to things like pacing and delivery.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't ever try to be funny. Humor is very Yoda-esque - do or do not, there is no "try". Be true to your voice.

I could go on for a while - it's a subject I'm very passionate about. Be sure to stop by my blog for more - http://hillaryonwriting.blogspot.com/ :-)

I heard it through the grapevine that you may be branching out of the Amish fiction world in the future. What ideas are percolating in your brain?

Ah yes, the grapevine. I've made the decision to move on from Amish fiction. I feel I've explored the genre as far as I can while still enjoying the process. I could try to write another, but it's not where my heart's at.

There are always many ideas in my head! I've wanted to do a book about Gemma for years. [Sarah here: Gemma's a fun character from Books 1 & 2.] And I've got my first novel as well, which features Livy (whom you might remember as Sara's roommate), Mark the landscape architect, and a host of characters who are dear, dear friends. I'd also love to do a superhero book!

Well, I guarantee you, whichever direction you go, I'll be reading. Can't help it...I like to laugh. Thanks so much for stopping by, Hillary! It was a delight to have you here!

And readers, don't forget to comment for a chance to win Simply Sara! We'll end the drawing on Friday and announce the winner in the weekend edition.