Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 364

A Writer's Moment: Using Humor to Humanize Your Writing

A Writer's Moment: Using Humor to Humanize Your Writing: “Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than ...

Using Humor to Humanize Your Writing

“Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.” – Victor Borge
There’s an old saying: “If you can get people to open their mouths to laugh, you can get them to open their hearts to learn.” And that also makes for effective writing.
As a communication tool, humor can humanize you and your writing, cementing your bond with readers. It also can help your work stand out in a crowded market. Advertising studies have shown that humor both enhances how much we like what we’re reading and how well we remember it afterward.
But use it sparingly.  Unless you’re writing about an inherently funny topic, you should limit the humor you use to selective references. Remember, its purpose is to grab the reader’s attention and help you make your points in creative ways.  Find subtle ways to let your readers know that not only is it okay to laugh, but you want them to.  What you don’t want is to make them laugh at a time when you didn’t intend it. 
Food for thought while you’re having those writer’s moments.   Happy writing!  


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A Writer's Moment: Pratchett: A Writer for the Ages

A Writer's Moment: Pratchett: A Writer for the Ages: “The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” – Terry Pra...

Pratchett: A Writer for the Ages

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” – Terry Pratchett
Born in April 1948, Pratchett died four years ago from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but not before producing over 100 books, including 41 in his much-lauded “Discworld Series.”
A journalist first, he said journalistic writing shaped his career.  “Journalism makes you think fast,” he said.  “(And) You have to speak to people in all walks of life.  Especially when you do local journalism.”   As a one-time “local journalist” myself, I agree.  It’s a remarkable way to learn how to study people and the world around you, and to set and keep deadlines.  You need to quickly knock out a story’s first draft so that you have a foundation from which to build your final piece.  Great training for any creative writer.                  Knighted for his contributions to the literary world, Pratchett wrote more than 100 books and short story collections.  He holds the record as the U.K.’s best-selling 1990s author and has been second only to J.K Rowling for books sold in the 2000s.  In addition to receiving dozens of writing awards he was presented 10 honorary degrees.
One of Britain’s most benevolent authors, Pratchett donated millions toward fighting poverty, disease, and animal abuse.  “It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes,” he wrote. “It is, in fact, true.  It’s called living.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'Poetry: The Orphan of Silence'

A Writer's Moment: 'Poetry: The Orphan of Silence': “Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.” – Charles Simic Born in ...

'Poetry: The Orphan of Silence'

“Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.” – Charles Simic
Born in May 1938, Simic is a Serbian-American poet and former co-poetry editor of the Paris Review.     Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for The World Doesn't End, he has been a finalist for two other Pulitzers and is one-time Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Simic’s,      Talking to Little BirdiesNot a peep out of you now
After the bedlam early this morning.
Are you begging pardon of me
Hidden up there among the leaves,
Or are your brains momentarily overtaxed?

You savvy a few things I don't:
The overlooked sunflower seed worth a holler;
The traffic of cats in the yard;
Strangers leaving the widow's house,
Tieless and wearing crooked grins.

Or have you got wind of the world's news?
Some new horror I haven't heard about yet?
Which one of you was so bold as to warn me,
Our sweet setup is in danger?

Kids are playing soldiers down the road,
Pointing their rifles and playing dead.
Little birdies, are you sneaking wary looks
In the thick foliage as you hear me say this?


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A Writer's Moment: Making Reading Fun

A Writer's Moment: Making Reading Fun: “I love writing and do not know why it is considered such a difficult, agonizing profession.” – Caroline B. Cooney ...

Making Reading Fun

“I love writing and do not know why it is considered such a difficult, agonizing profession.” – Caroline B. Cooney

Born in Geneva, NY, on this date in 1947, Cooney has authored 78 books (and counting) in a wide range of genres, including suspense, romance, horror, and mystery – primarily for young adults.   Now a resident of South Carolina, she studied at the University of Indiana, then went into the nursing program at Massachusetts General Hospital before getting into the writing field.
“I went to several colleges,” she said.  “I’m still going to college! I love taking classes; I still daydream more than I listen, but (I) graduated from none.”  She said she thought from the 6thgrade on that she might want to be a writer, but her early attempts met with failure.  She wrote 8 historical fiction books, but none were published.  And then she started writing books for young people and hit her stride.                                             After several short stories, she broke into the book market with her 1979 novel Safe As The Grave, starting her remarkable string of book successes.  Her latest is Daddy’s Little Toy, just out on the market.   One of her best known, also adapted as a TV movie, is The Face on the Milk Carton.    “I get letters from readers who say that they have always hated reading, but somebody suggested one of my books, they actually finished the book and enjoyed it, and they're going on to read another book. I'm thrilled that they have figured out that reading is fun.”


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'Be As Curious As A Child'

“Our job as writers is to be as curious as a child, to see things for the first time, and to never assume. We must always be willing to surrender our idea of the story to allow the larger story to emerge. We are seeking to understand the nature of things, the underlying forces at work.”– Alan Watt

Born in Canada in 1965, Watt is a lecturer, screenwriter and novelist who has primarily built his reputation presenting writing lectures at such disparate venues as conferences, College and University Business Schools, and a number of maximum security prisons.   He also teaches an annual summer creative writing workshop at UCLA. 
In 2002, Watt founded the L.A. Writers' Lab, where he teaches writers how to write the first draft of their novel in just three months.  And in 2011 he founded the publishing house The 90-Day Novel Press to help authors who write books in 90 days or less get their works published.   He has written 3 books on the topic:  The 90-Day Novel, The 90-Day Rewrite, and the 90-Day Screenplay.
Watt, whose most recent novel is Frontier Hotel, said his basic writing advice is pretty simple.  “Our ability to write truthfully is what brings our stories to life.”


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A Writer's Moment: 'Be As Curious As A Child'

A Writer's Moment: 'Be As Curious As A Child': “Our job as writers is to be as curious as a child, to see things for the first time, and to neve...