Thanks for this workshop, Alex! Great mix of practical advice, illustrative example readings and realistic exercises. Loads of food for thought! I particularly appreciated the lesson on voice - so critical for making writing come across as humorous and yet so often left undiscussed!
I'm still working away on my first piece, "From the 6th Graders at Fillmore Middle School: Please cut our music program," which took an unexpected turn that I decided to follow. Feedback from the other participants has been really helpful and eye-opening for honing in on the funniest bits of my premise.
And on that note...
For all you other budding humor writers out there: I'm very interested in starting a small humor feedback group post-workshop. If any of you are interested, let me know below (or via DM)!
I sincerely apologize for being unable to complete the last two lessons. I took a lot away from this, so I greatly appreciate everything Alex has done. I will continue to work on my drafts and try to figure things out. I may be putting more on my plate presently. Thank you, Alex.
I loved this series. Didn't have time for all the exercises, but found the categories and examples truly helpful. I've just now published my first humorous essay on Substack! So thanks for the all the great articles.
Title: Red Rover, Red Rover, Please Send Whatever-the-Opposite-of-Woke-Is Right Over
Alex--though I imagine you are a full-time humorist, I wonder if you have advice for those of us who are doing this on the side and don't have time to write a bunch of dead-end drafts? While I agree that quantity is one way to eventually get published, I don't have time to produce that many pieces, so it feels like I'm getting nowhere.
Hi Natalie, Some amount of quantity is needed to get better. Writing some drafts that don't work out is the price of admission into Club Humor.
Be sure to have a long time horizon: It's easy to get discouraged or eager to just start writing and publishing bangers, but good writing takes time. Think about where you want to be in 1, 2, 5 years and beyond. Invest long-term.
You can write just a little, but if you do it daily/weekly, it adds up. It won't feel like a lot over a few weeks, but if you're persistent as hell, it really really adds up over months and years, if you don't give up.
Also, at the risk of giving a cliche of advice, focus on the process of writing and improving your craft, not just acceptance/rejection. The feeling of getting nowhere is (just a guess) probably from a combo of placing expectations on eternal success, and having a short and impatient time horizon for external success, rather than looking at the internal process of investing in your craft and committing to your daily writing.
You have high expectations for yourself, which is a great sign, and I hope you'll make those expectations mainly about improving as a humor writer, week by week. Stick with it! You're on the path!
In this class, I worked on a piece for the headline "goop Product of the Month: The 'I Have a Migraine' Candle." The final headline changed "goop" to "boop" and then to "ooop." I've revised it 4-5x and submitted it to McSweeney's and Slackjaw--both rejected! One of the Slackjaw editors told me the premise wasn't original enough, so I'm debating whether I should keep submitting elsewhere or just go back to square one.
I commend you for getting it out there. It's just one draft so don't sweat it. I recommend submitting that draft to more humor publications on Medium. There are a bunch of other options.
Thanks for this workshop, Alex! Great mix of practical advice, illustrative example readings and realistic exercises. Loads of food for thought! I particularly appreciated the lesson on voice - so critical for making writing come across as humorous and yet so often left undiscussed!
I'm still working away on my first piece, "From the 6th Graders at Fillmore Middle School: Please cut our music program," which took an unexpected turn that I decided to follow. Feedback from the other participants has been really helpful and eye-opening for honing in on the funniest bits of my premise.
And on that note...
For all you other budding humor writers out there: I'm very interested in starting a small humor feedback group post-workshop. If any of you are interested, let me know below (or via DM)!
Very welcome. Good luck with the first piece!
I sincerely apologize for being unable to complete the last two lessons. I took a lot away from this, so I greatly appreciate everything Alex has done. I will continue to work on my drafts and try to figure things out. I may be putting more on my plate presently. Thank you, Alex.
Glad you got something from this. Happy writing.
I loved this series. Didn't have time for all the exercises, but found the categories and examples truly helpful. I've just now published my first humorous essay on Substack! So thanks for the all the great articles.
Title: Red Rover, Red Rover, Please Send Whatever-the-Opposite-of-Woke-Is Right Over
Subtitle: And Other Dumb Games Adults Play
https://open.substack.com/pub/dmclemens/p/red-rover-red-rover-please-send-whatever?r=gy0vf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Congrats on publishing your first piece!
Alex--though I imagine you are a full-time humorist, I wonder if you have advice for those of us who are doing this on the side and don't have time to write a bunch of dead-end drafts? While I agree that quantity is one way to eventually get published, I don't have time to produce that many pieces, so it feels like I'm getting nowhere.
Hi Natalie, Some amount of quantity is needed to get better. Writing some drafts that don't work out is the price of admission into Club Humor.
Be sure to have a long time horizon: It's easy to get discouraged or eager to just start writing and publishing bangers, but good writing takes time. Think about where you want to be in 1, 2, 5 years and beyond. Invest long-term.
You can write just a little, but if you do it daily/weekly, it adds up. It won't feel like a lot over a few weeks, but if you're persistent as hell, it really really adds up over months and years, if you don't give up.
Also, at the risk of giving a cliche of advice, focus on the process of writing and improving your craft, not just acceptance/rejection. The feeling of getting nowhere is (just a guess) probably from a combo of placing expectations on eternal success, and having a short and impatient time horizon for external success, rather than looking at the internal process of investing in your craft and committing to your daily writing.
You have high expectations for yourself, which is a great sign, and I hope you'll make those expectations mainly about improving as a humor writer, week by week. Stick with it! You're on the path!
In this class, I worked on a piece for the headline "goop Product of the Month: The 'I Have a Migraine' Candle." The final headline changed "goop" to "boop" and then to "ooop." I've revised it 4-5x and submitted it to McSweeney's and Slackjaw--both rejected! One of the Slackjaw editors told me the premise wasn't original enough, so I'm debating whether I should keep submitting elsewhere or just go back to square one.
I commend you for getting it out there. It's just one draft so don't sweat it. I recommend submitting that draft to more humor publications on Medium. There are a bunch of other options.
"Audiences remember your hits, not your misses." That's the rally cry right there. Thanks for your time
and generosity, Alex!
Exactly. Best line in the article.
Very welcome! Happy humor writing.
Yes!! Agreed. And this idea of tiering your pieces is so helpful in strategizing what to actually do with them.
The only problem there is that you have to base that on more than just your opinion. Writers always need feedback but man, with comedy, it's critical.
Absolutely, very true. It takes a village.