A Comedian and a Bestseller (#05): When a Scene Just Isn’t Funny

I’m doing stand up now.

It’s on brand that my first blog post for the year is in March. I had every intention to post in January and then in February, but here we are. Life is like that sometimes, to the chagrin of the ones doing the living.

My current existential crisis has been over whether I'm funny. I've asked people, my husband, my siblings, workmates, and they say, “Yes, girl, you are funny.” But as I look them in their beady eyes, I find myself thinking, you never know when someone is flat out lying to your face. The family members of serial killers always say they never had a clue. Yes, in this scenario, I’m the killer (of laughs).

So, how much of what my supposed loved ones are saying is to save me from the embarrassment of knowing I am the most bland, vanilla, unfunny person in the world? You can't trust people. That’s the true moral of life. Tell your kids.

Ok, enough monologuing. I've been working on scene 13 of Project Hollow (here's a little blurb on the book). It’s a Bambi flashback scene involving a bunch of research academics in an office talking about research. Surprise. Actually, it's the opposite of surprise. The scene has really been dragging. From the plot elements to the dialogue and setting, it's like pulling teeth to write.

The scene itself is important and lays the groundwork for future reveals, so it definitely serves a purpose. But when I read back what I've just written, it's so bleh.

I want readers to really want to read Bambi's flashbacks. I want them to be juicy and just as engaging as the main storyline. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why I’m not liking what I’m writing. I do have four new characters that I have introduced, so that’s been a lot of work to have to flesh them all out, plus I don’t have practice writing in their voices before, that’s sure to make my pen drag. But it’s not just that; I've realised the scene lacks humour. Compared to previous chapters, where we have fumbling wizards, rabbit-shifter taxi drivers giving life advice, and hexes that make their victims think they are bacteria, it's too flat.

It needs some levity.

Ok, great, I've figured that out, now how do I do it? Queue me having a breakdown over the fact that I have never been funny in my life.

I've never deliberately tried to be funny in my writing; it usually just happens because of the ridiculous circumstances the characters find themselves in. But this scene is in an office, that’s it—just some colleagues talking to each other. I can’t pull on some weird external factors to bring the funny. I have to do it another way.

Trying to break down what it is that makes a scene funny is surprisingly difficult. Unlike visual art, writing something funny is a whole lot harder than showing a character making a hilarious face or even slipping on a banana peel.

Maybe I should pick up some comedy books to study? I'm open to recommendations.

I watched a good YouTube video on writing comedy in novels by one of my faves, The Cozy Creative (see here). She gives some great tips on how to add humour to novels, including using characters with an inherent contrast to one another who then clash over there differing perspectives (odd pairings, think a priest and a bikie joining forces to solve a murder), having minor characters given more of a characture personality, using familiar scenarios that readers would have likely encountered (e.g. a child asking their parent a very embarrassing question in public) and fish out of water situations etc.

I'll keep grinding through scene 13 and write it as it comes. I'll let my subconscious work on the funny bits and come back to it in editing. Hah! Sucked in future me. I haven't gone into flow state with this scene at all. Is it normal to hate parts of what you write?

In the next scene, I have our two main leads, Cin and Ward, back on the page, and they will clash deliciously. I'm really looking forward to writing that play out. But for now, scene 13 needs to exist first.

What else have I been crashing out about? Just that nothing is fulfilling. Food is meh. Other books are meh. Shows are bleh. Is this depression? I've read several books and manga lately that have left so much to be desired. They always start good, the premise is funny or mysterious, but then everything else is so unsatisfying. The endings are the equivalent of a deflated balloon being washed down a storm drain with some dog poop. I want to send a stern email to whoever is in charge, with the subject line "Not happy Jan".

Is it too much to ask for a fantasy story, paranormal or urban is fine too, with great characters, humour, a strong mystery element and a splash of romance????!?!

Maybe it's the fasting taking its toll; it is Ramadan after all. The lack of food might be making me cranky. Let's cut the complaining off here, ay? I want to save a little for my next blog post.

Ramadan vibes ~~~

I hope your writing is going better than mine, and a big Ramadan Mubarak for those celebrating.

Until next time,