Interview with Author Kimberly Llewellyn (Secrets of Romantic Comedy)

Kimberly Llewellyn

Secrets of Romantic Comedy

The following interview with Kimberly Llewellyn first appeared on the Manuscript Mavens group blog on Friday, August 24, 2007

Make 'Em Laugh Is the Name of the Game in Romantic Comedy

Let's face it, comedy is subjective. Sometimes, the reader laughs with you, sometimes at you. Because of this, the good news is you don't have to worry about pleasing everyone. When writing comedy, just have fun and make yourself laugh. If you laugh at your story, chances are someone else with the same bent sense of humor as you will laugh too. (Hopefully that someone will be an editor!) To encourage getting that crazy humor of yours on the page, here are some basic comedy writing tips:

Understand the Reversal Principal

The element of surprise creates the humor. ("I had to shoot my dog the other day." "Why? Was he mad?" "Wasn't too pleased.") Reversal is when characters act or say the complete opposite of what's expected or anticipated. It's when urban goes jungle ( Night at the Museum). Or when adults behave like children (Bringing Up Baby). Or when men dress/act like women (Tootsie) or vice versa. Reversal is especially funny when done in a public place (Sally fakes orgasm in a crowded diner…loudly.)

Take Comedy Seriously

I remember telling my friends about a bad time in my life. The more I ranted, the more they roared! Let's face it, tragedy is funny when it happens to other people. And yes, while the painful stuff happening isn't funny at the time, after a while, we can usually look back on it and laugh. As the old saying goes, "comedy is tragedy plus time." So remember, while your character is going through the terrible trouble in your romantic comedy, make sure they are very serious about it. Even when it isn't an awful situation, your character can still be very sincere. For example, Jack from Will and Grace takes his musical review, Just Jack, very seriously! His seriousness is what makes it so funny.

Make the Characters Suffer

In a romantic comedy, make your characters suffer, especially the protagonist. This is usually the heroine. Make her really miserable. In The Quest for the Holy Veil, Lucy Ladelle has PMS, locks herself out of her apartment, misses an audition, gets nearly hit by a car, is late for a date, gets "caught on tape" by a TV sting operation, is harassed by her overbearing mother, then gets fired...well you get the idea. Lucy's misery doesn't end---ever. Don't be afraid to put your heroine in too much trouble. We will be laughing at her plight because we will be sympathizing and identifying with her. Why? Because we've been there.

It's also okay to make your heroine suffer because at the end of the book, she will come out the other side a stronger person. She will eventually see the humor in all that she's gone through. And after all her suffering, remember, as the writer, you will reward her with everything she's dreamed of achieving (the promotion, the account, the prize), plus she gets the guy in the end.

Other comedy writing tips:

Look to your characters.
Does a character have a unique view of the world that you can play up and make funnier in your book? Remember Harry in When Harry Met Sally? He always had to read the ending of a book first in case he died before he finished.

Look at your sentences.
Can you make word choices funnier? How about making dialogue and retorts wittier? (A note about dialogue: Some banter can be fun, but unwarranted, undeserved nasty remarks aren't necessarily funny.) Pare down any extra text bogging down a funny line; let that funny line stand on its own. Remove any sentences like the following, "He chuckled at her joke." Can you add a fresh twist to an old cliché? ("If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back to you, hunt it down and kill it.") Or add onto an old expression. ("Life's too short---and so are my skirts!")

Double entendres and innuendo.
These are great in dialogue between the hero and heroine in a romantic comedy. So? How far do you want to take the innuendo? How far are you willing to go? Hey, come on, you know what I mean! Let's keep this G-rated!

Hyperbole.
In my books, I exaggerate everything. Nothing is sacred. Through the perspective of my characters, emotions are put under the microscope and become extreme. When using exaggeration, avoid words like, "feels like," "almost," "practically," etc. After all, if you are going to use exaggeration, you might as well go all out.

Running gag or joke.
This is like sharing an inside joke with the reader throughout the entire book. Rum is a running joke in all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies that has even spilled into newspaper reviews.

The rule of three.
Jokes tend to run in threes. Keep that in mind when writing. Your heroine might complain that bad boys come in three flavors: hot, extra-hot, and three-alarm!

So, let's talk about you for a moment and where comedy fits into your writing.

Decide the type of comedy you're writing. There are lots out there, such as dark comedy, farce, parody, and satire. What kind are you writing? This is good to know. It'll keep your writing focused and will come in handy when describing your book to an editor.

Know your voice.
Where does comedy fit? Even if you don't write humor per se, a little levity amid gravity is sometimes warranted.

Pay attention to the market.
Is there a good place in the market where your humor fits? Do you see a gap in the market that you could fill? Whether it be secret babies, cowboys, werewolves, or vampires, why not add your own funny spin to it? For me, the wonderful wacky world of weddings can be so funny. I love to write about them. It's a great niche I enjoy filling. What niche can you fill? Or better yet, what niche can you create for yourself? (Just don't make it too narrow!)

Two ways to improve your comedy writing are to read your favorite funny authors and keep writing humor til it hurts.

If you are interested in learning more about writing comedy, purchase the book, The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus. By keeping these tips in mind, you'll be on your way to writing so funny that an editor will laugh so hard and be filled with such mirth that she'll just have to buy your next romantic comedy.

Kimberly Llewellyn
http://www.kimberlyllewellyn.com/

The previous interview with Kimberly Llewellyn first appeared on the Manuscript Mavens group blog on Friday, August 24, 2007

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