The importance of humor in your writing and the peril of writing in your humor. I'm a little dizzy, too..
Any of you ever pee in the shower?
Don’t answer that. Just wanted to get your attention, ladies and gentlemen. No better way of doing that then to ask you something as asinine as if you pee in the shower. Given the state of our society and the myriad sensibilities we all must brave from day to day…if you want to answer the question, I’m here to listen.
“True writers have multiple personalities. Every one of them is insane.”
It’s weird, huh? Deciding whether or not to take writing advice from a cook who, in his past, has modeled and acted in off Broadway stage plays and taught culinary techniques at Aims Academy School of the Culinary Arts. Someone whose held titles as stunt/fight choreographer, modeling coach, and acting instructor at both John Robert Powers and Barbizon School of Modeling and Acting. And this someone just happens to dabble from time to time writing thought-provoking potboilers just like you.
Incidentally, you should check them out- these potboilers of mine. Allow my words to either drag you back into the eeriness of any given October with the Writer’s Block trilogy or take you on a Conspirator’s Odyssey.
Either way, I believe you should at least give me an opportunity to formally and/or informally introduce myself to you, before you make any decision to continue your journey down this bloviated rabbit hole:
I was born in Albany, Georgia, but grew up as a military brat on the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), and later at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in Jacksonville, North Carolina. I am married to Magdiel Kuykendall (the love of my life) and, together, we are the proud parents of three sons—Felix, Kal-El, and Jor-El—two of whom are legally named after the Kryptonian House of El due to my affinity for the story of Superman. I’m a corporate executive chef by trade, but my true passion in life is writing thought-provoking novels that blend the concepts of fact and fiction.
My writing career has been heavily inspired and influenced by Rod Serling and his classic ‘60s television series, The Twilight Zone, and by The Mercury Theatre’s October 30th, 1938 broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio. I was then and remain wholly enthralled with the way these two examples showcased ordinary people in extraordinary situations. I especially loved the remarkable plot twists common to The Twilight Zone stories, and the fright manifested by H.G. Wells.
When I’m not writing, I find comfort in heading out to the golf course with my son and golf partner, Jor-El, where we altogether embarrass ourselves on the fairway. I both create and reside in Ruskin, Florida.
Or, to make my introduction a little more rock and roll and less PC, I’ve decided to give you an honest, hard-hitting cliff note to my story:
I'm a person who is unpractical and idealistic. A rebellious dreamer plagued by night terrors. An affinity for the story of Superman, drinking, sex, jazz, writing, drugs, activism, golf, family, cooking, and eating good food. Reading books and savoring their hypnotic bouquet, for me, is like stumbling over a rock and recovering my equilibrium. This is the story of me.
Are you still with me?
Good choice.
Now, let us begin...
Momma always told me, never let your brain trick you into believing anything is foolproof.
With that in mind…if my conjecture on humor reads as utter hogwash to you; my advice would be to arm yourself with a shovel. And immediately. Why? The shit you’re sure to be in will be deep.
You’re welcome!
Come on, it’s all I have for you. That which [worked] for me.
No worries though, I have a backup plan. Again, if my conjecture on humor reads as utter balderdash to you; I’ve decided to let the advice of someone I admire, and wholly agree with, to lay it on you. This someone cut his teeth in the Jamaican popular music scene of the early 60’s, when island sensibilities were heavily influenced by American pop styles such as doo-wop. The roots rock reggae is what Marley was pioneering and it was revolutionary.
His creations gave rise to Jamaican rhythms and ever since he and the Wailers landed, everyone, the world over, even you and I, have been grooving like we’re continually hitting the same potent blunt. With this in mind, I present his advice...
"When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself."
Come on, it’s all I have for you. That which [works] for me. Just one more…
Whoever’s with her, marry that broad this instant.
Ha Ha Hardy Har Har. All right. Now that that’s out of my system, let us get to the heart of the article. The meat. The nitty-gritty. The gushy parts. Like my knees a minute after drying off from a hot shower and remembering that I forgot I had to stop to buy lotion on my way from work. And I have to, now, go get that lotion ashier than a muthafucka.
No matter who you are or what you write, among the other horrors in your life, humor, however subtle, has always been there. Admit it. You loved it when mom or dad (oh my gosh, has anyone experienced both at the same time?) would console you as a child after you got a boo-boo. How, in the immediacy of it all, they would, like well-trained experts in the field, vanquish all your worries, challenge your every fear, and at the end of this battle, they would have you laughing up a storm as both the medicated ointment and bandages are applied. That, in a nutshell, is the clearest example…importance of humor.
Get it (?)
No character you create can be humorous without an apt creator. So. No matter who you are or what you write, a bit of humor will forever remain the only pathway at conquering the expansive nuances of literature.
The power of this path, if done right, and it must be done right, AND there are no directions to peruse on this topic. In this big bad literary landscape, there is absolutely no way to know if you’ve mastered this. Not even when your fans, like a wave, relate to that character you’ve created in; let’s call it, Paul Beans Boogie of Shotgun Shuggy. A story of a serial killer who happens to have one hell of a cheeky wit. His day job, comedian.
Mastering this will hand you an audience in the hundreds of thousands. An audience, all of whom move freely about the world; mission bound with a singular objective. You see, they seek any and everything you’ve ever written.
If you didn’t get that - when you do - congratulations
Some of these fans would even go as far as seeking out and piecing together that perfect poem you wrote to a special someone many and for others MANY years ago in grade school, but sneezed all over the parchment after your poem had been completed. And not just any sneeze either, but a milky one.
You know, milky; where both spittle and mucus splatter haphazardly all over your desk, your right hand, your number two pencil, the back of Craig Feiseal’s mullet, and the spent led that helped bring those words, your art, your story, your hopes, your dreams, your life in to being. The combination of the bodily goo- a mixture that included multiple expelled bacteria; who were, and before your eyes, fighting for their lives while destroying your art.
Anyway…and in all seriousness, I have but one puissant point to leave you with:
A true writer never gives up
Never give up. Believe me when I tell you rejection is an imperative test of one’s character. Many of us continually submit the same manuscript until it is accepted. The stress of that idiotic endeavor wholly stifling a writer’s would-be career because during this deep-dive into the abyss of the literary rabbit hole, nothing else matters. Absolutely nothing. Neither reading endlessly, which is any writers North Star, or writing the stories that could have been written. Some also choose to do a more polished draft before sending it out again. Only a select few, however, will learn from their lessons of submissions, to write a completely new book or to rewrite, as many times as necessary, the promising manuscript that continues to be rejected. What they all have in common is a persistence to never give up on their dream; a dream that has elevated them from writer to best-selling author.
We, bibliophiles, know these authors; their stories and characters very well. They have written some of the most critically praised and commercially successful books of all time. In some cases, their enormous sales were so consistent that they even kept their publishers afloat. Yet in spite of this phenomenal success, every single one of these best-selling authors was initially rejected. Literary agents and publishers informed them in an endless stream of rejection letters that nobody would be interested in reading their book.
Don’t seek to limit yourselves by believing the traditional publishing industry is a bridge only a select few are privy to cross. With persistence, a true belief in the power of your words, a broad knowledge of the industry itself, a bit of innovative strategy, and a hell of a lot of luck; you’ll eventually see that silver lining by which to exploit in order to get your ass on and to the other side of that bridge. And when you get there, never forget where you once were.
Through your example, let everyone know why we love the written word. Why we write. Why we put ink to paper. Why we dare to proclaim ourselves storytellers in a world where books and reading are damn near second to the moving story. Why we covertly, overtly, and strategically attempt to journey all back to a time when the imagination was our collective muse.
Books are inanimate objects and only animate when a reader lightly peels back that first page and allows the story to unfold—lighting a robust fire under the ass of a reader’s dormant imagination. We are authors! We were once gods of villages at a time children and elders, nightly, sat at our feet anxious to lend an ear to our words. Let them know that supporting our efforts in every way is a noble undertaking. That modern-day entertainment in and of itself wouldn’t amount to shit without the ink we use to paint the picture. Again, never give up!
In closing this article on the importance of humor in your writing, I wanted to divulge something to you; since we’re getting to know each other and all. There are many things you learn in life, but only a few you can easily recall. I have two of these things: 1.) In watching one of my favorite movies, the cult classic Monster Squad, I discovered the undeniable fact that the wolfman’s got nards and 2.) I have a strange connection to Stephen King. I shit you not.
