Confessions of a Fantasy Humorist

By Guest Blogger Jim C. Hines

My name is Jim, and I write humorous fantasy.

That doesn't seem like a hard thing to say. But it took me years to admit. Making people laugh is fun, but I believed I should be writing serious, meaningful literature. One of the brightest moments in my early writing career was the first time someone in my crit group told me one of my stories made her cry.

I was so happy, I did the dance of joy.

Still, the light fantasy stuff always came easier to me. My first professional fiction sale was a sword and sorcery piece called "Blade of the Bunny". Hardly the debut for a serious writer. So after that story came out, I went back to writing serious fiction. Three novels later, I took a break to write a light fantasy adventure about a goblin runt and his pet spider.

Guess which book sold?

Eventually, I realized writing fun stories that make people laugh is nothing to be ashamed of. I've never made the "Best of" anthologies, and I can't imagine my funny stuff ever receiving the big awards in my genre, but that's okay. I'd rather get those e-mails from folks telling me how much fun my books were, or better yet, how reading my stuff helped them smile during a rough time. Humorous fantasy isn't as hot as urban fantasy or young adult might be, but it's not dead yet. More importantly, I enjoy it. I love my quirky little goblins, and I love the things they come up with.

You know what? I opened the second goblin book with a nose-picking injury, and I'm proud of it!*

I was a bit surprised when people started asking me for tips on writing humor. My first impulse was to warn them away. But then I decided there was strength in numbers. The more writers I can recruit, the more power we have, and soon we'll be the hot, top-selling writers in the field! So without further ado, here's what I've figured out. (Understand, this is what works for me. If it's useful to you, great! If not, that's okay too. Everyone's process is different.)

1. Story comes first. I've read books where an entire scene or chapter is devoted to reaching a particular punchline, but does nothing to advance the story. The story can't be subservient to the jokes, if only because not everyone is going to get your joke. I might think my riff on The Giving Tree in Goblin War is the most brilliant thing in the world, but not everyone has read The Giving Tree. If the joke is the only thing you've got for a particular scene, then you've wasted the time of any reader who doesn't get it. I've cut a number of jokes and scenes which I thought were hilarious, but didn't advance the story.

2. Your characters are funnier than you are. At least in my case, the best humor comes from the characters. Whether it's Jig the goblin trying to swear in the humans' language ("Oh, dung") or coming up with a goblin song that truly reflects their view on heroism and quests (101 Deaths for a Goblin Hero), some of the funniest stuff comes from letting the characters be themselves. That's worked especially well for my goblins, who are selfish, conniving, cowardly little fellows . . . and they're okay with that. Given the role of goblins in your typical fantasy world, how else are they supposed to survive?

3. Humor and drama work well together. Like peanut butter and jelly, or bacon and cats. One of the most memorable scenes I've read was by Peter David, in one of his Star Trek novels. In the span of a few pages, he had me giggling like mad, then fighting tears. Yeah, I was almost crying over a Star Trek novel. (I didn't really cry of course, because I'm very, very manly. But it was a close thing.) What I learned is that the humor increased the impact of the dramatic scenes. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Humor is also a very good coping mechanism. Very few of us are serious and somber all the time. We crack jokes and make smart-ass remarks as a way to deal with stress and fear.

4. Writing funny stuff is like writing anything else: it takes practice. I've had people tell me they just can't write humor, and I don't get that. We all have strengths and weaknesses; that's normal. All that means is we have to spend more time practicing those weaknesses. I firmly believe that writing is a skill. Read authors who make you laugh, study their techniques . . . and then shamelessly steal those techniques for yourself. You can bet your backside I read that Peter David scene a few times. I've also spent a lot of time reading Pratchett, Asprin, Friesner, and even Dave Barry.

5. Have fun. Not necessarily a rule for humor, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Write what you love, and the hell with the rest of the world. It's a very idealistic rule, one we can't necessarily live up to every minute of every day, but I still think it's worth striving toward.

My thanks to all of you who read this far, and also to Lorraine for inviting me to write a guest post in the first place. Please feel free to stick around and chat in the comments, or come visit me on LiveJournal. (I'm jimhines over there.)

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*If you're curious, I've got the first chapter of all three goblin books available on my web site.

Jim's new book, GOBLIN WAR is available March 4th.

Comments

[Melissa Mead]

I would say "Have fun" is a good rule for ANY writing. If the writer isn't enjoying it, how are the readers supposed to?

[Kate Flora]

Jim...

Thanks for guest blogging today. I really enjoyed the moment in your post when you spoke of going from laughter to near tears. Isn't this what we all want (manly man or not)--to have readers so deeply engaged in story that their emotions are affected?

At the moment, my son is downstairs playing some on-line game where he is a Goblin...or some such "small" character engaged in some epic drama. Every time we want him to do something or go somewhere, he just grins and says, "Let me get to an Inn."

I'm thinking this concept of getting to an Inn may become a line in one of my books.

I think it takes a special talent to write humor...go make the best of it. One thing I've learned from doing writing exercises with my students is that writers and readers expect that there is more value in sorrow, darkness, and suffering than in joy and laughter, when surely we have a great need for laughter? So go forth and do good work.

Kate