It's been said many times and many ways that the study of humor or comedy or funnyness is often not nearly as funny as you would think.
And in my vast experience of reading a few of those sorts of books, I tend to agree with those thoughts. Some just are not as exciting. It's almost like taking a research symposium (on a topic you like, mind you) and dragging out all of it's finite details that you personally don't think are important, but someone has and says they are. So you get stuck with that.
But in Jon Macks' book "How To Be Funny," it's not like that. While some reviewers mention there are funny bits in this book, they don't seem to understand that it's not suppose to be a humor book, but it is funny in discussing how to be funny.
I'm probably 53 1/2 pages or so into it, (just picked it up last night), and haven't been bored with it yet - except for all of the constant page turning in a single sitting. (Boy are my arms tired)... Oh, sorry.
Anyway, my advice to you in 3 little words.........
Go find it
Go read it
Go put it.... (man I gotta work on these 3-word pieces of advice).
--David
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David Stoddard Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/djstoddard
Pick up the Kindle version of 200 Writing Prompts
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Looking at the date of the past entry on this blog, one may as well thought things had been put out to pasture like an old typewriter or the MP3 player I had bought last year. But won't go down that road today.
Terry made me
Friend, co-worker, partner-in-procrastination and (as of last week), pusher to get something started, came up with this challenge where we each take a given idea we each have had (maybe for a year or so) and actually get it completed.
You see, we each have been experts in our own field for some time. That field being of having an idea, getting it started, then jumping to something else.
Hey! Its had it's moments of working out for us over the years. It allowed us to get many things half-started, one-tenth completed, and began making us masters of list making, idea jotting and pen shopping.
Reasoning out current incompleteness.
I admit I didn't quite get the idea completed by our Friday (I mean Saturday, or maybe end of November -I'm planning ahead) deadline. But I like to believe I have great reasons.
First (going back to the project planning course I took a few months back), the scope of this project changed. Actually, in the process of working on it, the idea changed several times to a point where it would be almost worth it to just start again, but keep what I have to fill in the gaps.
Second, other related avenues to this very project came about which needed to be addressed. Blog changes (as well as this entry), thoughts about the Humor Writer's Conference in April, and necessary additions of previously written ebooks posted to other locations.
Let me know if you can see yourself in any of this because I hate to feel I am the only one like this. I doubt you created another Twitter account in your own processes of thinking and doing things.... have you?
Did he get things done?
Now I don't know if Terry completed his or not. (Oh, sorry. Forgot about the re-introduction. Terry is of TerrificYorkies.com fame as well as some other terrific sites out there). We might learn more on Monday (unless he finds this post and comments on it tonight - there is hope I can cause another distraction for him for a few moments).
How this matters to you
It probably doesn't... unless you have ideas on how we (or even you) can stay focused on a project, article, sentence or whatever and not drift to other things.... YES! they really are related... trust me.
Share what you will. Unless they are ancient secrets passed down to you through the ages.
(photo credit from thorinside http://www.flickr.com/photos/thorinside/675520667/
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David Stoddard
Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/djstoddard
Check out my page on Smashwords
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