Hello!

I was wondering how you make humor or funny scenes in fanfictions? In fact, how do you get ideas to make them?

I tried smoking some weeds though it didn't help.

I tried injecting some substance in my blood with a syringe, but it didn't help either.

I tried kidnapping a funny person but he was unwilling to cooperate -I had to kill him.

Okay, seriously, how do you write funny stuffs? I mean, well, there's many kind of humor: funny situation (A think B's doing something that he isn't --> the most used by Rorschach's Blot), then there's sexual funny scenes --> people tend to laugh at sexual things because they are primitive.

What else?

How do I make these kind of scenes?

Just need tips, advices, tutorials, guides, books, links or spanking.

Ah, also what kind of humor do Fan Fiction readers like the most.

Well, gotta eat. Hope to see some answers soon.

lnky

 

If you have to ask you'll never know.

 

Somebody has to ask, no?

Not everyone's born with a great sense of humor. And writing humor isn't the same as speaking. I've studied about it a few years ago on my French classes, though I forgot most of it and French isn't really the same as English.

 

Don't try too hard to be funny and abandon all logic are the only tips I can think of. I guess trial and error, and observing other people's successes and mistakes will help too. I don't know if it's something you can learn. Try writing parody.

 

Sorry to say, you've either got it or you don't. When you've got it, some things you never intended to be funny wind up hilarious, when you don't... It just falls flat.

When I'm trying to find something funny to write, I just type the first things that come into my mind. Just let the ideas out and sort through it later. Yes, a few things I've done were inspired by a night of drinking but that doesn't always help. Most of those things I end up deleting or never publishing. Harry beating up Voldemort with a rock in a sock? Good. Harry shooting Snape and Trelawney with tranq darts and leaving them naked in the back room of a knockturn alley flophouse? Gold. Snape killing Fluffy for ingredients after finding Hagrid sleeping with his mother? Not so great, let it go...

The best advice I can give you is to just put your ideas out there and see what happens. Some you can use as stand alone pieces, others will be relegated to minor scenes inside something else, and most will hit the scrap heap after you look at them a second time.

 

One big failing when some people 'try too hard' to write humor is that they seem to think crazy/insane things are funny. Which is not necessarily true. Writing good humor is the same as writing good drama or good action. Some people just have a knack for it. And others may forever struggle mightily at it.

There's a reason Rorschach's stuff is always enjoyable and many may try to imitate and fall short. It's just the way his mind works.

For example think of how Harry would look at an invisibility cloak as a way to sneak around unseen, the Weasley Twins would look at an invisibility cloak as a way to have a mysteriously floating pair of naked asscheeks wandering the hallways at eye-level. With one hoisting up his brother on his shoulders while they kept a silencing charm around them. Rorschach thinks like the Weasley twins.

McGonagall uncertain if she just saw a floating butt walk past her classroom door out of the corner of her eye? That's funny.

Having to explain to Madame Pomphrey how a suit of armor's head got lodged in an odd place? Also potentially very funny.

Making the asscheeks sing songs or turn colors? Not very funny.

Clenching on a wand and pretending it's casting magic? Could be funny, could be trying too hard.

If writing humor were all that easy, then you wouldn't appreciate the really good stuff as much anyway.

 

I know about these crazy/insane things. Just because some things are unusual doesn't mean it's funny.

Trying to imitate Rorschach's stuff is impossible. It's not just funny scenes. The whole plot is funny, the way the character think is funny. It's not something that can be imitated.

Anyway, I'm currently writing a kind of parody. A super-cliché humorous fanfiction. The first chapter is being beta-readed. I think there's some funny things, but well, I guess it will never be that funny. In fact I'm pretty sure it's lame.

Practice makes perfect. Or as close to perfect as it is possible.

 

Ok, that one I understand. The best example of "don't try to hard" I can give you is one of my own. When I did the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Freak Parade everyone told me I had something great. I just wanted to cram as many cliches about inde!Harry as I could and make it humorous. The first chapter went well, but then I started trying too hard, and it shows.

Know your limits and know when to quit. I still like my story but I really wish I had stopped when it was great instead of alright. Comedy is all about knowing where to draw the line.

 

Freak Parade... wasn't that the one with Luna and Harry becoming something like purple wizards?

I know my limits. Five years ago I couldn't speak nor write anything in English. I began translating fanfictions then and I learned. Now I exclusively read books in English.

Still, when writing something, I have a small 'lexical baggage'. I don't know many words, adjectives and adverbs. But I know how to use what I know.

My sentences are short. I don't describe much. I try using humor and irony. I 'repeat' often some sentences slightly differently to give them a desired effect. I do all this in order to compensate for my lack of vocabulary. In English it's not unpleasant to read whereas doing the same thing in French makes it impossible to read.

 

That's the story. Your vocabulary will improve over time so don't get discouraged.

 

When I wrote the Insane Adventures of Harry Potter, I just wrote funny scenes that would come to me as the day went on.

The ideas just strike me, and I find myself running for the nearest computer to write. First, find what you think is funny. Don't write what you think others find funny, because if you don't find it funny, others won't either. It shows in your style.

 

Making something funny in a language that isn't your native one isn't really easy though.

 

Humor comes easier to some people than others. Personally, humor is probably the only type of writing that I don't suck too much at. My story was supposed to be a serious one when I started, but it's humor now because I couldn't help but put jokes in. And it isn't very serious. Oh, well.

 

A good thing to remember, if you have trouble writing humor, is to build a joke up. If you throw something random and outrageous out there then people will just find it stupid. But, if let it build up, people will be more inclined to laugh. Just try to keep the whole thing light-hearted, if it's too serious then humor just doesn't work (unless you're trying to make it overly serious, which can be very funny if done right). And like everyone else said, don't force it, just start writing and once you get into a good flow start thinking, "wouldn't it be funny if Harry reacted like this? or It would be really random if this happened." ... and if you start cracking up then write it down .

...oh, and how you write it is important too. Don't make it obvious that you want the audience to laugh, that fails miserably.

 

All I have to say is this: think of what makes you laugh.

 

I don't think humour is something you can really learn to write. One of the two genres I stay far clear from (when writing) is humour, partly because my sense of humour is really odd and partly because I can't get it down on paper very well.

I'd just suggest looking at different styles of humour, if that makes sense. For instance, I like Rorshach's Blot's stuff for outlandish, wacky humour, lunakatrina's stuff for generally witty banter (especially in "So Sue Me"), and Marz1's stuff for amusing narration ("The Basement", "Invert" and "Crumpets Aren't My Style" show that fairly well). It really depends what you'd consider funny and thus how you'd plan on writing it yourself. Though, I think humour comes more naturally than you forcing it - although I can't say for sure; as said, I stay away from humour because it's not in my comfort zone.

 

Using his Goa’uld weapon, Apophis tried to shoot the boy but he was fast and dodged easily the blue electric beams. However, the boy found himself at the edge of the cliff.

The Goa’uld shoot missed Harry but the beam succeeded at destabilizing the ground; Harry was about to fell but he managed to catch and hold onto a root extruding from the rocky cliff.

“There is no escape,” said Apophis, “Don’t make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”

“I’ll never join you!” Harry hurled back.

“If you only knew the power of the Goa’ulds. The Tok’ra never told you what happened to your father.” Apophis said calmly.

“They told me enough! It was you who killed him.” Harry answered.

“No. I am your father.” Apophis insisted.

Shocked, Harry looked at Apophis in utter disbelief, before saying “No, no, that’s not true. That’s impossible!”

“Search your feelings. You know it to be true.” Continued the Goa’uld.

“No! No! No!” Harry insisted in disbelief.

“Harry. You can destroy the other System Lords. They have foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the Galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way.”

Apophis lower the Zak’nik’tel and holds his hand out to the young boy.
A calm comes over Harry as he makes a decision. In the next instant, he let go of the root and fall into abysses. Apophis look over the cliff before sighing and going away. It was over.

Harry was falling to his death. Light begins to fade. Harry’s still falling, never reaching the bottom until...

Harry woke up suddenly, the dream he was still vividly imprinted in his mind.

--

It's a little overused but well, it's not that bad, is it? (I've just written that for my HP/Stargate crossover fanfiction. That part is just a bad dream.)

 

Humour is one of the most-used conventions of literature. Unfortunately, it's also rarely done well. Excellent humour in the course of story not devoted singularly to humour will be understated, and yet visible. My personal favorite is irony and gallows humour. A different, but popular, approach is the logical procession of events, in a believable and well-written manner, into an utterly ridiculous situation. If you've done this particularly well, the audience won't even realize how stupid the situation is until you break the suspension of disbelief: i.e. have a character, preferably one not involved in the previous chain of events, remark on the implausibility. Pithy summaries and odd analogies delivered by flippant or incredulous characters can make a scene. I'm not particularly good at this, but the following is an example.

***

"Well, Harry, it pleases me greatly that you are so popular with your lady friends. While I would normally caution you toward discretion and abstinence, I must confess that I have, in fact, been waiting for this day for some time."

"Um, really, sir?"

"Yes. You see, I feel that the Power the Dark Lord Knows Not is the boundless love that you carry in your heart for your friends and family. Under most circumstances, this wouldn't be a particularly offensive power, I happen to know of a ritual that, when combined with an act of pure love, can channel the energy and power of that love through your connection to Voldemort, severing his connection with this world."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Ah, well, an act of pure love generally means a physical act of love, or rather love-making. I understand you already have some volunteers."

"Wait, you want me to shag some chits and when I bust a nut, Voldemort will die? Hey, Hermione, have you read anything about a Sperm of Doom Ritual?"

***

Generally, humor should be relegated to circumstances and dialogue. The Narrator really shouldn't be cracking jokes all the time, unless you are writing in the first person. Nonjon is excellent at creating ridiculous situations filled with trigger phrases in the narration that set me off, but the best ones are not obviously jokes by the Narrator, and simply aspects of a situation that are hilarious.

Humour can be learned, but the best kind is natural and flows directly from your story. Inserting humour for the sake of humour is generally obvious as an insertion, and is where many authors go wrong.

 

That's why I think I'll write my crossover in first person. So, I can make my character's thoughts ironic and funny.

***

Suddenly a flock of evil Goa'ulds bunnies with glowing red eyes appeared suddenly. They turned their gaze to me and began jumping towards me. I took to my heels and I fled as fast as humanly possible.

Wait, They're wearing kinky furry dresses; it's not evil bunnies but the Goa'uld System Lords. Still, I'd better be running.

***

From the third-person it wouldn't be as good, would it? I dunno. It's just a stupid example I made up now.

 

Inky, I can't really say that was funnny at all. It's very much overused and it has long since leeched all the humour out of it, although it can still be funny with the right set up (like the goa'uld actually being a girl or an Unas).

Mr Merriman's was pretty good and your second attempt, in the First Person View was a bit better Inky.