076 Why Writers Need to Develop a Sense of Humor

The Transcript

Why Writers Need to Develop a Sense of Humor

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Demian Farnworth: Howdy, and welcome back to another episode of Rough Draft, your daily dose of essential web writing advice. I am Demian Farnworth, your host, your muse, your digital recluse, and the Chief Content Writer for Copyblogger Media.

And thank you for sharing the next few minutes of your life with me.

The Reaction Most People Give Me When I Tell Them that I’m a Web Writer

Blank stare.

That’s the reaction most people give me when I tell them that I’m a web writer. Granted, I enjoy that reaction. But what I enjoy most is the reaction I get when I elaborate.

“I’m a priest. And I guard the sanctity of the written words on the web.”

Maybe it’s the Chardonnay through the nose. Or the redneck loud “You’re a what?!” But I get a real kick out of that.

Why? I really don’t know.

Maybe it’s the same reason Zach Galifinakas can stand beside a group of clog dancers and walk through the woods wearing silk pajamas…

Everything about that video is awkward and weird but it’s funny. And that’s the key. It’s awkward. Different. New.

Another Thing Web Writers Share with Comedians

Jokes get old quick. And comedians suffer from the same ailment that novelists do: coming up with new material.

No new material and you are washed up. The same is true for a web copywriters like us.

Who would you prefer to write for you: somebody with a vanilla personality or someone with an awkward, funny edge to them …

Someone who sees the unique and can find the angle that will differentiate you from the mob?

I’m going for the awkward edge because when getting attention and visibility online is SO difficult but SO important, I want that person who can look at what I do and say, “Hey, why don’t we position you as, like, the priest of web writing? Or the bastard son of David Ogily and Jakob Neilson.”

That’s flat-out goofy. But it gets people’s attention.

Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Make Yourself Funnier

And of course the way to develop that sense of humor is simply to watch comedians and watch comedies. Netfix and Amazon are full of them. Watch movies and TV Shows. Listen to comedy podcasts on iTunes. If you are having trouble, start with the top 50, listen to a few episodes of the number one comedy podcast, and move on to the next. And so on. Until you find what you like. And then indulge. It’s really not that hard to develop that sense of humor.

Start trying your jokes out on the web, and particularly Twitter. Twitter seems to be a really good medium for telling jokes. Lay it out there and see what the response is.

And the other thing I have to add, is having children I think does something, and to men particularly. It brings out that sort of goofiness, that may have been hidden by our masculine seriousness. Because I know when I had children, something in me changed. Not just being a parent, but something funny about me, changed.

I always had a good sense of humor, but I get really goofy, really fast, for a long time. And as your kids grow up, the cool thing is, you can try your jokes out on them, and find out most of them fail.

And if you don’t have children, use someone else’s children.

Point is, to absorb material, and to experiment, and to try, and to practice.

So, what are you waiting for? It is time to nurture that sense of humor.

Until next time. Take care.