Don’t ever, ever be tempted to steal humor written by someone else. If you do and get caught, it could cost you a bundle; or you may be one the many “who settled the suit for an undisclosed amount.” Without copyright protection, untalented or lazy writers would be chronic joke-jackers who steal other people’s original [...]
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When you’re hunting for targets, select those with broad appeal that will not only interest your audience also squirt your creative juices.
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Once you have a topic for your piece, you need a premise. The premise is your opinion or slant that provides the setup to take your readers along to the funny. In The Comic Toolbox, author John Vorhaus describes the premise as “the gap between comic reality and real reality.” Your premise should be something [...]
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A famous adman used to say, “When you write your headline, you’ve invested 85% of your advertising dollar.” The headline grabs attention and promises to solve a problem, satisfy curiosity, or offer useful information. The title for your humor works the same way. You can’t make people laugh if they don’t read your material. Even [...]
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