On Humor

I have been laughing a ton today. I'm hanging out at home and so I've spent a good portion of my time making fun of my littlest sister. Most of our conversations today probably wouldn't make sense to anyone else. Even our parents have given us strange looks (and we've got a pretty crazy family).

Sample Conversation
Nats: You're just a hobbit.
Me: Right, like you've ever met a hobbit.
Nats: Umm, I have. You're a hobbit.
Me: You haven't even read The Hobbit, Munchkin butt.
Nats: So my butt's small?
Me: No, it means you're small minded.
Nats: Well you're small brained.

Like I said, we don't make sense. But it sure amuses us. Earlier, I laughed so hard I cried. That was when my mom told my sis to get duct tape (implying but not saying that she would duct tape my mouth shut) and proceeded to steal the computer my sis was using.

Apparently Nats and I never stand next to each other in photos. At least, not ones we want to show people.

The reason I'm telling you all this is to talk about humor in books. (Aha! You knew there was a point to all that, didn't you?!) In Children's or Middle Grade or Young Adult books, humor can be a big deal. Sometimes, it's so the author can talk about touchy subjects without making the whole book dark and depressing. Sometimes, the humor is dark. Then there's all sorts of cute kid's books with fart jokes galore.

You might think that writing these books would be easy - because they're for kids or they're "light" reads. For me especially, writing comedy would be really hard. I like humor alright in books - witty, ironic humor - but I'm not really a big fan of comedy anywhere else. I watch mostly cop/crime TV shows, dramatic musicals and (smart) action movies. And that's how I write.

I may try to be amusing on the blog (although I'm not so sure that works...) but if I tried to make my books light and funny, they would just sound fake. Especially considering my MC's a socially awkward only child who has one (deaf) friend and has to keep her supernatural identity suppressed. That doesn't leave room for witty banter or practical jokes.

Speaking of which: Official More Blessed Word Count: 6,000!!