For our lesson this week, we started out by thinking of some characters who have really funny dialog. Make a list of your five favorites. Then think about what makes their dialog funny. Here's what we came up with:
- absurdity
- personality quirks
- banter between characters
- expressing an unusual worldview
- juxtapositions
- awkwardness
- making unexpected connections
- bringing things back up - running gags
- wit
- cleverness
- surprise
As with any humor, there is no way to tell beforehand what dialog the reader will find funny, and what dialog the reader won't. You have to experiment. Write something funny, give it to ten people, and see if they laugh. If most of them do, keep it. If not, try again.
One thing to remember, if the characters are laughing, the reader usually doesn't.
Writing humorous dialog is an attitude. Let your characters unleash their inner funny.
Keep writing!
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