Leave Them In Stitches Bundle
The chemistry that creates a great joke can be baffling; one second your reader is laughing at something that wasn't even intended to be a joke, and the next, a gag you spent hours dreaming up falls completely flat. Even beloved comedians face the mockery of a blinking cursor on an empty page when they sit down to write. Luckily, Writer's Digest has had the chance to work with such expert comedy authors on helping other writers overcome the humor hurdle. This bundle includes nine OnDemand webinars and two digital editions of Writer's Digest magazine, all packed with insight and perspective from comedians like Bob Eckstein, Elissa Bassist, Sally Chaffin Brooks, and Leigh Ann Jasheway. With their wisdom and humor, you can learn not only how to craft classic gut-busting jokes, but also how to bring humor to all manners of writing, from memoirs to romance.
Products included in the bundle:
Be Hysterical: Find Your Voice Through Style and Emotion (Webinar) Question: When is writing bad? Answer: When anyone could have written it. Question: Has anyone ever called you “too much”? Have you ever been accused of being “dramatic”? Answer: Good. We’ll use that. Because to write, ""too much"" is exactly enough, and our emotion is a writing skill. In this one-of-a-kind OnDemand Webinar, we’ll cover every element of style to make your voice so distinctive that any reader can pick it out of a police lineup. We’ll also cover every emotion and how to use each one in writing to make readers understand you or fear you.
How To Make Your Writing Funnier: Advice I’ve Learned from the Funniest People in the World (Webinar) Bob Eckstein has been lucky enough to know and work with some of the funniest people in the world. In this OnDemand webinar, he is looking forward to sharing what he's learned from them. The webinar will discuss techniques and ideas to help your work be the funniest it can be, regardless of which genre you're writing.
You Had to Be There: Making Your Inside Jokes Universally Relatable (Webinar) In this OnDemand webinar, stand-up comedian and memoir writer Sally Chaffin Brooks will talk about how to turn your "you had to be there" anecdotes into funny, relatable writing. You'll learn how to build context, create emotional stakes, and craft punchlines that will bring your audience into the room with you. Whether your story involves a family dinner gone wrong or a solo adventure that took a weird turn, you’ll walk away with techniques to make it universally entertaining.
How Can I Be Funny When Everything Is on Fire? (Webinar) In this OnDemand webinar, writers will learn why comedy writing is important in stressful times, both to writers and to readers; the importance of distraction and diffusion and how comedy (whether memes, one-liners, short stories, etc.) helps us do that; and how the negative emotions you're stuck in can be used to fuel deeper, more authentic comedy. Plus, writers will learn the value of falling back on the rules of writing humor to jumpstart your writing.
Finding the Funny: Putting the "Com" in Rom-Com (Webinar) Join Danica Nava as she breaks down what a genre romantic comedy really is with genre conventions, reader expectations, and ensuring you deliver on the promise of the premise. She will take you through classic examples, finding inspiration where you least expect it, and get into the nitty gritty details that will make your romantic comedy stand out. This lecture will be broken down into four parts: 1) Establishing the genre, 2) Examples, 3) Finding Your Comedic Voice, 4) Q&A.
What's So Funny? Using Humor to Enhance Fiction and Memoir (Webinar) Beyond outright comedy, humor has many functions in fiction and memoir: a release valve for difficult feelings, a way to showcase character traits, and to add a little levity for the reader. Characters who use humor endear themselves to readers, and humor can help lighten an intense scene or story without falling into the baldly comic. Even if you don't think you have a funny bone in your body, this OnDemand webinar will demystify common forms of humor, from irony, surprise and absurdity, to juxtaposition, misdirection and more.
When, Where and Why To Be Funny (Webinar) Things can’t get worse, but they can get funnier. No matter what genre you are writing in, humor, used correctly, can elevate your work to be more nuanced and effective. In this OnDemand webinar, Bo Eckstein shows how he works and how he incorporates humor in just about all his writing. He shares tips he's learned from the funniest people in the world on how to be funnier. There will be cartoons, there will be tears.
Tragedy Plus Time: Writing "Traumedy" (Webinar) Tragedy plus time equals comedy, and in this OnDemand webinar on "traumedy" we'll do that math. People listen to a joke when they may ignore a sob story, so we’ll break down how to turn a sad diary entry into a piece of publishable writing–because if you can’t say something straight (if it’s too preachy, confessional, or harrowing), then say it slant AF. This class is perfect for writers who work across genres (fiction, nonfiction, humor, serious) or want to learn how. Our ultimate goal will be to make readers laugh while PUNCHING THEM IN THE HEART. Prerequisite: being in therapy.
Callbacks, Misdirection, a Third Thing: Using Classic Stand-up Joke Structures in Humor Writing (Webinar) Like every genre, stand-up comedy has its tropes. Comedians often use familiar joke structures to prime the audience to laugh. In this OnDemand webinar, stand-up comedian and author, Sally Chaffin Brooks, will cover classic stand-up joke structures (the rule of threes, callbacks, tags, and more) and show you how you can use them to elicit laughs from your readers. Using examples from both stand-up performances and written works, you’ll leave this course with a better understanding of how and when to employ these time-tested joke patterns in your own writing.
Writer's Digest November/December 2023 (Digital Edition) What does it take to make readers laugh? It’s not quite as simple as telling an amusing story to your friends at a dinner party. What makes the people who know you laugh might not be the same thing that will make readers laugh. And that’s doubly true when it comes to making child readers laugh. But the November/December 2023 issue of Writer’s Digest has you covered.
Writer's Digest January/February 2025 (Digital Edition) As we move into a new year, it’s time to get the creative gears turning to make this your most successful year ever. Whether you want to write personal essays that grab the attention of editors, write in a new genre, or simply generate more story ideas, this issue has it all.
