Laugh Out Loud: 5 Writing Tips for a Humor Site

So you’d like to write a funny blog, or at the very least, spice up the blog you’ve already got with a little more humor. After all, blogs are not just there to inform but also to entertain.

The only problem is, you’re not sure how to get started. Maybe you consider yourself a funny guy, based on others’ reactions. Or maybe you’ve been told you’re not that funny and you’d like to get some help.

Well, no problem! Here are some tips that can help you decide what to write about in a humor blog, or how to punch up a serious blog with a little levity.

1. The Unusual and Unexpected

A lot of people mistake shock comedy for the funniest type of comedy but all humor does tend to be based in eliciting some sort of surprise reaction from people. Think of slapstick.

Modern humor is a little more complicated than that, especially when it comes to the written word. But we’ve all had absurd “wtf” moments enter our lives out of nowhere.

Think of something that happened to you or someone you know, some anecdote that seemed really bizarre but still ended up okay. Cultivate a taste for the weird and learn how to spot it in everyday life.

2. Metaphors and Similes

A great way to punch up your writing with humor is to draw exaggerated, absurd comparisons between one set of circumstances and another.

Metaphors and similes often get confused: When you make a direct comparison between two things, that’s a metaphor, but when you say one thing is “like” another or “as” another, that’s a simile.

Wordplay, in general, is a great idea, but try to be witty about it: you shouldn’t use puns, for example, unless they fit the situation and the word perfectly. Bad puns are called “groaners” for a reason.

3. Sarcasm and Irony

These are two concepts that often get confused as well. Sarcasm occurs when you feel one way but pretend to feel the exact opposite; irony is what happens to all of us when life decides to reveal something we didn’t previously know.

Rain on your wedding day is not ironic, unless you’re marrying a meteorologist who insisted on having the wedding outside. If you sing “You Are My Sunshine” to her at the reception, that’s sarcasm.

4. Parody and Satire

Also confused at times, even though they form the backbone of a lot of today’s comedy. The “Family Guy” Star Wars episodes, for example, are parody: they take a sometimes loving, sometimes biting approach to something everyone loves.

Satire usually has a larger point to make about society itself. Think of the hilarious fake news site “The Onion” and all its many terrible imitators.

5. Quotes and Anecdotes

Finally, if you’re out of ideas, or you want to lighten the seriousness of your original ideas with some humor, you can always try funny quotes and anecdotes. Both work best when the subject is something people take pretty seriously: for example, football quotes or political anecdotes.

Again, you’re looking for an unusual or out of the ordinary situation or reaction.

So there you go!

Five pairs of ideas that can jumpstart your comedy blog or improve your serious one. Your tone can be as absurd or deadpan as you want it to be, but it’s your tone and you need to set it.

Laughs make your content memorable… and no matter what your blog is about, it’ll keep folks coming back!