Tag Archives: The Muffin

Even If You’ve Heard It All Before (Reminders for Writers)

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file0001008451882Today, I’m over at The Muffin, writing about the best way to stack the deck in your writing favor with “Give ‘Em What They Want.”

To be honest, I didn’t say anything earth-shatteringly new. But the Muffin blog and WOW-Women on Writing attract writers new to the business every day, so for them, the information could be earth-shatteringly new.

On the other hand, even old-timers like me can fall into that two-headed trap: complacency and arrogance. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we think, I know what to do. Or, yeah, yeah, yeah, we figure, those rules are for other just-starting-out writers. So every once in a while I need a reminder not to get too big for my writing britches.

Not saying that you do, too. I’m sure you’re the Mary Poppins of the writing world, practically perfect in every way. But just in case you aren’t…

(And P.S. you might want to read Renee’s comment on the post; it’s good stuff, too. Please come back tomorrow for Scott Keen’s post–the one I referenced at The Muffin. He’ll be giving us the 4-1-1 on WiDo Publishing and his new book!)

Make ‘Em Laugh (Or Just Make Me Laugh)

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2009-07-12 11.53.16If you hang out here often, then you know I write funny. Though honestly, I didn’t start out to write funny. I just can’t quite write a hundred percent serious.

Lord knows, I’ve tried. I thought I could be Ms. Literary Writer of the South (or at least the Southeast). But one day I woke up and smelled the Cathy C. Hall coffee–and it tasted funny. So humor sort of stuck to me and now I couldn’t not write funny. (And yes, I know that’s a double negative. I’m making a point here, people.)

Anyway, all this to say that sometimes, I miss the comedy mark. Yes, friends, I do. But I have a couple tricks up my sleeve that get me back on the humor writing track. I wrote about them today over at The Muffin in “What’s So Funny? (Serious Tips for the Humor Writer)”.

Yep, I might write funny, but I’m a hundred percent serious about this career of mine. So if you have a tip about writing humor, I’d love to hear it. ‘Cause honestly, I’ve got a ton of edits to get to today and I could use a joke or two.