Writers' Resources

The New Republic

Trump Wants Snitches to Report on DEI. There’s Just One Problem.

Donald Trump wants people to expose diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the federal government. The idea is already flopping.

The threat was loud and clear: Report your so-called “DEI” employees or else. What exactly “DEIA or similar ideologies” means is up in the air, but the message was out there. And so was the email address of the DEIA snitching hotline. Fake emails quickly started to roll in. ‘I don’t care, fuck these McCarthyite bastards,” one BlueSky user said, with an screenshot attached of an email to the hotline where he ironically reported Donald Trump and JD Vance for being “put in their positions solely because of their race and/or gender despite the fact that they are wholly unqualified for their jobs and, in some cases, have criminal records.” “Anyone have a script to fire off a billion e-mails an hour??” another user asked in the replies. “Anyone can email anything of any size even if it crashes the site,” one X user noted. The scope and effectiveness of this latest phase of Trump’s anti-DEI crusade remains to be seen.

Dive in Deeper: Humor

Hello, hello! Today’s post will be about humor!

“What? Humor? But I’m naturally funny!”

Ha, ha! Maybe you are but that doesn’t mean you don’t need advise on how to transfer your unique sense of humor into the pages of your amazing new book!

As a quick refresher let me remind everyone that this post is one of the rest that belong in the series 22 Essential Literary Devices.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

What Is Humor Writing?

Humor writing is a piece of fiction or nonfiction written with the express purpose of being funny.

How it strikes a humorous chord and the resulting laughs (or groans) it produces depends on the piece.

Three Types of Humor Writing

Humor novels. Humor novels are their own genre. These can be both fiction and nonfiction. In fiction, satirical novels fall in this category. Satire fiction uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to critique or expose a corrupt aspect of society. Two of literature’s most popular satire novels are George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961).

Short form. Short humor pieces usually take the form of a short story or piece of humor fiction. A short humor piece is usually a piece of writing under 1,000 words whose main purpose is to amuse.

Humor essay. Humor essays are usually a personal essay whose primary aim is to amuse rather than inform or persuade. Sometimes, writers mix fiction with nonfiction in humor essays for comedic effect.

Four Golden Rules for Writing Humor

Identify your style of humor. Everyone has a different sense of humor. We all find different things funny for different reasons. This is why it’s important that before you sit down and try to write funny things, you think about your own personal sense of humor and how you want to mine that to produce a piece of humor writing. Trying to mimic other people’s styles in creative writing won’t work. If you try and write in a style that is not your own, or if you try and force yourself to be funny in a way that you are not, the effort behind your writing will show. There are many kinds of humor. Look at this list of some popular types of humor and try and analyze where your individual strengths are and what you feel most comfortable with.

Observational/situational humor. This involves finding humor in mundane, everyday situations.

Anecdotal humor. This involves mining personal stories for humor.

Dark (or gallows) humor. Finding humor in darker, more unpleasant circumstances or aspects of life, like death, suffering, and unhappiness.

Self-deprecating humor. This involves you, the writer, making fun of yourself for comedic effect. Having a sense of humor about yourself endears you to others.

Satirical humor. Looking to the various faults of individuals, organizations, or society and mining them for comedic purposes.

Use the rule of three. The rule of three is a common rule in humor writing and one of the most common comedy writing secrets. It involves establishing a set pattern with two ideas and then subverting that pattern with a third, incompatible idea. For example: “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Doughnut? A better attitude?”

Mine humorous anecdotes from your real life. This is especially pertinent for humor essays. If you think about it, most of the funny things in your own life are things that our friends and family also find funny. These are the stories we tell over and over. These are the stories we use to bond or connect with others. Sometimes, we mine these stories for a more humorous effect. This is exactly what a humor essay does. Before you start writing, make sure you identify why a particular story or anecdote is funny. Is it funny to you because of your unique circumstances or understanding of a wider context? If so, it’s unlikely to be funny to your readers without that prior context.

Leverage cliches. While clichés are something most writers try to avoid, it’s important to recognize them. Humor relies in part on twisting a cliché—transforming or undermining it. You do this by setting up an expectation based on the cliché and then providing a surprise outcome. For example: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.” In humor writing, this process is called reforming.

Quick Tips For Writing Humor

Surprise the reader. Twist a cliché or undermine any expectation you’ve set up.

Put your funny expressions at the end of a sentence. Humor is often a release of tension, so the sentence builds that tension, and the pay-off happens most naturally at the end.

Use contrast. Are your characters in a terrifying situation? Add something light, like a man obsessing about his briefcase instead of the T-Rex looming behind him.

Find funny words. Some words are just funnier than others, so make a list of those that amuse you the most.

Try a “figgin” —a story element that promises to be something horrible or disgusting but which turns out to be humorous, and yet later has a pay-off, or a moment where the item becomes important to the plot.

Give them “sherbet lemon” —minor details you put in a text to make the reader smile. These small pulses are in the text just for humor; they don’t necessarily have a pay-off later.

There ya have it folks! Humor! Now you too can be even more funny and write it down through your writing!

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50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “said” in your writing? Try using these words/phrases instead:

stated

commented

declared

spoke

responded

voiced

noted

uttered

iterated

explained

remarked

acknowledged

mentioned

announced

shouted

expressed

articulated

exclaimed

proclaimed

whispered

babbled

observed

deadpanned

joked

hinted

informed

coaxed

offered

cried

affirmed

vocalized

laughed

ordered

suggested

admitted

verbalized

indicated

confirmed

apologized

muttered

proposed

chatted

lied

rambled

talked

pointed out

blurted out

chimed in

brought up

wondered aloud

(NOTE: Keep in mind that all of these words have slightly different meanings and are associated with different emotions/scenarios.)

I’m sorry friends, but “just google it” is no longer viable advice. What are we even telling people to do anymore, go try to google useful info and the first three pages are just ads for products that might be the exact opposite of what the person is trying to find but The Algorithm thinks the words are related enough? And if it’s not ads it’s just sponsored websites filled with listicles, just pages and pages of “TOP FIFTEEN [thing you googled] IMAGINED AS DISNEY PRINCESSES” like… what are we even doing anymore, google? I can no longer use you as shorthand for people doing real and actual helpful research on their own.

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

how do you write a liar?

How to Write Liars Believably

Language

The motive of every goal is the make the lie seem plausible while taking blame off the speaker, so liars will often project what they say to a third party: "Katie said that..."

Referring to third parties as "they" rather than he or she

In the case of a deliberate lie prepped beforehand, there will be an overuse of specific names (rather than pronouns) as the speaker tries to get the details right.

Overuse of non-committal words like "something may have happened"

Masking or obscuring facts like "to the best of my knowledge" and “it is extremely unlikely," etc.

Avoiding answers to specific, pressing questions

Voice

There's isn't a set tone/speed/style of speaking, but your character's speech patten will differ from his normal one.

People tend to speak faster when they're nervous and are not used to lying.

Body Language

Covering their mouth

Constantly touching their nose

fidgeting, squirming or breaking eye contact

turning away, blinking faster, or clutching a comfort object like a cushion as they speak

nostril flaring, rapid shallow breathing or slow deep breaths, lip biting, contracting, sitting on your hands, or drumming your fingers. 

Highly-trained liars have mastered the art of compensation by freezing their bodies and looking at you straight in the eye.

Trained liars can also be experts in the art of looking relaxed. They sit back, put their feet up on the table and hands behind their head.

For deliberate lies, the character may even carefully control his body language, as though his is actually putting on a show

The Four Types of Liars

Deceitful: those who lie to others about facts

2. Delusional: those who lie to themselves about facts

3. Duplicitious: those who lie to others about their values

Lying about values can be even more corrosive to relationships than lying about facts. 

4. Demoralized: those who lie to themselves about their values

Additional Notes

Genuine smiles or laughs are hard to fake

Exaggerations of words (that would normally not be emphasized) or exaggerated body language

Many savvy detectives ask suspects to tell the story in reverse or non-linear fashion to expose a lie. They often ask unexpected, or seemingly irrelevant questions to throw suspects off track. 

I don't know what I miss more, having free time to draw or these fellas

The raven cycle!!!!

Oh I love these guys. Everything about these books, I want to draw them soooo much more (I probably will)!!

Guys I'm back-

It has been a nightmare lately this is the only thing I managed to draw in weeks? Finals and uni stuff that's taking all of my time and energy, slowly turning me into a cafeinated slug (worst part is caffeine doesn't even have an effect on me? I only drink coffee for the TASTE can you imagine). Anyway the rush won't be over until end of January but hopefully I'll be able to ignore the stress and draw anyway :)

Can you hear your characters?

I have a whole lot of trouble making my dialogue sound natural if I don’t know what my characters sound like. Having a strong sense of their voice can help distinguish your characters from each other, show their personalities, and make them more engaging to readers. 

Here’s some details to think over if you’re trying to nail down a character’s voice:

Speed

Pitch

Volume

Accent

Vocabulary

Amount spoken

Willingness to speak

Stutters

Hesitations

Repetitions

Quirks 

Common phrases 

Other questions to ask:

Do their voices or the way they talk change depending on who they’re talking to or the situation they’re in? 

How can their personality come through their voice? Their sarcasm, empathy, awkwardness, etc. 

What in their backstory contributes to the way they talk? 

When they make a statement, how often does it come off as unsure or questioning, versus confident and factual? 

How does their voice relate or coexist with their body language? 

At the gate for my flight home from visiting friends and there's a woman here with a service Shiba Inu. No pics because he has a Do Not Disturb vest and taking pics of strangers is illegal but I need to stress how ON DUTY this animal is. Ears up. Eyes doing Lazer scans of everything. Examining everyone who passes within 10ft like a security guard. Ass planted on her feet. I have never seen a dog with such intense chivalric guardian energy before. He has tiny eyebrows and they are FURROWED with concentration.

I’m obsessed with the way Maggie writes dialogue