I’ve had writer’s block ever since.
I think I lost my mojo sometime last week as I was trying to wrench a political metaphor out of Girl Scout cookies. I started a blog this week in which I was attempting to draw a parallel between March Madness basketball and daylight savings time. Convoluted doesn’t even begin to describe it. You should be glad you won’t have to read it.
The whole reason and purpose for writing a blog is now before me as a soul searching question. Didn’t I start this just for my own enjoyment? I love Erma, but do I really want to emulate her? Funny enough? For whom? Am I really trying to become a humor writer? So many questions.
Fortunately, coming up in April, there is the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop just around the corner, to help sort all this out. Here’s a session they designed just for me!
Six Million Dollar Humor Column: How to Write Bigger, Funnier and Faster
Tracy Beckerman
What makes something funny? Believe it or not, there is a science to humor, and although that sounds incredibly unfunny, these tried and true theories and techniques can make a big difference between a so-so humor column and a hilarious one. So what does it take to write a bigger, funnier and faster humor column? Syndicated humor columnist and author Tracy Beckerman tells you how to pump up your humor writing so you can sell more columns and make $6 million, or at least a few bucks more than you are now.
Tracy Beckerman
What makes something funny? Believe it or not, there is a science to humor, and although that sounds incredibly unfunny, these tried and true theories and techniques can make a big difference between a so-so humor column and a hilarious one. So what does it take to write a bigger, funnier and faster humor column? Syndicated humor columnist and author Tracy Beckerman tells you how to pump up your humor writing so you can sell more columns and make $6 million, or at least a few bucks more than you are now.
As I am making zero bucks writing my blog, any bucks would be more. But does having a whole session devoted to this topic mean that there are other writers out there with this same affliction called “so-so humor”? Tried and true techniques? A science to humor? I was never really good at science, but o.k.! Give me a white coat and let me into the lab!
Here’s another session I plan to attend:
Brand to Book — Creating an Online Voice That Opens Doors
Anna Lefler
It’s a noisy, crowded Internet out there, and the best way for your work to get noticed is to create a compelling, distinctive voice. Your voice is, after all, your brand — your key to attracting not only readers, but agents and publishers as well. In this session, we will roll up our sleeves and dig into the rewarding process of crafting your personal humor brand, including making yourself — and your work — memorable, honing your humor voice, the importance of consistency, the value of broad appeal, building on what comes naturally to you, and more.
Anna Lefler
It’s a noisy, crowded Internet out there, and the best way for your work to get noticed is to create a compelling, distinctive voice. Your voice is, after all, your brand — your key to attracting not only readers, but agents and publishers as well. In this session, we will roll up our sleeves and dig into the rewarding process of crafting your personal humor brand, including making yourself — and your work — memorable, honing your humor voice, the importance of consistency, the value of broad appeal, building on what comes naturally to you, and more.
That’s what I need! A honed humor voice! A brand named, Me! Wow, have these people gotten inside my head, or what?
Here’s another one!
Finding the Authority to Write
Kyran Pittman
Do you live in secret fear of the day someone demands to see your Artistic License? Do you have trouble putting the word “writer” in the occupation blank? Are you dogged by an internal heckler who wonders just who you think you are anyway? This workshop will help you with the answer, as you examine why you write, and for whom, through a series of hands-on exercises designed to help you claim the authority to write. Think of it as a chiropractic adjustment for your soul. Ah…much better.
Kyran Pittman
Do you live in secret fear of the day someone demands to see your Artistic License? Do you have trouble putting the word “writer” in the occupation blank? Are you dogged by an internal heckler who wonders just who you think you are anyway? This workshop will help you with the answer, as you examine why you write, and for whom, through a series of hands-on exercises designed to help you claim the authority to write. Think of it as a chiropractic adjustment for your soul. Ah…much better.
O.K. now this is getting scary! They are definitely listening to my brain!
So, hang onto your hats, my loyal readers, all six of you! I’m going to take a short blogosphere break to earn my Artistic License at the workshop. I’ll be back very soon with funnier and fresher comedy using my newly honed humor voice!
In the meantime, I’m going to Florida. So next week, look for a re-run post. I’ll republish my losing competition entry just for you — it’s not very funny, but it has good structure and is mildly humorous. Just like me!
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