Creating content that puts smiles on the readers’ faces can be very challenging. Not only is humor very subjective but you also need to know how to use just the right dose. This doesn’t mean that you are facing an impossible task. It means that you’ll need to add a bit of strategy to your creativity.

Depending on the type of content you want to produce, there are different ways of incorporating humor. For some inspiration and motivation, the following five ways of incorporating humor in your writing will give you some helpful ideas.

Note: This is a guest post by Adriana Veasey, she is a writer and editor at Studicus.com. Writing is more than just her job, it is her passion in which she invests all her time and creative energy.

How to do it without overdoing it?

What you need to understand about humor is that not everyone finds the same jokes funny. That is actually not your problem, but what can be your problem is if you cross the line and offend your readers.

So, how to avoid such an inconvenience?

Here are some don’ts that you should keep in mind before you risk getting chased with pitchforks and torches:

• Racism
• Sexism
• Putdowns
• Dark humor
• Corny, used-up jokes
• Bashing your competition

Now that we know what type of humor should be avoided, let’s get to the useful tricks.

1. The joke is on you

Show your readers that you are not a sensitive little flower and that you can handle a good joke. According to a study (HSQ; Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, & Weir, 2003), people who make themselves the butt of their own jokes actually demonstrate greater levels of happiness and self-assurance.

Self-deprecation is a safe choice, meaning that you won’t risk offending anyone and you’ll portray yourself as a confident individual.

Who knows you better than yourself? Take all those funny and cringy stories, stereotypes, and flaws and use them in your writing.

There is more to it than just making people laugh by joking about yourself. Readers will be able to relate and create a connection with you if you open up. It shows that you are honest and willing to accept your flaws.

Of course, if you don’t feel comfortable with this type of humor don’t force it. It is important that you truly feel good about yourself and are ready to share with the world some of your embarrassing stories and insecurities.

2. Are you ready to compare?

Those of you who have read Robert Schimmel’s book Cancer on $5 a Day (Chemo Not Included) might have noticed the following part:

This stupid hospital gown is riding up my ass. I try to pull it down and it snaps right back up like a window shade. I cross my legs and suddenly I’m Sharon Stone.

When using comparison it is crucial that you use situations that are generally known or popular. Like Robert did with Sharon’s famous scene in Basic Instinct.

Writers are used to using comparisons and metaphors in various styles so this shouldn’t be a difficult challenge.

Just think through what depicts the situation that you want to describe. Is it painful, sexual, embarrassing? Then brainstorm and wait until something valuable comes to your mind. It should just come instinctively.

3. Get playful with words

Jazz up your writing with simple word twisting or word tweaks. Whether you want to use the already existing ones or make something up, it is up to you. The choices are endless.

For example, what do you find to be funnier skedaddle or hurry? A promiscuous man or a mimbo?

Using simple but funny words will give a humorous tone to seemingly ordinary sentences.

You can even make some of your own word combinations. Go wild and come up with new words that can add that something extra to your writing. Who knows, maybe it will even end up in a dictionary one day. Dare to dream!

4. Go big or go home

A little exaggeration can’t hurt anyone, can it? This has always been a popular technique among comics and humor writers and for a good reason.

There are writers who base their work on exaggeration. Just look at the work of Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize winner for humor writing. He is the master of exaggeration, but don’t take my word for it. Let his work speak for himself:

• Eugene is located in western Oregon, approximately 278 billion miles from anything.
• I have been a gigantic Rolling Stones fan since approximately the Spanish-American War.
• If you were to open up a baby’s head – and I am not for a moment suggesting that you should – you would find nothing but an enormous drool gland.
• It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells … to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin.

Is this enough to convince you?

5. Get down to details

Besides helping the readers to really picture what you are describing, including all the small details can sprinkle some humor on any situation.

Think about these two examples:

• She was holding an old, rag doll.
• She was holding what seemed to be an old, rag doll. However, it was more like a yellow ball of fabric with two black-ish patches for the eyes and a crooked smile (maybe it had a stroke, who am I to judge).

The more details you give, the scene will look more absurd and comical. Really picture all the little things that make that specific thing what it is.

I’m not saying that generalization can’t be funny, but when you really get down to specifics that is when things get spicy.

Joke ahead!

Hopefully, the above-mentioned tips have given you some inspiration and ideas on how to add that humorous effect to your writing.

It is up to you in which direction you will go, but as long as you don’t hold back, I’m sure that you will manage to create something great and worthy of every laugh.

What’s the funniest piece you ever wrote? Is it published on a website or on your blog? If so, link to it and share it with us in the comments below!

Discouraging, isn’t it?

You write a few blog posts and friends sing your praises. You dream, Maybe I’ve got what it takes to score a publishing deal.

But then you run your idea and your samples past an agent, an editor, or a published author, and the music screeches to a halt. You interpret their “meh” as a scathing critique and you’re rudely awakened from your dream.

Special Note: This is a guest post by New York Times Bestselling author, Jerry B. Jenkins. Jerry’s one of the most successful authors of our time with over 70 million copies of his books sold. Visit: jerryjenkins.com

Unfortunately, I’ve seen it over and over.

Writers ask me for feedback. I believe they want real input, but when they see my suggested edits, their faces fall.

I know they were dreaming I would say, “Where have you been? How has a major publishing house not found you yet?”

They weren’t really looking for input—they were looking to be discovered.

You might have a boatload of talent—enough to tell compelling stories in fresh ways. But if you can’t accept criticism from those in the business, you’re not going to succeed.

I’ve written and published 195 books, including 21 New York Times bestsellers, yet I still need fresh eyes on my work. And I’ve had to become a ferocious self-editor.

Writing is a craft.

That means you must build your writing muscles and learn the skills.

Regardless how talented you think you are, writing takes work. Many talented athletes never become pros because they believed raw talent alone would carry them.

That doesn’t have to be you, as long as you cultivate your skills.

3 Ways to Hone Your Talent

1. Read, Read, Read

Writers are readers. Good writers are good readers. Great writers are great readers.

Writing in your favorite genre? You should have read at least 200 titles in it. Learn the conventions. Know the rules you plan to break.

You’ll become aware of what works and what doesn’t. And you’ll likely see a vast difference in your writing.

2. Write, Write, Write

Dreamers talk about writing. Writers write.

Don’t expect to grow unless you’re in the chair doing it. 

Write short stuff first. Articles, blogs. Learn to work with an editor. Learn the business. Get a quarter million cliches out of your system.

3. Welcome Brutally Honest Feedback

The fastest way to shave years off your learning curve is to seek real input from someone who knows.

But be prepared. Your ego may take a bruising.

Yes—the red ink hurts. During my early years in the newspaper and magazine business, editors tore my work apart.

But it made me the writer I am today. Without that scrutiny I don’t know where I’d be, but it wouldn’t be on any bestseller lists.

Expect to be heavily edited and learn to aggressively self-edit.

Take advantage of every opportunity to grow. Assume there is always room for improvement.

I am still learning and trying to sharpen my skills, after over 50 years in this game.

One of the most challenging parts of being a writer is keeping things fresh. You always need new ideas and new things to write about.

Staying inspired can be tough.

Thankfully, you have access to unlimited writing inspiration when you look to your own life. Your life is full of inspiration, you just have to know how to uncover it.

Note: This is a guest post by Brian Berni. Brian is a former Vatican employee and a bestselling author under multiple pen-names. He blogs for writers and self-publishers at AuthorsTech and is the co-founder of BookAds, an agency that helps authors advertise their books through Amazon and BookBub Ads.

Before you read the rest of this post, I highly recommend you grab a notebook and a pen. You’re going to start digging right now.

Ready?

Here are 5 ways to mine your life for writing inspiration:

1) Write A Sentence A Day

You’ve heard of keeping a scrapbook or photo book of memories, right? Well this is a similar thing, only you write the memory down.

Grab a notebook or journal and put it by your bed. Then right before you go to sleep every night, write one to two sentences about your day. Be sure to add the date for reference purposes.

This is an opportunity for you to reflect on your day and keep track of key moments in your life.

Here are some ideas for what to write down:

• The best thing that happened to you that day
• The worst thing that happened
• What you learned
• Your favorite moment of the day
• A memory from that day you want to remember
• What you did that was fun
• Something that inspired you

Do this consistently for several months and when you look back you’ll have a collection of memories you can expand on for your writing.

2) Keep Track of Your “Most” Moments

You know your “most” moments? Everyone has them.

The most inspiring thing that’s ever happened to you. The most fun you’ve ever had. The most afraid you’ve ever been. The most happy. The most loved you’ve ever felt.

I can keep going, but I think you get my point. We all have “most” moments in our lives and these moments are ripe for writing inspiration.

Grab your notebook and write “My Most Moments” at the top of the page. Then make a list of all the “most” moments you can think of from your life.

Add to the list when another “most” moment happens or when something bumps another “most” moment from its spot on the list.

Refer back to this list anytime you need writing inspiration.

3) Recall the Transformations You’ve Made

If you’re alive, you’ve grown at some point in your life. Growth is the basis of making a transformation.

And transformations are perfect inspiration for your writing.

When you make a transformation, there’s always something you learned or got out of it, and that’s what makes good writing. There’s also a potential “how to” in there.

Get your notebook out, open to a new page and then divide the page into three columns, vertically.

At the top of the left column write, “Transformations I’ve made.” At the top of the middle  column, write, “How I did it.” At the top of the right column, write, “What I learned.”

For example, did you lose 100 pounds? What specific steps did you take to do that? What did you learn from making that transformation? Write that all down in the designated columns.

Readers want to be inspired, entertained, educated or all three. Writing about a transformation you’ve made, how you did it and what you learned is a great way to deliver all three of those things.

4) List Out the Lessons You’ve Learned

Piggybacking off the transformations you’ve made, I’m sure there are all kinds of lessons you’ve learned over the course of your life from what you’ve experienced and been through. Well, that’s all writing inspiration too.

Grab your notebook again. Open to a new page and then draw a line down the center of the page, vertically.

At the top of the left column, write “Lessons I’ve Learned.” At the top of the right column, write “How I Learned This Lesson.”

Take some time to brainstorm the lessons you’ve learned, along with how you learned them.

For example, did you learn that “you have to stand up for yourself” after being in a relationship where you never stood up for yourself? Write that lesson in the left column and the specifics about “how you learned it” in the right column. Now you have a lesson along with a story you can write to inspire your reader.

I recommend spending some serious time on this one. We often forget how much we’ve learned in our lives and how we learned it. This is a simple way to keep track of that stuff and have a well of inspiration for your writing.

5) Think Back On Experiences You’ve Had

The final way to mine your life for writing inspiration is to think back on the things you’ve experienced. You’ve done things, been places and met people who are worth writing about.

Grab your notebook one more time. At the top of the page, write: “Experiences I’ve Had.” Then make a list of all the experiences you’ve had that stand out to you.

For example, maybe you met the love of your life while standing in line for coffee. Write that down. Maybe you traveled the world for a month and experienced a wide array of places and cultures. Write that down.

We often discount our experiences and consider them “normal” or “average” because we’re the ones experiencing them. Yet so many people have never done what you have, which means your experiences are worth writing about and sharing with others.

Whether you’re writing a blog post, a memoir, a personal essay or even fiction, mining your life for inspiration is the perfect way to always have something to write about.

Now that you have a few ideas on how to mine your life for writing inspiration, well, then, let’s get to it! 

My first published novel was, well, not my first published novel. I’ve been working as a ghostwriter behind the scenes for a decade, and have plenty of experience in a range of genres. Romances set in high schools, Regency-era tropes, supernatural tales of communities with superpowers – you name it. But when I wanted to publish something under my own name, I went with true crime. That’s when I really started to learn a lot about myself, thanks to writing…

Note: This is a guest post by: Rhiannon D’Averc, she is a crime writer based in the UK. You can follow her on Twitter and see the latest news and updates on her website. She is also the Chief Editor of London Runway, an indie fashion publication in the UK’s capital.

The result was Boy Under Water – Dennis Nilsen: The True Story of a Serial Killer. It’s based on a real series of murders, as the name suggests. While I might have had plenty of experience in other genres, true crime taught me some home truths that I might not otherwise have learned. Here’s what I picked up.

1. Why I write true crime

It might seem silly, but do we ever really question why we write?

Most of us just like telling stories (or harbor dreams of being the next multi-millionaire breakout author). But why do we tell the particular stories that we do?

If you explain to someone that you’re writing a romance novel, their questions will usually center around why you’ve chosen to write at all. But when I told people about the true crime novel that was burning a hole on my hard drive, they usually wanted to know why I would choose such a gruesome topic.

That led to some soul-searching.

When I peeled it all back, I realized that my lifelong fascination with true crime probably had a lot to do with the reason why I watch horror movies. I watch them, even though I often hate them, because I want to know. How do you get rid of ghosts that want to do you harm? How do you stop a cursed video from killing you? What kind of red flags should you avoid if you don’t want to get dismembered by hillbillies in a remote wooded area? (You need to know this!)

Knowing is magic. Knowing keeps you safe. If I ever did, say, end up in a situation where a ghost from inside a haunted videotape was trying to track me down, I now know just to show the video to someone else. That’s all it takes to stay safe.

Knowing about serial killers, murderers, and conmen is a similar concept. The more I learn and write about them, the less likely it is that I’ll end up a victim of one. Even though I have potentially raised the risk by becoming a true crime writer, if cinema has taught me anything!

2. What I might be capable of

Most of us consider ourselves to be normal, upstanding citizens. Maybe we break a parking law now and then or take the free samples out of our hotel rooms – they pretty much expect us to do that, right? But we’re not bad people. Not the kind of bad that might result in us murdering another human being… and then going on to do it again, and again, and again.

But then I started trying to get into the mind of a serial killer in order to write about him. I wanted the book to be as authentic as possible, so I dedicated a lot of time and effort to this realism. I devoured everything Nilsen had said or written in the public view. I got to know him, and his circumstances. I read views from people who knew him. I even exchanged a letter with the man himself, a short while before he died in prison.

What I discovered along this exploration was that there was no real particular trigger or abuse that turned Nilsen into a serial killer. I don’t think he was born evil. I don’t believe there’s a gene or a specific single incident which forced him to kill people.

What I found in my research was a lonely, sad, isolated man. He thought he was cleverer than he was, but also perhaps suspected somewhere in a dark corner of his mind that he wasn’t all that. He felt rejected, thrown away by the countless lovers who came and went in the space of a night. This built upon the rejection of a childhood spent in a poor Scottish family, and then the army, where a young, gay, slightly odd man was not cherished. It grew in the form of a fantasy that was deeply connected to the death of his grandfather and, left unchecked, evolved into something far more dangerous.

These are all human feelings. We might not call them ‘normal’, but we really mean not ‘healthy’ or ‘fitting society’. Actually, it’s very normal to feel different to others around us. It’s normal to have fantasies which grow and evolve as our sexuality develops – particularly if we aren’t able to engage in relationships with others, which might replace those fantasies.

The more I researched, the more I felt like any one of us could be subject to just the right (or wrong) kind of mix of experiences and feelings to become a killer. Maybe if Nilsen had been less lonely, or found a partner who wanted to stay with him, or not been frustrated with both his career and his personal life, the crimes would not have happened.

I don’t mean to absolve his blame – he still took action, decisively and on his own. He has rightly been condemned for those actions. But it did make me think that perhaps, there but for the grace of God go we.

3. What I was aiming for

If you had asked me before I published the book what I wanted to come of it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to give a clear answer. There were wild dreams, of course – like being the next multi-millionaire author. But I didn’t really know how I would feel about any kind of result that happened.

Actually, I found that I was pretty satisfied with the modest sales that I got. I’m not a bestselling author just yet, and definitely not a millionaire. But I do feel happy with the response. Having friends, distant family members, and people I hadn’t spoken to in years tell me they’d read and enjoyed the book was pure reward.

More than anything, this experience has taught me that I’m happy to write, and ecstatic for people to read my work.

The money earned is more on the practical side of things, a necessity that cannot be ignored if I want to write full-time. But knowing I’m in it for the love of writing means that I can happily throw myself into another project, without fear that a failure to sell well would be a crushing disappointment.

So, why would I recommend true crime writing to any author?

Because I believe that it can teach you a lot, no matter what genre you normally write in. You can explore the human psyche at its worst, as well as examining the motivations that drive you to write. You also learn an invaluable skill in terms of research, which can stand you in good stead when it comes to adding realism to your work. And, like me, you might just find that it is the right genre for you.

What has writing taught you about yourself? Think about it, and if you like, leave a comment and share.