JUST THE TIPS

Doctor Funny’s Hot Tips for Writers Who Write Funny

Step right up and get ur free tips right here

For 2023, Doctor Funny is redoubling its commitment to its writers. * more editing support * more new ideas * more ways to succeed on Medium * more massive tag bombs to irritate TF outta everyone * more tips * more tweets (not sure if this helps anyone ever, but it’s fun so what the heck, why not)

And, as promised, here are some tips — some hot, some just plain old nuclear — for you.

Title

It’s a two-fer: make it focused & make it funny * Tell us what your story is about * Do it in a funny way

Simple!

Oh, and please run it through a title capitalization tool if you’re unsure of the rules. Here’s one that all the best people use: https://capitalizemytitle.com

KICKER

A must-have. It’s one more chance to be funny.

Click on Kristine Laco’s link below for details.

Focus

Your story should not read like “Flight of the Bumble Bee” is its theme song.

Rather, push the central funny premise of your work forward with every stroke of your pen.

Go short

Size matters. Shorter is better. In comedy at least. Long loopy sentences lose readers. Go with short, sharp shots.

Q: What do you call a one-foot-tall musician? A: A 12-inch pianist. (funny)

A: Well, first I’ll apologize for making fun of the height-challenged. I know it’s not PC and all. I remember that from school. You call him a roughly 30.5 cm music-playing dude (That’s 12 inches for all my friends in the US of A.). (unfunny AF)

Use call outs

If you write a line like this:

Smooth, supple buttocks are so last decade.*

Please be loud and proud about it.

Highlighting an occasional well-wrought zinger like this also serves to keep your readers’ eyes glued to the page. Endless lines of text = boring.

*Thank you Oscar Rhea.

Make sure the “carpet” matches the “drapes”

Ensure that your story fulfills your title’s promise.

Finish with a flourish

Leave us laughing.

Go big or go home.

All that stuff to remind you to end with a bang, not a whimper.

Besides, then we’ll be tempted to read more of your stuff. So, feel free to leave a link or two to more of your funny stuff. (If the links are to Doctor Funny stuff, great. If not, that’s fine too. We’ll support any moves that help you succeed as a Medium author.)

Captions

Put them in bold underneath your images. They’re another chance to be funny.

Here’s a funny picture:

See, so much funnier with a caption. And, you’ve made a friend for life.

Let your shit sit

It’s amazing what overnight fermentation will do for a story.

Write it today. Sleep on it. Look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow. (Your subconscious will work on it while you get your beauty rest.) Edit like a mofo. Funny it up some. Then send it in.

Zany is good

Doctor Funny ain’t your grand-dad’s Readers Digest.

Push the envelope. We’ll dig it. So will everyone else.

It’s a big part of what we’re about at Doctor Funny.

Then there’s this:

And this (so good, it’s in here twice)

With exciting news about how to insert “the kicker” and more, much, much more.

If you’ve got tips of your own to share, please put them in the comments. Better still, write your own “tips” story and publish it in Doctor Funny.