A Seasonal Humor Piece

Charcuterie Board for JBD

Last month was this year's May Days, which I will discuss in next week's Time Management Tuesday post. But one of the things I planned to do last  month was work on a particular humor piece. I got that done, submitted it to The Haven, and it was published last night. 

This piece is seasonal for those of us who celebrate John the Baptist Day on June 24, which my immediate family has been doing the last few years. Haven't heard of John the Baptist Day? Not many people have in the U.S., though it is a thing in French-speaking Canada.

In There's Not Going To Be A St. John The Baptist Day Parade This Year, Eli a not very enthusiastic marketer tries to come up with a plan to raise the holiday's profile in the U.S.

Three Things I've Learned About Writing Humor

• Format. Finding a format early on is extremely helpful. It both helps generate material, because I'm writing to the format, and keeps me from falling into writing an essay.
• Humor hook. Humor needs to build up. You don't want to lead with your best line. But as a reader, I really need to see something right away in the first paragraph, or whatever is the first section, that is at least amusing, if not out-right funny. So I pay attention to that first part.
• Sub-headings. The Medium platform where my humor has been published requires a sub-heading on the material published there. With humor I want to make that sub-heading work for me. That's where, for instance, I can tip readers off about what the format is going to be or try for that initial amusing line/humor hook.