Whatever you write—in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—it’s good to know how to write funny. Bringing humor that works into your writing allows you to:

• Delight and connect more deeply with your readers.
• Write authentically funny characters, dialogue, and situations.
• Transmit the joy and the juxtapositions of life, even in deeply serious pieces.

Learn how to make people laugh in this 2-part Zoom workshop with Tonight Show writer Simon Taylor. Join writers of all genres, workshop your comedy writing with Simon, and see in real time the art and craft of humor writing. We will meet on Zoom on Thursdays, February 19 & 26 ,from 7-8pm Eastern.

“Simon is one of the top comedy writers out there.”
—Jay Leno

Get Free Access to the Writing Funny Self-Guided Course

Enrollment in this workshop also gets you free lifetime access to Simon’s self-guided course Writing Funny: Comedy Writing Workshop (a $109 value!).

In Writing Funny, Simon walks students through the elements of humor writing, from the construction of a joke to the different formulas, styles, and opportunities available to the budding humorist. Students of this course will be able to compare their homework and notes with Simon’s thinking over Zoom. 

Here’s what current Writing Funny students have to say:

“Simon is an excellent teacher. Easy-going and approachable (even in recordings), and able to communicate his complicated expertise clearly and concisely. He breaks down humor writing to a greater degree than the craft books or other instructors I’ve encountered and shows writers (of all stripes) how to do the same.”
—Ann Jacobus Kordahl

“Simon Taylor is not just extraordinarily funny, he is truly generous. He provided exceptional feedback on each homework assignment. The course exceeded my highest expectations. Truly game-changing for my fiction writing!”
—Dorothy Sewell

Learning and Writing Goals

In these live workshops, you will:

• Learn how to use different formulas for comedy writing success. 
• Explore how you can use comedy writing as an effective means of communication in any genre. 
• Workshop your humor writing live with Simon. 

Don’t miss your chance to workshop your comedy writing with a successful comedian! 

About the Author

Simon Taylor is a Melbourne-born comedian, who by the age of 24 became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Since then he has appeared on Just for Laughs, and became the first ever Australian to perform stand-up on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.

He has also written a number of books including the novel One-Night Stand, which received critical praise for its humor and heart.

The post Writing Funny with Simon Taylor appeared first on Writers.com.

Led by The Tonight Show alum Simon Taylor, Comedy Writing Workshop explores what, exactly, makes something funny, giving you concrete tools to write humor in any medium.

“Simon is one of the top comedy writers out there.”
—Jay Leno

You’ll get a clear introduction to comedy writing: the shared formula of every joke, and how we can apply that formula in our work. This is the foundation to the course, which we’ll build on with specific joke writing techniques.

Well explore twenty-eight linguistic devices—or “tools”—with examples, explanations and opportunities to practice them. You’ll learn how to apply these tools to your own writing, and a step-by-step process to write a joke on any topic.

Finally, you’ll learn fifteen different comedy styles, with examples included. You can use these for writing characters in a novel, writing for film or television, developing a persona in standup comedy, and much more.

You’ll go from seeing humor as an abstract ability that either some people have or don’t, to understanding the nuts and bolts of comedy writing and feeling confident crafting jokes on any topic.

What You’ll Learn

Writing Funny will teach you:

• A series of easy-to-implement humor writing formulas
• A systematic approach to writing humor on any topic
• Detailed examples on how mind-maps can help in humor writing.
• How to write in a variety of different voices
• How to integrate humor into any medium
• How humor can be used to communicate complex ideas effectively

What This Course Includes

You’ll get:

• 6 video lectures that guide you through the craft of comedy writing.
• An introduction to the concept of comedy in writing.
• The fundamental formula for every single joke.
• 28 linguistic “tools” to craft effective jokes, with examples and opportunities for practice.
• 15 different comedy styles and explanations of each style.
• Mind mapping strategies that you can use to write humor about anything.

Student Testimonials

“Simon is an excellent teacher. Easy-going and approachable (even in recordings), and able to communicate his complicated expertise clearly and concisely. He breaks down humor writing to a greater degree than the craft books or other instructors I’ve encountered and shows writers (of all stripes) how to do the same.”
—Ann Jacobus Kordahl

“Simon Taylor is not just extraordinarily funny, he is truly generous. He provided exceptional feedback on each homework assignment. The course exceeded my highest expectations. Truly game-changing for my fiction writing!”
—Dorothy Sewell

About the Author

Simon Taylor is a Melbourne-born comedian, who by the age of 24 became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Since then he has appeared on Just for Laughs, and became the first ever Australian to perform stand-up on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.

He has also written a number of books including the novel One-Night Stand, which received critical praise for its humor and heart.

The post Writing Funny: Comedy Writing Workshop appeared first on Writers.com.

The post Writing Funny: Comedy Writing Workshop appeared first on Writers.com.