How to Write Humor in Your Erotica, or
NO! Don't Laugh at THAT!
By
Arianna Hart

Everyone loves to laugh, well, almost everyone. We all occasionally run into the tortured soul who LIKES it that way, but we won't go there. If you ask your regular Joe Reader, or in my case, Jane Reader, do you like humor in your reading? Most of them will say they do. Now ask them if they want humor in their sex? The answer becomes a little less enthusiastic.

As an erotica author, I love to include humor into my books. Part of it comes from my warped sense of humor, and part of it is just because life is well, funny. To me, there is nothing worse than reading an entire book of angst. Because I don't write angst well, I automatically include humor into everything I write. At least I think I'm funny, as my students can attest, sometimes I'm the only one.

In this article, I will attempt to draw you into my thought process and help you to learn how to write humor, and why I think it is a necessary ingredient in all works of fiction. Pay attention, there will be a quiz at the end. . . (Just kidding, honest!)

When writing erotica, there is fertile ground for humor. Weaving it into the emotional and sexual tension is another story. The last thing a writer wants to do is get the reader worked up to a fevered pitch, only to have them laugh at the wrong thing and lose it completely. That is the literary equivalent of a woman pointing and laughing when a man drops his pants.

Humor needs to be intricately placed in a work of erotic fiction. Sure, we've had sexual encounters that would win "America's Funniest Porn Videos" but that is not the place we want readers to be laughing. As with real life, there comes a time when characters need to relax after a release of tension. This is true for the reader as well. After a mind blowing, toe curling, gut wrenching sex scene, everyone needs to sit back and have a figurative cigarette or two. This is the perfect time to inject a little humor into the situation.

Now, humor can be either in dialogue or of the situational, slapstick variety. To make that decision, you have to go with what feels natural. I am a sarcastic person, so most of my humor is of the dialogue variety. I will occasionally throw in something I think is pretty darn funny, usually a take on something similar that has happened to me. For example, hypothetically, let's say one time I was having hot sex on the carpeted stairway (I have three children so you know this is hypothetical) and after the action was finished, my husband relaxed a little TOO much and we slid down the stairs butt naked. I can almost guarantee you that if something like that happened to me, it would end up in one of my books. I mean honestly, how could it not? Usually I just put my words into my characters' mouths. I try to fit the humor to the situation, whether it is a put down, "Well, if your intelligence was a strong as your libido we wouldn't be in this situation!" or just conversation, "Honestly, how was I supposed to know he was serious? He left his 'I'm not kidding' sign off." Whatever fits the scene and comes from the heart, or funny bone, is what works best.

The more real something is, the more it will pull the readers into your story so that they are refreshed and ready for the next bout of emotional build up. If you have to force it, just like anything else, the humor can fall flat and sound, well, forced. If you truly wish to add humor into your writing, whether it is just for a scene or throughout the entire book, take examples from everyday life. Chances are, if it happened to you, it's happened to someone else as well. PLEASE NOTE I do not write BDSM, so I can say this. I don't know if "A funny thing happened with my whip." would work. . .

Okay, so you know WHEN to add humor, and a little of WHAT humor to add, now we address, WHY add humor in the first place? No matter who you are, or what your situation is, there is always something worth laughing about; you just have to find it. The biggest problem with most of us is that we are so busy running around trying to be everything to everyone, we don't stop to look at what is happening in the very lives we are trying to improve. Now, this is not to say folks that are clinically depressed aren't looking around, that isn't what I mean at all. This is in reference to the Eeyores in the world who always see the cup as half empty. I think it is my job as a writer to jump into their lives and give them just one thing to smile about and confuse the hell out of them. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

I hope this has been helpful to you, or at least a distraction when you are supposed to be working. Just remember, laughing burns more calories than whining does, and it tightens your stomach muscles while you're at it. If that isn't a reason to laugh everyday, I don't know what is. Now take out your pencils and number your papers one through ten.
Hahahaha! Just kidding!

- Ari

 

 Close Window