Eric Puchner: How to Be Funny When Writing a Novel
lithub.com – Saturday February 22, 2025
Is anything more embarrassing than trying to be funny and going splat? I sometimes think there’s an inverse relationship between trying to be funny and actual funniness. This is especially true in literature, I think. When you think of great comic novels and short stories—True Grit, Mrs. Bridge, On Beauty, anything by Joy Williams—you think, above all, of their effortlessness, how what’s funny about them is inextricable with their, well, novel-ness. They can’t fail to be funny, because they hardly seem to be trying to. They don’t strain after jokes so much as evoke the inherent funniness of life.
The philosopher Henri Bergson talks about “mechanical inelasticity”: something is funny when a person—or, I suppose, an animal—fails to adapt to a change in their surroundings. Think of the unsuspecting fellow who tries to sit down on a chair that’s been pulled out from under him. We expect someone to act a certain way, one that conforms elastically to the situation they’re in, and it’s funny when they don’t. As Simon Critchley puts it, in his book On Humor: there’s a disconnect between “expectation and actuality.”
This isn’t just a nifty, somewhat incontrovertible theory of humor. It’s a nifty, somewhat incontrovertible theory of what makes a novel or short story work. One might even say that a disconnect between expectation and actuality is the essential element of fiction. A young man wakes up as a beetle and yet worries more than anything about getting to work on time (“The Metamorphosis”); a wealthy couple insist on finishing their dinner at a country club, despite the fact that a tornado’s approaching and everyone else has fled to the basement (Mrs. Bridge). When my students complain about writer’s block, that they have no idea what to write about, I often encourage them to think of something funny that’s happened to them: not because I want their readers to laugh out loud—though there are far worse things a reader might do!—but because something that meets the criteria for funniness also meets the criteria for engaging fiction. The sound of laughter is the sound of a story succeeding.
‘Golden age’ of self-publishing for indie authors ‘no longer strictly choosing one route or the other’
thebookseller.com – Saturday February 22, 2025
There is something in the air in the self-publishing world at the moment; just ask the Alliance of Independent Authors’ (ALLi) co-founder and director Orna Ross, who has watched the sector develop over the past decade and a half. Though she still does not see traditional and self-publishing as “sitting together that much”, she believes “it’s a hugely exciting time to be an indie author”.
Former Harper Press managing director John Bond (pictured), turned CEO and co-founder of Whitefox – which launched in 2012, offering a “curated network of publishing specialists” to companies and individuals, many of whom are self-publishers – agrees.
He says: “There’s still a bit of a stigma around self-publishing, but it’s changed, because more people want to have creative control of their own books. They want to do things in a time frame that suits them, rather than hope that they will find an agent, and that the agent finds a publisher, and at some point, in the future, that book is published. New writers are saying: ‘I can do something relatively quickly and learn how to be an entrepreneurial, self-starting author.’”
This is what Monique Charlesworth, who founded Moth Books in order to publish her own (and now others’) books, wanted to do with its launch title, her book Mother Country: “I published four titles traditionally, and I worked with marvellous people, but they didn’t care like I did about the cover, about the quotes. They weren’t necessarily great at communication and publicity.”
How to Write a Novel: A 7-Step Guide
snhu.edu – Wednesday February 19, 2025
Writing a novel is a process that begins with an idea, develops through outlining and creating compelling characters and grows with a consistent writing routine and revising.
If you want to become a novelist, your first book can feel like a daunting task. But, with the right approach, it can also be a manageable process. Whether you’re starting with a vivid idea or simply a desire to tell a story, breaking the process into clear steps can help you bring your vision to life.
1. Understanding What a Novel Actually Is
A novel is a long-form work of fiction, typically spanning 250–400 pages, according to Jeremy Flagg, a dystopian and sci-fi novelist with the books "Nighthawks" and "Night Shadows" to his credit. He’s also an adjunct faculty member in the online creative writing and English program at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU).
“Whether exploring seemingly insignificant moments of life or diving deep into the essence of what it means to be human, novels allow writers to weave expansive narratives that capture the complexities of the human experience," he said.
2. Starting With an Idea
When it comes to writing a novel, authors find inspiration in different ways.
Ideas can come from the shows you love or mundane places, said Flagg, who’s often inspired by watching crowded spaces or TV. Once it takes shape, he said, it can be developed further by imagining unique situations and building the story around them.
Choosing a topic or theme you care about makes the process more enjoyable and authentic. Beginners should write about something they are passionate about, he said.
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