The Renegade Writer Blog

Often you’ll find yourself working on an assignment topic that’s intrinsically dull, like a report on the fourth-quarter profits at the cracker factory. Other times, you’ll be creating a query for a dream market and be so concerned with making a good impression that your writing becomes stiff and formal.

In these cases, I like to go for the laughs. For example, I once inserted a quip into what could have been a dry diet article for Family Circle: “If the fat hits your thighs from a big pizza pie, that’s not amore.” My editor called me in the middle of editing the piece to let me know she was dying with laughter. The article ran complete with quip, and I ended up writing many more pieces for that editor.

Just today, I was working on an article on a customer service topic. To make it a more joyful experience for myself, my editor, and my readers, I began with this lede:

Let’s take two scenarios: In the first one, which takes place in the Stone Age, a customer has a problem with your widget. She dials your 800-number on her stone phone, and one of your paid employees or the call center worker (both of whom are wearing loincloths because it’s Casual Friday) spends lots of valuable time walking the customer through the process of hooking up the widget.

A few minutes after I turned this piece in, my editor e-mailed to let me know she loved the lede.

For The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, I interviewed a successful writer who occasionally includes actual jokes in his query, writing, “Even if you’re not interested in this idea, here’s a joke to entertain you.”

You’ve read all the articles in women’s and health mags that say that laughter boosts endorphins, helps you relax, yada yada yada. Don’t you want that for your editors and your readers (and yourself)? Before you put pen to paper, get into a funny frame of mind by browsing through your favorite jokes site (mine’s the risqué jokes page on the Maxim site).

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