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Do,
you want to write a romantic comedy? The same rules apply to
romantic comedy as with any romance. First and foremost you are
writing a romance. You want your readers to identify with your
heroine and fall in love with your hero. Your hero and heroine
must be drawn irresistibly together by powerful forces of
attraction and kept convincingly apart by some sort of barrier(s),
whether internal, external or both. Your hero and heroine must
be convincingly motivated to do what they do - but it must
also be funny.
What
Makes People Laugh?
Surprise. We often laugh when we expect one thing and get another.
Billy Mernitt in WRITING THE ROMANTIC COMEDY (for screenplays)
refers to the comic reversal of how we expect to see
things e.g. Sophisticated people behaving in silly ways (Cary
Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace). Masculine people behaving in a
feminine way (e.g. Tootsie) or vice versa (Private Benjamin).
Private matters become public (who can forget the faked orgasm
in the deli scene in When Harry Met Sally?)
Displacement
of fear: Humour often plays on
people's fears. The closer to the bone the joke is, the harder
we laugh. Because it's not us -- it's someone else. It makes the
frightening familiar.
Recognition
of the human condition: We
laugh when we recognise something that's true. It's the ‘aha!’
moment. Stand-up comedians make their living pointing out the
foibles of human behaviour. They make it funny by pointing it
out in a way that we haven't noticed before. It's the element of
truth presented in a fresh, surprising way that makes it funny.
Truth
exaggerated: Comedy is like
seeing ourselves or others in one of those fairground distorting
mirrors. The images are recognisably ourselves, but exaggerated
in some way. Comic figures are often over-the-top caricatures of
human beings.
A
Comic World Created
A
comic world must be created, where the usual logic of how we
live may be partially abandoned, but which has its own internal
logic that we can accept e.g. The Road Runner, with the Coyote
who never dies.
Why
Does Comedy Go So Well With Romance?
Comedy
is most effective when common, everyday themes are given an
obscure twist, which helps us to see comedic events in our lives
that we normally would not recognise. Romantic comedy is not
about laughing at other people, it is about laughing at
ourselves.
Falling
in love is a huge challenge, because if it does not go smoothly
(and no romantic comedy will go smoothly) it challenges all we
like to believe about ourselves. And this is a positive mine of
comedy material because we ALL do silly things when we are
falling in love.
We
do ridiculous things to impress (or even attract the attention
of) the object of our desire. Serious, sensible, intelligent
women are appalled to find themselves giggling shrilly at some
completely inane joke uttered by you-know-who. Women who have
memorised every diet known to womankind suddenly toss logic out
the window and try -- SERIOUSLY -- to lose 20 pounds overnight!
Strong,
in-control, masterful men become dithery heaps of indecision
when love slams into them -- and don't we LOVE to watch them
floundering as they try to cope with the complete upset of their
previously neat, well controlled little world!
Situation
Comedy
We
all know the situation comedy from the TV guides, a comedy where
much of the humour arises from the ridiculous, embarrassing or
plain silly situation people are stuck in Typical sit-com
sources are:
-
the
fish out of water -- e.g. the city girl in the country,
the cowboy in the city, the technophobe inherits a computer
company
-
the
odd couple -- the millionaire and Cinderalla, the
computer whizz and cowboy, the peace activist and the
soldier, the criminal and the cop
-
the
"impossible ask" situations -- the lingerie
buyer who has to bring in a bail jumper (Stephanie Plum),
the chorus girl who has to coach a football team, the
pampered socialite who must joins the army: these are all
modern day version of "slaying the dragon"
In
my opinion, a funny situation is not enough. The
best comedy comes out of the interplay between characters and
situation.
Characters
in Romantic Comedy
Character
is the key to any story, whether a psychological suspense, a
dramatic romance or a romantic comedy. In romantic comedy, the
characters must be just as convincing, just as real, even if
they are comic creations and a little bit over the top. Your
readers must care about your characters.
Motivation
is the key to good characterisation. The other thing to remember
is that quite often comedy does not come from characters
"being comical". The characters are not always in on
the joke.
Your
heroine needs to have a goal we can
sympathise with or understand. She needs to be likable -- your
readers should be able to empathise with her. She needs to be
credible and believable. She needs to be complex. Typically a
romantic comedy heroine is independent, perhaps a little
unconventional, can be quite decided in manner, often fairly
sure of herself. She can't be too vulnerable and helpless, or
the comedy might become uncomfortable. Remember, your characters
will probably go through quite a bit of "torture by
love", so they need to be able to take it.
Your
hero: The most important thing is that
he must be the sort of man your readers can really fall for,
though he need not start out being instantly appealing to the
heroine. He also needs to be credible, believable and complex.
He should have a goal we can sympathise with. Never forget that
you want your heroine and your readers to fall in love with this
man -- so if you make him look ridiculous or stupid, readers
will either be made uncomfortable or be turned off.
Romantic
humour can be smart, funny, sassy and over the top -- but never
cruel.
Both
hero and heroine should have a sense of humour, though they may
not see their own actions in as humorous a light as your readers
will. Both hero and heroine should be flawed. Flaws make a hero
or heroine more realistic and also appealing to readers. Flaws
can also a good source of both conflict and comedy. Even if they
are opposites your hero and heroine will have interlocking needs
which will become increasingly apparent to the readers. You need
to convince your readers that these two people are the only
possible romantic choice for each other, no matter how different
they appear to be. Each completes the other.
The
Comic Voice
Your
unique voice is the key to selling your writing, and a unique
comedy voice is crucial to success in writing romantic comedy.
How do you know if you have a comic voice? You probably have a
good comic voice if you:
-
write
letters, postcards or emails which other people (but
not your mother) tell you are entertaining and funny;
-
can
successfully entertain friends with funny stories about what
happened at the office, for example. We can all tell jokes,
but not necessarily well. (On the other hand, the ability to
tell jokes aloud is not a sure guide to a successful writing
voice)
Comic
Devices
You
can use a variety of these devices in your ms, depending on the
style of comedy you adopt. I find this list useful for
brainstorming sometimes, but it is in no particular order. And
many of them will overlap -- e.g. you might have a running gag,
which is part of a character's internal monologue and which uses
absurdity and exaggeration. The best comedy fuses all sorts of
devices seamlessly.
a)
the element of surprise.
Surprise is the key to good comedy writing. Surprises which
really amaze the readers but which make sense in retrospect
(i.e. are still believable) will add zing to your writing. At
any particular point, try to anticipate what your readers
want or expect, and then try to subvert it. However avoid
the use of cheap tricks (like extreme coincidences) or your
readers will feel manipulated instead of delighted.
b)
The running gag. This is a recurring
theme or motif, which gains significance and/or humour as the
novel progresses. It may become a shorthand symbolic reference,
which speaks to the readers. For instance in my book HOW THE
SHERIFF WAS WON I use doughnuts as a running gag.
c)
Puns, plays on words, repetitions. Part
of creating your particular world of romantic comedy can come
from the repeated use of particular words or phrases . However,
repetition should also be considered carefully. It's a fine line
between amusing repetition and repetitive dreariness. Puns and
plays on words should also be used sparingly.
d)
slapstick antics. Again, these
should be used sparingly, as most slapstick is visual and this
is harder to create on paper. However the judicious use of some
elements of slapstick can be quite effective, particularly if
they come as a surprise to the reader. Slapstick can also be
effectively combined and sometimes heightened by combining it
with internal monologue, using point of view to give it a
particular slant. For instance, the dinner party scene in
Jennifer Crusie's STRANGE BEDPERSONS degenerates
completely into farce and ends with a slapstick moment involving
the mother-in-law's shoes. The action came as a complete
surprise, yet in retrospect, all the signs were there, so it
didn't come as a cheap trick, but a splendidly hilarious moment
(if you haven't read Jennifer Crusie's early romantic comedies,
then do so -- they're wonderful).
d)
misunderstandings of all sorts, including eavesdropping - These
are very useful devices and have been used for centuries. Men
and women often interpret the same things in quite different
ways, and so the field of misunderstandings is very fertile for
romantic comedy. However in my opinion, it's better to
concentrate on small misunderstandings and differences of
interpretation than use a basic misunderstanding as the main
source of conflict for your plot. It's very irritating to have a
hero and heroine floundering and flouncing around for 150 pages
when a simple question back in chapter 1 would have put the
situation right.
e)
absurdity and exaggeration - Most life
situations are absurd when looked at in the right way. And
exaggeration is the tried and true method for heightening the
absurd effect. Again, the trick lies in pushing the exaggeration
to an extreme which is funny and yet still recognisably
"true". Fawlty Towers does this. We don't actually
know anyone exactly like Basil Fawlty, but he's enough like bits
of people we know for us to find him believable and hilarious.
But if he was much more over-the-top, we could easily be turned
off and find him boring. It's a matter of taste, but I never
bought the way that some gorgeous woman always fell for a Jerry
Lewis character -- he was just too over the top to believe in.
He was too busy "being funny" to be real enough for
me.
f)
witty repartee and snappy dialogue - is
a joy to read and listen to and extremely difficult to write.
The best thing to do is to read it aloud. Workshop it, if you
have a good person to bounce ideas off. But unless you really
have a gift for witty repartee, use it sparingly. It's better to
have a few really witty lines than a lot of attempts to be
clever which don't quite make it. Don't forget, your characters
don't have to be funny by spouting clever one-liners all the
time. Often characters who are deadly earnest and who take
themselves seriously are the funniest.
g)
black comedy - i.e. comedy based on
really dark subjects, like death, or tragic situations - can be
used in romantic comedy, but it's risky. Black comedy generally
makes us laugh because it cuts so close to the bone -- it's a
whisper away from tragedy and we laugh to dispel anxiety or in
relief. Romantic comedy is feel-good fantasy. For instance, in
HOW THE SHERIFF WAS WON there is a bus crash. It was originally
a little dramatic because I like the contrast of drama and
comedy, light and shade -- I like to pull the rug out from
under, so to speak. But my editor wanted me to cut the scene
because she thought a dark scene was out of place in a Duets
comedy. I wanted to keep the scene, because it was leading up
to... (I'm not gonna say what!) so I lightened it, so I was able
to keep some of the drama but not the darkness.
h)
internal dialogue/ monologue - This is
an excellent source of comedy for a romance novel. It's the
perfect way to highlight the inconsistencies and contradictions
of human beings. We say one thing, we mean another. We do one
thing, we think another. We often having a running commentary
going in our heads that is utterly opposite to the impression we
are giving -- or trying to give.
I)
the comic twist - A fairly ordinary
scene can be given a comic twist by something quite small, for
example something which might make a character self-conscious,
which will move the emphasis away from the main action onto
something funny. Mernitt relates an instance where a scene in
Murphy Brown was livened up by having her sidekick Miles have a
goofy new hairstyle. His self-consciousness of it as he waits
for her to comment on it lifted a fairly ordinary scene into a
funny one.
j)
using a character's frame of reference - All
characters bring with them a set of experiences, expectations,
assumptions about the world. You can often exploit these to
bring out humour e.g. a chef, who will see most things,
including romance, in terms of food. And often, the gap between
different characters' expectations will add to the comedy
potential of your story.
k)
minor characters - Your cast of minor
characters is incredibly useful for a romantic comedy. While you
should remember that you are writing a romance, and therefore
the main focus should be on your hero and heroine, minor
characters can be wonderful to add atmosphere, to provide a foil
for the hero or heroine, to provide commentary outside the hero
or heroine's point of view and as very useful plot devices. Not
to mention a splendid source of comedy. The minor characters
also help to create the special world of your romantic comedy.
What would Seachange (a very funny Australian TV show).
be without Bob Jelly, or some of the other minor characters? A
good comparison is the wheeling-dealing Brian Quigley from
Ballykissangel.
The
Market for Romantic Comedy
This
is a growing market, whether it's in category romance or single
title. There is also mainstream semi-romantic comedy, like
BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY and others. The main category
market is, of course, Harlequin Duets, and because it's a fairly
new line, there are still real opportunities for new writers.
Birgit
Davis-Todd, Senior Editor of Harlequin Duets, says the way to
catch an editor's eye is through Comic Premise and
Comic Voice. I've already talked about comic voice - show it
in the way you do your synopsis. Or maybe with the headline -
Holly Jacob's I WAXED MY LEGS FOR THIS? or Jackie
D'Allesandro's NAKED IN NEW ENGLAND. A catchy title has
"pick-upability" and shows you have a way with words.
Comic
Premise
Is
about presenting the high concept -- the story in a few
sentences -- which give your audience your novel in a nutshell.
It must appeal to an editor's funny bone if she is to want to
know more. Encapsulate the conflict in the novel -- but show its
comic potential e.g. for HOW THE SHERIFF WAS WON.
"Big
city journalist comes to small town to run the local paper. She
decides to while away her year in the sticks by having a fling
with the local sheriff. But he doesn't want to play. So how does
she get his attention? By publishing provocative personal
headlines about him."
An
editor can immediately see the comic potential -- the fish out
of water (e.g. big city journalist comes to small town), the
conflict -- she wants a fling, he doesn't; the madcap element
(publishing provocative personal headlines about
him) and even a little alliteration to show a touch of comic
voice (all the p's).
If
you can make the editor smile or even chuckle with your query
letter or synopsis, then you're half way there. You will
certainly get your partial requested.
As
well as the comedy elements, don't forget all the usual
best-selling romance concepts -- the convenient marriage, the
cowboy, sheriff, or mountie, the secret baby -- they are all
there in the romantic comedies, but with a comic twist.
The
best advice I can give is read widely in the genre until you
find publishers who are publishing books along the lines of what
you want to write and submit there. But whatever you do, you
must ENJOY writing your story, because if you have fun writing
it, then chances are your reader will also have fun reading it.
Good luck!
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