Best Tips for Using Humor when Writing Your Articles

Sheri Fresonke Harper

People love to read a good article that makes them smile or laugh. If they have a choice of reading something deader than wood or extravagant and full of giggles, guess which one most people will choose. Writing a humor article involves a number of skills and a variety of styles. Here are some humor writing skills and examples that work well:

Best Tip for Using Humor #1: Make Fun of Yourself Rather than Others in Humor Articles

Although stereotypical jokes run the gamut of the humor sources on the internet, if you describe humorous incidents when life went badly for yourself, chance are, you will at least get a smile from your audience. Playing the fool is an age old occupation and many people love to hear how someone else had a worst time than they did. Here's an example about cooking gone wrong.

Best Tip for Using Humor #2: Use a Proper Tone to Exaggerate Silliness in Humor Articles

When you use a tone that is in strong contrast to the topic being discussed, chances are people will realize that you are making fun of the subject. Contrast also increases the humorous aspect of an article because it will look like exaggeration and it makes little things seem much worse or much funnier than not. Here's an example about manners related to toe sucking.

Best Tip for Using Humor #3: Three Times is the Charm in Humor Articles

If something seems silly once, an exaggeration on the same silliness again a little later and then again will help reinforce the humor. Use the same idea in three different ways to catch someone's funny bone such as this instruction on how to plant grass.

Best Tip for Using Humor #4: Imagine Awkwardness in the Use of Items in Your Humor Articles

Slap stick humor always occurs when the common everyday work and life events cause trouble to someone. In "Singing in the Rain" a slapstick team knocks people flat with board carried by a builder. If writing about some use or how can include odd effects, this will encourage people to laugh. An example is this article about new technology.

Best Tip for Using Humor #5 Use Fun or Silly Words and Silly Titles in Your Humor Articles

Awkward words such as flippant or eye-nock-us instead of innocuous will lend a sense of play to an article and bring the level of interest up for a reader. Any word play is often appreciated. Make sure that such word play doesn't insult any group or person.

Best Tip for Using Humor #6 Tweet Your Article Using #Humor

Let others know that this is a humorous article by using humor as a keyword, subject, or in the title as well as when you promote your article on the web. Most of all have fun writing humorous articles but always be sure to get the facts and maybe choose a trending topic.

Published by Sheri Fresonke Harper

Sheri works as a freelance writer, novelist and poet. She worked in the aviation industry at the Port of Seattle and Boeing Company for 20 years as a systems analyst/architect where she edited and wrote over...  View profile

4 Comments

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  • Barbara Lee Norris9/28/2011

    Great tips.

  • Sherri Granato9/20/2011

    I love these tips! I have attempted humor in the past and I seem to pull it off somewhat well. : )

  • Abby Greenhill9/20/2011

    HA HA HA HA!!!! Good tips.

  • Mandy Robinson9/19/2011

    Great advice!

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