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Writing the Romance with Cynthia Joy Is There Humor in Your Jeans, er, Genes? April 29, 1999 Guest speaker is Gail Martin speaking on humor Cynth Joy: ***Welcome to... Cynth Joy: ***Writing the Romance... Cynth Joy: ***I am your hostess and... Cynth Joy: ***Tonight's special guest is... Cynth Joy: Gail Martin!!!! Cynth Joy: Welcome Gail!!! Cynth Joy: <><><><><><clapping wildly><><><>< MartinGA: Hi all Cynth Joy: ***Gail has graciously agreed to address "humor"... Cynth Joy: ***But first...protocol... Cynth Joy: ***If you have a comment type ? Cynth Joy: ***REDO... Cynth Joy: ***If you have a question type ? Cynth Joy: ***If you have a comment type ! Cynth Joy: ***I will call each in turn by typing ga screen name. Cynth Joy: ***Gail, please answer the questions directly and type ga when you have completed your Cynth Joy: answers. Okay? MartinGA: Okay! Cynth Joy: ***And we will hold our questions until you indicate you are ready for them. MartinGA: Fine Cynth Joy: ***Gail, would you like to begin by sharing about yourself? ga MartinGA: Sure - I began writing as a child - poems, stories and my own Nancy Drew series MartinGA: But I became serious much later. I began in the published market by writing MartinGA: church materials - children's programs, skits, adult services, etc. and then MartinGA: moved to short stories, etc. but my dream was novels. MartinGA: And I was thrilled last year to have my first romance published in November MartinGA: SEASONS - next month DREAMING OF CASTLES will be released MartinGA: a romance comedy set in Heidelberg, Germany. ga Cynth Joy: Thanks, Gail. MartinGA: Would you like me to discuss humor a little? Cynth Joy: Would you like to share a short synopsis?ga MartinGA: Sure Cynth Joy: Or the topic.... MartinGA: My heroine is a bit over weight - in a rut and dreaming of finding a knight - her MartinGA: prince charming - and on a train to Heidelberg - a gentleman literally falls in her lap - MartinGA: and that's the beginning of a rollicking - and confusing relationship. MartinGA: ga Cynth Joy: Sounds ... humorous... MartinGA: I hope so --- <<GG>> Cynth Joy: Shall we begin the topic? ga MartinGA: Fine. MartinGA: I'd like to share a few thoughts and then I'll open it to questions. MartinGA: Malle Vallik of Harlequin says, If you can't tell a joke or a story and get a laugh you MartinGA: shouldn't try to write comedy. And I suppose that's true. We all know that humor is very MartinGA: subjective. And different types appeal to different people - so first you must write from MartinGA: your heart - what makes you laugh or smile. I still laugh at a few of my scenes and how many MartinGA: times have I read them??!!!! MartinGA: But humor must flow naturally -- it is really a twist of reality - the unexpected, the MartinGA: exaggerated, the outrageous. But it must also serve a real purpose in the novel. MartinGA: For example a romance is a romance -- so comedy should not take away from the romance. It MartinGA: must serve a purpose like any part of fiction - show characterization, move the plot, MartinGA: dramatize a conflict, and occasionally a bit of comic relief -- Shakespeare MartinGA: was a master of that! MartinGA: But the romance must stay focused at all times. MartinGA: Comedy is a unique perspective - a crazy way at looking at things and saying MartinGA: things. Sometimes its based on comic characters - quirky people who look MartinGA: at the world in a strange way. Think of Jerry Seinfeld for example. MartinGA: Sometimes its based on a comic premise - like Fish out of water - think of Sister Act and MartinGA: Whoppi Goldberg as a nun. Or a regular guy surrounded by a crazy bunch - think of MartinGA: Arsenic and Old Lace for example. MartinGA: But language is vital - it must be a unique and strange way of describing MartinGA: what is seen and what is happening - a twist that's unexpected. MartinGA: One method is called a rule of three - two validations and a violation - for example MartinGA: My familly loves me, my mother loves me, even my parole officer loves me. MartinGA: A twist - unexpected MartinGA: Let's talk about word choices - another example MartinGA: If he'd open his eyes, he would have seen it. Now, that's not funny MartinGA: But if you say, He couldn't swing a dirty sock and miss it. - That has a unique flair. MartinGA: Dirty sock - comes from no where and is unexpected MartinGA: Another MartinGA: The building was silent as a tomb - MartinGA: How about - The building was as silent as a dead canary. <<Sorry canary fans>> MartinGA: In my novel DREAMING OF CASTLES - the first kiss takes place in a MartinGA: janitors closet. Why you ask? Because the hero is a teacher and MartinGA: he's surrounded by students. He and the heroine finally admit their feelings - at a most MartinGA: inopprotune moment. So he guides her into the closet, shuts the door, and MartinGA: he can't find a light switch. MartinGA: In the process he kicks over a broom that hits some tin cans, dust pans fall, MartinGA: reminding him of a steel drum band. His comment is, "Welcomed to the Islands." MartinGA: This is the beginning of Don Ho comments, I thought I'd hear bells - not a whole band, etc. MartinGA: After their laughter subsides - they sneak out of the closet to find an array of giggling MartinGA: students who want to go in the closet and see what's so funny. MartinGA: Though it's difficult to describe this scene here, the situation is ridiculous and unexpected for a MartinGA: first kiss scene. Sandie129: ! MartinGA: I've said a lot - let's have some questions. ga Cynth Joy: ga, Sandie Sandie129: Gail, I review the HP new releases for Lynn Coleman's web page and I had Sandie129: the opportunity to read "Dreaming of Castles." I was so touched by the Sandie129: way you drew the main characters. Your humor was first-rate. My favorite being Sandie129: when he dropped Spring off and then left with her luggage! MartinGA: Thank you, Sandie. I'm really flattered. Yes, I love that scene too. SALLYLAITY: ? MartinGA: That scene happened unexpectedly. Cynth Joy: ga, Sally Sandie129: Folks, this is the right person to speak to us about HUMOR! GA SALLYLAITY: Ever have a character who simply refused to be funny? ga MartinGA: Yes, I think sometimes I've tried too hard to make a person funny - then they're not. MartinGA: Humor must be natural - and if you push it, it isn't. MartinGA: I think you as the writer must see the humor yourself. You must hear and visual it. MartinGA: I see my novels as movies -- do any of you? MartinGA: ga MOgal435: ? Cynth Joy: ga, MO MOgal435: Do you plan ahead to make a scene humorous, or does it just happen spontaneously? ga MartinGA: I usually begin with a bit of humor in mind -- but it grows as I live it in my head. MartinGA: Then on occasion it dies -- much different than I planned and I begin again. MartinGA: ga SALLYLAITY: ? Cynth Joy: ga, Sally SALLYLAITY: Did you travel to Germany to research the story? ga MartinGA: Yes, but I'd been their 3 times and loved it. But I began the 2nd trip to gather info MartinGA: when I realized I'd like to set a story there. My husband lived in Heidelberg while in the MartinGA: military - and he knew a lot of the wonderful ins and outs of the city - MartinGA: To be honest, many of the silly things that happened in that story MartinGA: are true - but I dont' want to give it all away. I'd love you all to read it. MartinGA: In fact much of my humor is based on things that have happened in my MartinGA: life or to someone I know and I've distorted them so that they are part of my story. Maybe MartinGA: its only a kernel of an idea. Let me give you an example MartinGA: When I was a kid a bat got into our house and I woke up in the middle of the night MartinGA: with my father running around the house dressed in PJ bottoms, a baseball cap, weilding a MartinGA: badminton racket! MartinGA: That scene appears in my novel Kisses - a novella I hope Tyndale House will buy. SALLYLAITY: ! MartinGA: It's not my father in the novel, naturally - but the hero who's wearing a large cooking pot and sashying MartinGA: around the kitchen with a wooden spoon. Cynth Joy: ga, Sally SALLYLAITY: You definitely seem to look for the humorous side of things, then, huh? ga MartinGA: Without humor, I think many of us would go loony! Don't you agree. MartinGA: Comedy and tragedy go hand in hand - they are so similiar MartinGA: in a way - comedy makes tragedy funny. MartinGA: And that's good humor. We are all afraid and fear so many things and when MartinGA: they happen or we see them happening to others in an embarrassment we laugh. ga Cynth Joy: ga, Sandie Sandie129: In regard to the comedy/tragedy comment, I think you are great at using that advice. I Sandie129: was thinking of when your heroine gets lost on the mountain trail. Sandie129: GA MartinGA: That's a true experience. Sandie129: OH MY. MartinGA: But my husband and I were there! MartinGA: How stupid, huh? Sandie129: AND funny. MartinGA: But I made it a great scene to bring the H & H together unexpectedly. MartinGA: Thanks. Cynth Joy: Okay Gail. You've got to share it now. Cynth Joy: ga MartinGA: The heroine decides to go up this mountain trail to watch the sunset over the city. MartinGA: The trail is narrow and deep in trees and high rock embankments and she's not MartinGA: thinking. She goes up in the late afternoon - she's an artist - watches the sun set and MartinGA: then decides to come down again. But guess what, it's getting dark and deep within the tree MartinGA: and mountain sides (or hillsides really) She can't see a thing - part of the walk is stairs MartinGA: and part is path - naturally the wonderful hero remembers during the day MartinGA: hearing her say she's going to watch the sun set. MartinGA: He knows the area - are realizes unless she has a flashlight -she'll never get down -- so hero to the rescue. MartinGA: BTW - let me call your attention to something I did earlier MartinGA: Did you notice the word sashay - flail, weilding a badminton racket,etc. Cynth Joy: Yes. MartinGA: when you describe a situaiton in comedy - you can't say he put a pan on his head and MartinGA: ran around the room swinging a wooden spoon. No MartinGA: He plops a pot on his head like a helmet, weilds the wooden spoon while sashaying, or twirling or whatever - words like pirouette, sashay, flail, brandish, flush out, flourish - those MartinGA: are words that give a vivid picture of a very ridiculous scene. ga Cynth Joy: ***Oh my!!! Look at the time. Where has the hour gone? MartinGA: May I plug my novel? Cynth Joy: Of course. LynColeman: <plug away> MartinGA: If anyone is interested, email me at martinga or go to my website at MartinGA: http://members.aol.com/martinga/romance/index.htm My novel is MartinGA: there with the cover and an order form. If MartinGA: you email I send you the hyperlink. Thanks. PJHnovel: ? Cynth Joy: Well it's time to close down the workshop.... Cynth Joy: Okay PJ, quick question? Cynth Joy: ga PJHnovel: I entered late. Who is your publisher, Gail? MartinGA: Thanks for asking - Heartsong Presents - which is an inspirational publisher - Barbour MartinGA: Clean and funny. PJHnovel: Oh, I know Tracie P. Friend. MartinGA: Great Cynth Joy: ***Thanks so much for coming Gail Martin!!!!! MartinGA: Your welcome> It was great fun. Maybe I have another novel beginning Sandie129: Outstanding, Gail. Cynth Joy: ***Excellent and fun!!! MartinGA: Thanks to you all. SALLYLAITY: Thanks for the chuckles...! Cynth Joy: ***If you would like to be added to the workshop announcement list type LIST now. Cynth Joy: ***Well, thanks for coming Gail! Cynth Joy: <><><><><><>clapping wildly><><><><>< TFowler277: Great workshop Gail. Aelis10: <><><><>laughing hysterically<><><><> Aelis10: =0) Cynth Joy: ***Thanks also to Alice, Kim, Carrie, Lynn and EVERYONE for coming!!! Cynth Joy: ***This has been... Cynth Joy: ***Writing the Romance... Cynth Joy: ***Have a wonderful evening... Cynth Joy: ***Stick around for the next workshop... Cynth Joy: ***Protocol has ended.
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