Unintentional Humor

     I love to read funny stuff, whether it is in the humor genre or just funny stuff added to work of another genre. I think most people feel this way. Everyone enjoys -or should enjoy- being entertained and amused. One of the things mentioned in the Storyteller's Creed that I posted about recently is  "laughter is the only cure for grief". I believe that and it is generally accepted that laughter is healthy. It makes people feel good.
     I read somewhere that the number one thing both genders find attractive in a person of the opposite sex is the ability to make them laugh. I find this easy to believe. My friend and fellow writer, Ramon Presson, once wrote that adding humor to any writing makes the serious/unfunny parts more poignant. (I am impressed that I was able to spell that correctly on the first try, although I did look it up to make sure it was correct.) I also find Ramon's statement to be true.
     It follows that I wish that my writing were funny, but that is one of those things that seems less successful the harder you try. Being funny has to be natural to a person or at least happen naturally in writing or speaking. Yet another thing that I envy in other writers.
     It has occurred to me that people are often funny without meaning to be.  I make my husband laugh frequently and he makes me laugh just as often, but I would not describe either of us as funny. And humor is a very subjective thing. What some of us find funny, others do not.
     People often laugh at my writing and I always wonder what they find amusing, because I almost never feel my stories or books include anything particularly funny even though I would like them to. It is possible that I don't see my work as funny because I'm used to the weirdness in my head; others are not, and so it makes them laugh.
     Or maybe I am more able than I think to write humorously and I should just be happy about it.
 
Note: This post was inspired by a book I am reading by Bill Bryson. He is a travel writer who is also (in my opinion anyway) a humor writer. This is the first book I've read of his and while my reading interests have always been varied and eclectic, I've rarely been drawn to travel writing. However, he's probably going to be another addition to my stable of favorite writers and I will want to read all his books.

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