Writing for Entertainment: When is it funny? by Michelle M. Brown

Authors often struggle with knowing if they have infused their writing with emotion. Nonfiction writers record the facts about life events and, this genre does not allow the writer to create a story for the sake of entertainment. Recently, as I wrote my memoir, there were times when I had to distance myself emotionally to ensure an accurate account and, in that distance, I questioned if I didn’t lose the most critical part -- the emotional impact.

One powerful emotion that would attach value to any piece is humour, yet it can be the most difficult to add and complicated to define. Humour is influenced by experience and shaped by the natural inclinations and personal beliefs that are held by the reader. It is relative to a situation and how the reader relates to it. When we read a story, it is our ability to connect to it and how we view the peculiarities of life that define the emotional impact. Humour, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

In the book of Luke, Zechariah was struck mute by the angel Gabriel, because he did not believe Gabriel’s words.

“And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."” Luke 1:19-20 ESV

The story continues with Elizabeth giving birth to a son as foretold by Gabriel.

“Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.” Luke 1:57-66 ESV

There is humour to be found in this story. Zechariah was mute, not deaf. He may have written the words, “I can hear you, you fools” before he wrote anything else. Humour can be found in the absurdities of the moment, in the details that are not immediately obvious, and in the struggles we all share.

To fully succeed in writing for entertainment, a writer will include humour by telling a story that notes the idiosyncrasy and oddities that come with life. The unexpected in the normal.

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Michelle M. Brown was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada. She has a background in Marketing & Design. An avid hiker and adventure junkie she has embarked on a journey to conquer 50 adventurous activities in her 50th year.

The Good News of Great Joy, the Angel Brought...-Sulo Moorthy

"What...you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet?" my co-worker asked rolling her eyes heavenward. Fearing she might gasp to death, I didn't dare to tell her that I hadn't even put the Christmas tree up or done any kind baking for the season.

Usually by this time, a week before Christmas, a fir tree donned with twinkling lights and dangling ornaments would stand elegantly at the corner of our living room with beautifully wrapped up packages skirting its base. I would have also baked the traditional Sri Lankan Christmas cake-the moist black fruit cake a month ahead, cut into pieces and wrapped them up in silvery paper and stored away somewhere in the cupboard. This time somehow, I had put off all things till the last minute, including the blog I needed to post four days prior to Christmas on Inscribe Writers online.

So, when I went home that day, I hurried to my computer to complete the blog which needed to be posted on the 21st. Since I've already given a title and written half-way through,I thought I could finish it in no time. But to my annoyance, words refused to come down my brain and I was in no mood to sit and glare at the screen. Neither was I in a mind to decorate the tree or bake cookies. So, I did what I always did when I'm upset or bored. I turned on the television and scanned the movies on NetFlix to find something new and interesting to watch.

A documentary titled Mama Heidi soon caught my attention. It's the story of Heidi Baker who went with her husband Rolland to Mozambique in 1995 to take care of a horribly dilapidated orphanage with eighty children,when the country was ravaged by civil war and famine. Heidi,lovingly called Mama by the orphans looked fearless and angelic in her mid forties. She walks down dusty streets to rescue dirt crusted unloved and unloveable children from starvation, prostitution and diseases like cholera, malaria, tuberculosis and scabies. She even takes five to six kids from the orphanage to her house every week to give them shower, food and bed and made them feel at home.

"If God doesn't show up, we are dead." said Heidi in one of her interviews. The government tried to close down their center, refused to give the licence to operate the medical clinic,banned them from singing and praying, God showed up in a big way to provide, protect and lead. Bakers' house was robbed and shot at many times. Heidi says, whenever she felt overwhelmed with what she was doing, she heard God saying to her. "Just love the one in front of you, " and He would do the rest.

So,after soaking in God's presence for long hours, Heidi gets back on her feet to seek and minister to the poor, sick and unloveable. Sometimes, the road leads her to the dumpsites where the children live and work amidst swarming flies, smoldering garbage and indescrbable stench.

In such an area, where no foreigner dare to tread, Mama Heidi stands like one of them, singing, preaching and praying in the children's native language. "God has done wonders at the dump,"she says as she lovingly hugs a young man who had once threatened to kill her. Heidi has become the Good News to those abandoned children and unloveable teenagers in Mozambique. They see, touch and experience Christ through her. This is truly the Good News of great joy the angel declared to the shepherds two thousand years ago.

By 1999,the number of orphanaged children has grown from eighty to thousands and Bakers had built two hundred bush churches and trained local pastors.

Watching Mama Heidi made me not to fret any more about Christmas shopping, baking and wrapping done on time. Instead, it shifted my focus to change the title of my posting for Inscribe Writers online and write something different. After all, Christmas is never about me or mine. It's more about Him and His.