Every time I begin a new batch of my writing programme, it feels like the weeks fly by! This edition is nearly at an end, marked by our third and last guest session of the season.
This session was conducted by Arundhati Venkatesh, author of a number of humorous books. My book clubbers have read several – Bookasura (which we’re reading again in December 2024), Koobandhee, Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter, Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief and Petu Pumpkin: Cheater Peter.
Step by step, Arundhati led us through the writing of a humorous story. To begin with, if you want to write humour, you must enjoy reading funny stuff. This is something I say often—if you don’t read, you cannot write. I don’t restrict my definition of reading to fiction, though. We consume content in all kinds of ways, including memes and blog posts!
Secondly, the core of humour is truth, something that I completely agree with. An important idea that I’m glad Arundhati stressed is that the target of a humorous story should always be the person in power rather than someone who has no power or is helpless. The joke must be on the people who have authority. To paraphrase Terry Pratchett, when you make fun of people in power, that is satire. When you make fun of people without power, that’s bullying!
Having said that, Arundhati also came back to the idea that you can write about anything at all through the lens of humour. Her books are a great example – she has written humorous books about science, mathematics and the constitution!
Arundhati shared a handy list of ideas to get going with our own humorous stories. I hope at least some of the participants put her ideas into practice and write a story!
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