If you can tell a joke you can write a novel.
what do they both have in common? how does timing play a role in the two.
They both have the same characteristics. The only difference is a novel is longer with more details added. But in the end, the basic elements found in a joke are the same ones found in a novel.
In this blog, we look into why If you can tell a joke you can write a novel.
IF YOU CAN TELL A JOKE YOU CAN WRITE A NOVEL
Table of Contents
In order for that last statement to make sense here is a joke followed by the breakdown.
A man is in a bar sitting next to the window watching the rainfall. It’s closing time and he has to head home, however, he does not want to take the long way because of the pouring rain. He decides he’ll take a shortcut through the cemetery.
He leaves the bar and quickly makes his way down an alley towards the gates of the cemetery and inside. Runs past the headstones and around the trees. It’s dark, hard to see where to go, but he continues to run anyway. He’s halfway through when all of a sudden he falls into a freshly dug grave.
He stands up thinking, “great how wonder, stuck inside a muddy grave.” He tries to climb up the side up slides back down because of the rain turning the dirt into mud. He tries again and slides back down. After a few attempts, he realizes he’s not getting out. So he decides to spend the night waiting for the rain to stop.
An hour later another man exists a bar and decides he to does not want to take the long way home and wants to cut through the cemetery to save time. So he makes his way through the streets towards the cemetery front gates. Inside he quickly makes his way past the tombstones and trees. He can’t see very well because of the darkness and rain.
When suddenly he falls into a freshly dug grave. He tries and tries to climb out but slides back down because of the rain turning the dirt into mud. When suddenly theirs a tap on his shoulder and a voice behind him in the darkness saying, “you’re not getting out.” …. He got out.
HOW DOES A JOKE RELATE TO NOVEL WRITING
So let’s look at this joke and see how it relates to novel writing. First off we notice that a novel doesn’t have a punch line like a joke would, but that’s not the important thing. But it does have all the other elements.
First off like any story you have three things being introduced, main characters, location, and atmosphere. In this joke, we’re told of a man sitting next to a window at a bar. What’s the bar name? It’s not told because it’s not needed for the joke.
HOW MUCH INFORMATION DO YOU GIVE?
This leads to the most important part of novel writing, how much information to give. You don’t want to give too little nor too much.
Some amateur novel writers will go into great length telling the reader too much information that’s not needed. Too much will slow down your novel, as it would a joke. Or you could go in the other direction and give way too little, leaving someone reading a novel not knowing who, where, what…..
BUT IS IT NECESSARY?
The joke could’ve had massive detailed information about the bar, what it looked like, who the owner his, his backstory. But is it necessary? It would’ve slowed everything down. Leaving the person listening to the joke asking, “Why I’m I standing here listening to this?”
When putting information into your novel ask yourself can the story be told without this information being in it? If the answer is yes then you can afford to take the information out. If however, taking the information out hurts the story then it should be left in. In this joke, we are told it’s a bar, night, and raining. Can any of that be taken out? Not really, if you do the joke doesn’t work. So it has to stay in. The only information in a joke is what’s needed. Anything more and it slows everything down.
THE READER HAS TO SEE IT IN THEIR MIND
You always want the reader of your novel to be able to picture in their mind what’s happening. They cannot be confused, same thing as a joke. The person listening has to picture what’s happening. See it in their mind like a movie. If they cannot, the joke will lose all power. The humour will be gone.
Don’t stress about painting the perfect picture in someone’s mind. No matter how much detail you put in to describing the bar or cemetery the person listening will always picture something different in their mind. No two people will picture the same thing. The big problem with new writers is they want everyone reading their novel seeing the same thing. If a new writer writes about a castle they will spend pages in intense detail describing the castle wanting everyone reading seeing the same castle in their mind. But it never happens. The only thing you end up doing is slowing down the pace of your novel.
DON’T LET THE READER GET BORED
The goal at first is to create atmosphere. As you can see in the beginning of the joke atmosphere is created. The reader gets an idea of the location. But when writing your first novel you can put way too much detail in trying to create atmosphere. As a writer, you want to choose the least amount of words that perfectly describes what you want the reader to know.
Setting the scene can be risky, if you spend too much time setting the scene the reader might get bored and close the book. It’s character that sells a book, but atmosphere has to be established as well. It a balancing act all writers deal with.
ESTABLISH THE WANT AND NEED
The goal of all jokes is to establish the wants and obstacles of the main character. Once the reader of the novel knows what the lead actor wants they can follow the story. Nothing is worse than reading a novel where the goal is not established at any point. The story seems to wander and die. In this joke, we know what the lead character wants, “to get home quickly.” But the rain is an obstacle. He tries to overcome the obstacle by running through the cemetery. The stakes are raised by the darkness within the cemetery. Then the stakes are raised even more with him falling into a grave.
The stakes are raised more by him not being able to get out of the hole because of the mud. The halfway point of the joke is the new character being introduced. He to has a goal, get home out of the rain. He decides to run through the cemetery in the dark, falling into the hole. Now has an obstacle, wanting out, leading to the punch line. Pretty much all jokes follow the format of goals and obstacles as a novel would.
THE THREE-ACT STRUCTURE STILL APPLIES
Stories and jokes have a three-act structure. In the first act we introduce the main characters and problem. The second act has rising tension. Then in the third act we have the conclusion. In a joke the listener would laugh as the punch line is told at the end. But even if your novel is a thousand pages the three-act structure still applies.
You will notice within the joke a new character is brought in halfway through. Some might ask why is the second character not mentioned at the beginning. Because sometimes you can have a second character be brought in later in the story. Not all main characters have to be introduced in the first few seconds.
MAJOR CHARACTER IN THE FIRST ACT
In the movie Jaws “Matt Hopper” and “Quint” are not introduced right away. They are brought in later. But they are still two of the three major characters in the novel. The goal is to introduce major characters when needed; however, waiting until the last of the third act may not be wise. But you can introduce major characters at different stages of act one. You can even have major characters mentioned in act one only to bring them in during at two.
Once you start telling the joke you first need to introduce the main character within the setting. Leading to most jokes starting off with “a man walks in a bar.” This sets up who and where. The next thing is setting up the goal. Someone listening to a joke has to know the goal, without a goal the joke doesn’t work. But all jokes need some kind of obstacle. This makes the punch line work.
IT NEEDS TO RESOLVE AT THE END
Your novel doesn’t have to have a punch line but it needs to be resolved at the end. A story cannot just stop. There has to be some type of ending that leads the reader feeling satisfied. A joke works when someone laughs. But a novel works when someone is moved. Leaves the reader thinking. Granted a joke may not move the listener but that’s not a goal of a joke.
A joke needs to be a “straight line” like an arrow. As the teller of the joke, you need to get in and get out right away. Like they say in scriptwriting “get in late, get out early.” Tell the joke while you have their attention. The joke cannot wander, you need to stay on topic. Take only the time needed to tell it. It’s really easy to wander when telling a joke by giving information not needed. But you need to stay on course. You can’t start telling someone else’s story, or be telling two or three jokes at the same time. Same rule with your novel, you need to tell one story, one main character, one theme. Not two or three people all mixed into one, the reader will be confused. All stories short or long have to be one straight line. The reader has to sense the story is always moving forward, not slowing down, not getting confused.
DON’T LOSE THE FOCUS OF THE BOOK
Have you ever known someone to tell a joke and halfway through they stop because they’ve forgotten the punch line? It kills the joke. Same thing applies to a story. Don’t lose focus on your novel. Know the story. Know how it ends. Understand your theme and move towards it. Like walking a straight line no matter how many pages. Don’t let the ending get away from you. The ending has to connect with the beginning. Have a message.
Imagine a joke where the punch line has nothing to do with the joke itself. That would be odd. The novel’s ending has to be linked to the message of the story.
you might be interested in these blogs …
HOW TO HAVE THE PERFECT ENDING TO YOUR NOVEL
IS STEPHEN KING A PLANNER OR PANSTER?
WHY THE MIDDLE OF YOUR STORY IS THE WEAKEST
