The Formula and the Art of Writing Comedy

I don’t know if there is one really. I just thought that would be a cool title and fit in with the others I’ve recently written. :O)

The Formula

So if there is one what could it be? I did have my sister generously offer me her formula about how to write a compelling romance. Furious, fast action, get the hero and heroine together in the first few pages, and make it HOT. This advice, forged over a brilliant career of many bestselling novels, was apparently too hot for me to handle. This explosive piece of advice blew up in my face . . . several times. I needed something less volatile to work with—I needed my own formula and I needed it quick!  

I did devise a formula of sorts. It may not be brilliant, but it is more pliable for this girl to work with. Like Play Dough vs. plastic explosives. I love placing a character in an awkward situation and letting them react to it. I am not sure why I find this so amusing, but I do. In fact, I will spend most of my time on the antics and nonsense and completely forget that I have a budding romance to foster. It was because of this that my romantic couple didn’t even meet until the fourth chapter and he didn’t see her until the end of the sixth. Now there’s a humdinger of a tale about hot sizzling romance if there ever was one!

I obviously had my TNT rating set on low – maybe too low. My Gone with the Wind had blown away it seemed.  I needed something to keep the flow, boost interest, and keep them reading. Creating a certain amount of nonsense is a crucial part of my writing style, and highly addictive to write I might add. If I wasn’t pulling a punchline I was setting up the gag, but the romance and relationships had to mingle in with the history and madcap adventure schemes like a fine elixir.

So of course I almost forget the romance and have to go back and insert a little moment here and there because my husband, who was reading it was saying, “If this were me, I’d have stolen a kiss here.”

So it came to pass that my serious love story turned into a hilarious journey where my heroine became a woman of mystery and my side-kick stole the show. What had been a momentous story describing one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world, complete with unknown and misidentified hieroglyphic symbols, became a madcap adventure. I remember when I first published it, I waited and waited for the accolades of my brilliance, my genius, to roll in. After all, I had just discovered the origins of the Sphinx for crying out loud and painted the picture! What would they say about my years of research . . . the result of my years of toil?

Well . . . I did get, “Funny beyond belief.” Hahahaha!

I’ll take it! In fact, I'm delighted by it. The whole idea that I can bring a smile to someone's face and brighten their day has actually given my writing a deeper meaning for me.

So there you have it. How my formula came to be. Take a historical mystery, add a dash of romance, along with a heaping dose of nonsense, and a quick stir with the chaos spoon and voila you have a madcap adventure.

The Art of Writing Comedy

So now I write comedies. Who knew, right? If someone had suggested that I would be doing this years ago I would have fallen over laughing and the real surprise is that this all came about through the most unlikely scenarios. You see, I used to bore people to tears. Not just mild disinterest either this was full out zombie like trances. My love of history was so great that I could send people running with my coma inducing fountain of knowledge. Hahahaha! I get this from my father I think.

My dad knew everything about the history of where I grew up in Utah, actually the whole United States, so you weren’t safe no matter where you went. You’d ask an innocent question regarding a dirt road and he’d tell you about the pass cut into the mountain, when it was built, who did it, where it went, and why–with the additional information about other mountain passes that were first used because they were at a lower altitude. See, exciting stuff, your eyes are already glazed over and you’ve forgotten to breathe as you looked for some type of escape from this paragraph. . . . I thought this was about being funny. . . ? I hear you thinking it!

In my own scientific research using this informational overload I conducted a few studies on innocent bystanders and other trapped guests. You know the ones who are politely listening until they have the ability to flee. It wasn’t done intentionally at first. I truly was trying to carry on an interesting conversation which I have discovered is all in the eye of the beholder, but this led me to experiment on just how much information could be given before their interest waned. How much can you impart, say on mummification, while eating birthday cake? Do people really want to know the sacred math used to make a key hole arched window while doing the dishes? No, I found, not really.

What is the fine art of creating interest? I tried other lures in the great game of, “Do I have your attention now?”  I overdid it at first. I always gave way too much information watching them sweat it out and squirm in their seats. I finally pared it down, delivering just a few key phrases to see if they had any interest whatsoever in my blathering. If they looked instantly bored or worse panicked – their eyes would dart around the room in search of someone to rescue them. I call this the life-line, the help, throw me the doughnut, look.

“She’s recounting early Mesopotamian history and if I have to hear about someone else’s Balls again I’m going to scream,” they silently plead.

“No, Baal is the god of . . . never mind.” I inwardly sigh, chalking up another experiment gone awry mark on my invisible historical facts sheet of how much they can bear it.

Even if you do have someone hooked on the end of the historical fishing line – which is rare – you must reel them in slowly or they too will balk, break the fragile thread and pick up their iphone in desperation. Like a call from your wing man if the date is going badly. “I must get this,” they apologize as they cling to the phone. “I understand.” I smile. And I do understand. . . . Remember my dad?

What I learned is this: What most people find interesting is themselves, their lives, not you. Asking questions and listening is probably the best way to keep a conversation going and if you’re lucky you may find something that interests you both or you’ll be the one looking across the room for your husband with that expression of, 'It’s time to go . . . I need a doughnut!'

So how, you ask, do you carry on a conversation in a book written long ago with someone who is just now reading it? How is that even possible? The true art to anything written, said, or drawn for that matter, is to engage the reader in such a way that they are able to participate. Have them visually become part of the action, see the comedy and don’t grind them down with too much information even if it is your idea of birthday cake. It is one of my favorite compliments when a reader says that they felt like they were there. I feel like I have accomplished my goal when that happens.

I must thank these poor unsuspecting people, most of them family members, who I may or may not be married to. They have helped me devise my brilliant comedic formula. To figure out how to tell a tale of history and yet keep it interesting even years later and after the twentieth telling. Okay – so that doesn’t happen, but my husband did teach me something so amazing, that I could see how, throughout the course of history, it has come into play again and again and it all centered around the kiss - that universal symbol of love. Talk about too hot to handle.  Yep, you got it – KISS . . . Keep It Simple Stupid . . . and be brief.

Being a comedian on paper is not for the faint-hearted, however, it may very well be the toughest things to write. Think about it. You will never hear the laughter after one of your punchlines. Talk about a tough room!  Did that work well? Did they laugh?  I know I’m laughing until I cried writing it, but I hear voices in my head and they sometimes argue so what does that mean? It happens when you have half-a-dozen characters in a room and they all want to talk at once. LOL! 

So this is for you my fellow authors of the humorous tale. Keep smiling and laughing at your own jokes – because you may very well be the only one, but don’t let that stop you . . . and to my dad who instilled in me the love of history and the ability to grin and bear it! :O)

To read a sneak peek of Treasure of Egypt click here: Treasure of Egypt Sneak Peek.

To read some of the historical discoveries mentioned click over to the Histories Mysteries part of my blog: Histories Mysteries with Barbara Ivie Green 

For those of you who love your comedy where anything of myths and legend can and probably will come true you can read the first chapters of my Paranormally Yours series by clicking here. Book 1 The Ghost Pirate's Treasure and Book 2 Cupid's Love Potion 

The Art of Realism

Serene Splendor is now available in print! Click here to view

     As an artist I have always been drawn to realism. Being able to portray something that looks as real on canvas as it does in reality has been a life-long dream of mine. I am still working on that ability and probably will be for the rest of my life. That being said – I want to say that I love and enjoy all forms and styles of art. I have always believed that it’s not about what style or medium you used or even how good you are as an artist, but how well you communicated. If a picture truly is worth a thousand words then I ask what are those words? Some of the greatest pieces of art have been done by children. You can feel the exuberance and delight in the piece. So it is prudent to ask I think as an artist, what did you feel and did I invoke within you a sense of the wonder I was feeling? To accomplish that is the act of the true master.

     It is important, however, to acquire some control over the medium and have the technical skill to create the artwork. I wanted to show something that brings a little more understanding to the art of the realist painter. For many years I think people have assumed that I just copied the images I painted. Transferring the information like a computer. Is it real or photocopied? On one painting I even had someone ask if I had découpaged the image of the wolf onto the canvas. Hahahaha!  One man rather snidely asked, why, if I already had the photo, was I painting it to look exactly like it?  So here is the answer to that, I rarely do, in fact, most of the time I change the image to create what I want to portray, although if what I want is the photo I can and have painted the photo – exactly.

Not everyone is a fan, however, one gallery owner groaned upon seeing my work and said, "Augh, photo realism." I looked around to see paintings of neon dogs and cowboys as well as a few images of dissected fruit parts, which I liked, but felt a little downhearted that my art wasn't considered valuable there. The truth is, is that all art is in the eye of the beholder. I have been in some of the most prestigious galleries and sold in shows before some of the biggest names in the business. I tell you this for two reasons. It shows how subjective art and its critiques can be, as well as, how important finding your own validations is. It is the only way to find your truth. The lessons that I was given by these stranger's comments were priceless as they helped me to claim ownership and see the value . . . but how I digress.

     Being "photo real" is not my goal, you see as a realist it is real life that I want to be able to express. The camera is an incredible tool, but it also has it's limitations. For instance we see with two lenses and the camera has only one. The challenge is to use it as a tool and yet see beyond it. In the two images above, you will see my finished oil painting on the left, and the reference photo I painted it from on the right.  This is something you will rarely see an artist share for obvious reasons. LOL! Now you can see for yourself my shortcomings and the place where my thumb wore away some of the photo ink at the bottom from holding it while I painted it.

     I wanted to use these images side by side to show not only the similarities, but to also point out the differences – some obvious and others more subtle. One, I did not copy this work by tracing or using a projector. I can paint exactly what I see before me, but more importantly I can change it. I loved the pose of the bobcat, but wanted it crouching over a creek – as if you had the rare opportunity to come across this scene in nature. (I have been doing this type of thing using the computer recently, drawing a sword – forging it in the computer and placing it in a setting using computer graphics – for instance, but this painting was done long before I had the ability to do that.)

     You will probably notice the difference in the lighting between the two images right away. I changed it to bring more focus onto the bobcats face using the lightest lights and darkest darks to pop it. Also in the reference photo the face of the bobcat is blurry and the back legs are in extreme focus. I switched this around, bringing more clarity to the eye and fur around the face rather than the back legs. The other changes are the extension of the branches and leaves in the background. Some are painted from reference photos I took out in the back yard, but most of the changes you see, including the lower portion, such as the rocks and creek, are from my imagination. Yes, you read right . . . they are from my imagination.  This is the point and reason I decided to post the original reference photo. To all of those who think that what they are seeing is just some enhanced photo or that painting an image to look like the real deal is easy or not a valid form of art - there is actually some skill involved. The other changes you might see are in tone, placement of plants, and lines were created to lead the eye throughout the canvas.

     Someone once explained to me that being able to copy someone else’s version of a photo or scene was the first level of skill. You may be extremely good at that, but when you go up to the next step, interpreting the photo yourself it will be harder to acquire the same level of artistic rendering. The next is painting the scene from life, without the use of a camera, analyzing the information yourself. Obviously, having the same skill level to do this is going to be much harder to accomplish. The next and final phase of course is painting from your imagination with the same amount of skill that you had when you copied another’s interpretation and that takes some mastery over the medium as well as artistic ability - and some might even call it art! Hahahaha!

    So this is for you, my fellow artists of realism, I feel you - keep seeing, keep dreaming . . . we are not just copy machines - and on another rather amusing note, the hardest thing to paint in this painting and make it look real was the dirt. :O)

NEW COVERS!

Same zany stories now with the covers to match!

To find out more about it or read a sample

click here

After much serious thought I decided that new covers and titles would better suit my new series. The cartooning was also a lot of fun to do - done in Word of course! LOL!

Turning Precious Photo's into Works of Art!

I have recently been having fun applying some graphic techniques to some precious family photo's!

Take Scrap Booking to a whole new level using Word... :O)

A Love Affair

My enduring Romance with the Ancient World!

I love all things from the ancient world! The art, the legacy of myths, and mysteries that early cultures produced have had my imagination in overdrive since I was a young . . . um---err, well for years! LOL!

The unsolved mysteries especially have held me enraptured, both as an artist and author, giving rise to both my series: Treasure of the Ancients and Paranormally Yours. The first series adheres strictly to the real world; although it is fiction. The research on the language and mythology is quite extensive, whereas the series Paranormally Yours jumps into the world of fantasy with both feet. . . . Perhaps flying leap is more apt. Hahaha!

Amazon

The first book in the series Treasure or the Ancients, Treasure of Egypt, delves into one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world, the myths surrounding the Great Sphinx. Mankind has asked for centuries where the image of the Sphinx originated. Discover for yourself the origins of the amazing symbol as well as several hieroglyphs that have been misidentified or unknown altogether.

The research into the book took years and when I do deviate from the “real world” to explore the ancient “fictitious” tomb as a reader you are sent on a journey that also follows the Book of Gates, which is within the Book of Coming Forth By Day or the Land of Two Ways. Some would call this the Book of the Dead, but since that wasn’t a term used until late in the nineteenth century I resisted the temptation to use it in my adventure that takes place in the year 1863.

The second book in the series, Treasure of the Emerald Isle, has been fascinating to research and I cannot wait until its release in 2013. It involves the mystery surrounding the great megalithic structures such as Stonehenge and Newgrange. Who built them and where and why did they go?

To read the first chapter click here. Treasure of Egypt sneak peek!

Paranormally Yours

The Ghost Pirate's Treasure is the first book in my new series Paranormally Yours and delves into the world of fantasy. We are still exploring the ancient myths of the world . . . but in this series everything of fantasy, myth, and legend can and probably will pop up. Hahahaha!

Amazon

“Laugh out loud humorous mystery!”

A delightfully enchanting, ghostly tale, filled with light hearted humor, heartwarming romance, haunted histories, and ancient mysteries.

A tale of discovery, mischievous spirits, and Mayan mayhem!

What do you get when a mischievous ghost, a new divorcée, her helpful mother, the nosey neighbor, her hunky son, a leaky pooch, and a fed up gardener are thrust together for the Christmas season?

A fast paced, action-packed, mystical thriller that is just what the veterinarian ordered to start the new year-tun off right!

Jessie has agreed to house sit her eccentric aunts empty bed and breakfast for the Christmas holiday while she tours Italy. But Jessie soon learns that the old mansion isn’t necessarily empty . . . . After meeting the resident ghost, Jessie is convinced she’s lost her old life, her practice, and her beloved dog, but quite possibly her sanity as well!

Having just gone through a divorce, Jessie has more on her plate than dealing with her nosey neighbor, the blue haired dynamo’s perpetually leaky dachshund, and her gorgeous son, who could be at home in the halls of Valhalla playing the part of Thor. . . . She has to find Jacques, the ghost pirate’s treasure map, the fabled city of El Dorado, and the Heart of the Mountain itself in order to save the man she loves . . . along with the planet!

This book explores the hidden mysteries of the ancient myths surrounding the Mayan Sun calendar along with enough nonsense to make it all deliriously wacky. The Christmas season takes on a whole new meaning in this humorous, romantic adventure!

To read the first chapter click here: The Ghost Pirate's Treasure

Cupid’s Love Potion is now available!

Amazon

Laugh along as the puzzle unravels in this delightfully dangerous whodunit full of zany humor, heartwarming romance, haunted histories, and ancient mysteries.

This is the second installment in Barbara Ivie Green’s series of supernatural adventures, (Paranormally Yours). The hilarious Jacques is back! And he is funnier than ever! Will he finally find his treasure, or will someone dear to him end up sleeping with the fishes?

In this tale of love potions and flying arrows, Cupid is on a mission to reunite two of mythologies greatest star-crossed lovers. Can he bring this fated couple together, or will he and love be lost to the world forever?

What do you get when a lonely librarian, her dreamy guardian angel, a merciless madman, a jealous reporter, a cranky ghost, a jovial jaguar, and three surprisingly streetwise and sexy matriarchs are thrown together for Valentine’s season?

A fast paced, action-packed, mystical thriller that is sure to touch your heart!

To read the first chapter click here: Cupid's Love Potion

In this series I have enjoyed combining the myths and icons from these different subjects. My third book is in process, Luck of the Irish is already underway. Pulling together the information, myths, and superstitions surrounding the topic and incorporating it into my story and letting my characters have at it has been a riot!

Thank you for viewing my books. :O)

Love always,

Barbara

Jackie Ivie's Born of Fire Arkon's Own

Visit Author Jackie Ivie's website to learn more about the 

Vampire Assassin's League!

http://www.jackieivie.com/para/news.htm

Temple of the Jaguar

Jaguar Temple

Featured in the book

Treasure of the Jaguar Warrior

Mystery of the Mayan Sun Calendar