image credit: http://www.timeinc.net/
There’s been a lot of downtime, here at City After Dark.
Yoyo’s overseas right now spreading her love of shoes and brands in Okinawa and Largo, well, I think he met a female version of himself and has his hands full. Literally. And I’m not exaggerating here, she’s as freaky and kinky as he is. That can take some getting used to, I have to admit.
Me, I’m juggling jobs right now.
Everyone’s been busy, and this sort of took a back seat. It’s a blog, after all. Nobody follows these things seriously except techies, those with too much spare time, and people without jobs.
But I got fifteen minutes to spare this evening, so I’ll write about writing for a bit.
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I’ve wanted to illustrate this for quite some time now, and I’ve alluded to the issue of humour in past posts before. The reason I’ve put it off is this -
Being funny – in writing – is fscking hard.
Any good writer will tell you to avoid trying to be funny in persuasive text. No matter how funny you are – or think you are – a joke will impair the reading experience simply because some people won’t get it.
These rules also apply to blogging.
If your sense of humour connects with the bulk of your audience, then you’re already off to a good start.
Fantastic.
But even then you’ll still lose attention from a lot of people simply because others perceive “funny” differently to you, and also because a shocking percentage of the population have no sense of humour whatsoever. This is a natural function of society, so don’t be caught out thinking the problem is you. It’s not.
Here’s the point I’m trying to make.
If YOU don’t get the joke, it’s no one’s fault but MINE. The onus is on the presenter (writer, in this case) to understand what the audience would react to. It’s a function of social intelligence to recognise this. Because this blog’s readership is rather broad (friends, Melbourne locals, international students, visitors, tourists and readers from 19 different countries according to Google), I have to hold back on the jokes.
See, I have a broad and often incongruent sense of humour, which is why I have the good sense to leave it at the door when I write. You wouldn’t get me, otherwise. There are plenty of blogs that talk about themselves and couldn’t care less about the readership.
So they accumulate readers who perceive the world and value the same ideas as they do.
Because we’re actually interested in you, we try to consider what you may actually be interested in. What you might find amusing. It’s a little out there, but we make it as relatable to you as possible. It’s a completely different experience from what you normally read on blogs with, say, “Ooh, I’m like so angry right now fscking gossiping bitches!!! Like today I was eating bruschetta (so yummy!) at Mario’s when The Boyfriend calls to say that we COULDN’T go shopping…”
You know how the formula goes. And when it comes right down to it, who cares?
So relax. We understand you. Rest assured that someone out there actually does.
Posted on May 12, 2010 by Jak
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