Everyone likes to laugh. At least everyone
sane. Actually, insane people laugh too,
they just don't know they're laughing.
Even the Pope laughs, just not in public.
Laughter unites people. It can diffuse tense
situations. And most importantly, at least
from a writer's standpoint, it can keep people
reading your articles.
You don't have to be a comedian, or Dave
Barry to incorporate laughs into your writing.
You don't really have to be that funny of a
person, either. And you're not looking to put
the readers in stitches. Just a slight
chuckle can make a world of difference.
I often try to incorporate cheap puns into
my articles. For example, I might include
the pun: 'To write with a broken pencil is
pointless' in an article about daily
freewriting. It's a groaner, but it might
just keep the reader reading, at least for
another paragraph. If you like cheesy puns
and want more feel free to visit:
http://wardwidewebzine.goduck.net/puns.html
Including a humorous anecdote is another great
way to get your readers to smile. A simple
search on Yahoo or Google will yield
a number of websites that have anecdote
archives. Or you can include a personal anecdote.
Seven words that are sure to keep a reader's
attention are: 'That reminds me of a funny
story..'
I like to keep my readers on their toes by
incorporating a technique I like to call
Random Insertion. (I'll pause here while
you less mature readers stop snickering.)
Random Insertion is actually self-explanatory,
I randomly insert information that
obviously does not belong. For example,
If I was listing possible places to promote
ezine articles I might mention:
(A) Free Ezine Articles Announcement List
(http://ezinearticles.20fr.com)
(B) Go Articles.com and
(C) www.drew-barrymore-is-a-goddess.net
The third listing is obviously bogus (thouh true)
and putting in an otherwise serious article
can peak the readers interest and keep them
reading.
I will not keep droning on any longer. Hopefully,
by now everyone has gotten the point. Humor makes
people laugh, and laughing makes people happy. And
happy readers keep reading and will remember your
name the next time they see it at the top of an
article. Maybe you'll even be able to use
some of my suggestions to sprinkle laughs all
through your next article. If not I'm fully
prepared to tell the Pope...
Timothy Ward publishes the Ward Wide Webzine.
This ezine is packed the informative articles,
free promotion tips, subscriber contests,
joke, etc. It is also the home of the humor
column Wardology 101. For more info visit:
Ward Wide Webzine
