How to write funny for children

Last Saturday I went to Charing Cross to learn how to write funny books for children by Mo O'Hara. This was a SCBWI Masterclass. I learnt lots. I am only going to give you the main points I learnt as we were told we can't give out all the details. So here they are.

Keep asking questions. Keep saying yes. Eg if your character wants to run and win the marathon, they will do anything to get there.
Make your readers recognise your character in what they do.

1. No swearing
2. Can't talk about things that children won't understand. You have to look into children's world to see what's funny to them. Eg what makes sense to adults but children can think ludicrous.
3. Has to be the kid's pov, literally. Can be looking up to someone and seeing their nose.
3. Don't write mean comedy. Eg at someone's expense. Being fair is important to children. Don't put children down. Have justice and kind humour.

I got an idea how to write funny scenes in a series about asperkids I have in mind.

Writing funny has three main components: who, where (plot) and when (timing)

We were given exercises then to so.

Other components are: incongruity (someone out of their usual zone), status. So when you are writing, ask yourself: What is the status of my character? Do I have much variety in status?

We were given more exercises to do, which were fun. One of these gave me an idea for a possible series of picture books.

In series fiction the character only learns a bit, but in stand-alone they learn a lot.

Make it tough for the character. Think of worst thing that can happen and make it happen.

First draft - ask, is this character funny? Have I put them in a setting that's funny? If potential, make funnier.
Have a checklist for when you do your second draft. This should include: character who has fears, objectives and status, setting, confined space, comic potential and conflict potential.
Next edit should be the punch edit. Make more funnier. Think rule of 3: Punchline is at the third time.
Recurring theme/gag. Elude to it to get a big laugh.
Timing.
In dialogue, have repetition. Emphasis - strong, silence - for pausing.
Don't overuse asides. Only put in what the character would really do. Read it out. Use surprise.

I learnt a lot. But there was one thing I did come away with, and that was I do enjoy writing for children more than adults now. So, thanks, Mo. Great workshop.

RNA workshop/retreat day on 15 Feb 2014 - and what I learnt

Last Saturday I made my way on bus to Holborn to go to the RNA London/SE workshop/retreat day. I passed where that car was smashed in by falling bricks from a building. Horrible. Feel so sorry for her family. Anyway, I got there in time to get a good seat.

It started at 10.15 with Julie Cohen and her talk about learning structure with Pixar films. I've not seen it before and thought it was great. We watched the beginning of Wall-E, and I got a new take on it. It's about a lonely robot who finds love in a deserted world of rubbish. I liked the underlying message about recycling more or the world can be like this. We also watched a clip of Finding Nemo, where the main plot and the subplot meets. This is what I learnt: plot structure is structure of the emotional arc. We were given the three act structure of the film Cars. Backstory at the start of the story can be used in the setting as in Wall-E, where we see papers on the ground about trash covering Earth. Pixar starts their films with emotional arc. They have repeated motifs eg in Wall-E, holding hands means love. The subplot - thematic plot. More plot and add to character. Cars has a circular structure where the ending reflects the start of the film - the main character is in a car race, which is how he began the story.

After Julie came Laura Longrigg and Laura Gerrard, Jean Fullerton's agent and editor. They both said that it is the voice and USP being great is what they look for. If you are a member of the NWS, you can mention this in a query letter to them. Also, add a section about you. Your background, why you wrote the story, what you like to read etc.

Then came the '10 Common Mistakes that authors make' and this is where I learnt a lot and came to a decision.
Plotting - know your characters inside and out. Never forget your readers are interested in relationships. Start at a critical point in the story. Work in any backstory subtly. Don't put in mundale details such as making cups of tea. Know your market and readership. Know your publisher requirements (I will check the few publishers I have in mind for a romance I will shortly be working on). If it has a saggy middle then the story hasn't been thought through properly. Have a satisfying ending. Make your characters likeable. The reader has to ID with them, so the story has to be believable. The hero - the reader has to desire him, and want the heroine to want him too. Understand where you want the story to go before starting or the characters won't progress. Don't make the plot entirely driven. In an edit, you can highlight the external and internal conflicts to work this out).
POV - don't head hop unless you're Nora Roberts. Tell not show. Get POV right and experience what your character is feeling. Use emotion and feeling not reportage. And get your punctuation right for speech.

What I learned from that last talk by Melanie Hilton, the NWS organiser, was to make your story believable. In the romance novel that I plan to work on later this year, I was going to have a ghost in it, but I now feel that won't be believable so what the ghost was going to do will be done by the young male neighbour, who falls in love with a librarian, who happens to be the granddaughter. I can't wait to rewrite the book now, but have two projects to work and complete before that.