Why am I always suspicious of people who describe themselves or anything they do as fun? Is it because it’s for other people to decide what is and isn’t fun? And that very often these people are anything but fun?
For decades, people have announced in the media that they are going to make this or that more fun. As they’ve been working at it for so long, everything should be fun by now. Glum faces and bad moods should have been eliminated by all the fun things we do.
Of course, there is more to everything than fun. The smiley face approach to life can actually infuriate people more than it can brighten them up.
The same applies to writing. Using humour in writing successfully is a skill. A large number of people do not have this skill, but are convinced that they do have it. Humour can be dangerous when it’s not funny, especially in business writing.
So unless you’re an award-winning comedian, take care when introducing humour into your writing.
Robert Zarywacz
