Write a 500-word humorous essay or short story

Get In On The Joke

Your turn: What do you want to write about?
Your turn: What do you want to write about?
2-3 ideas for your essay or story for feedback
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students

Putting Pen to Paper

Your turn: Who are the characters in your story? What is their "journey"?
Your turn: Who are the characters in your story? What is their "journey"?
Your rough draft
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students

Editing and Rewriting

Your turn: What should you cut, what should you keep, and what should you revise?
Your turn: What should you cut, what should you keep, and what should you revise?
Your revised draft
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students

Getting Published

Your turn: Who would want to read this piece? (And don't say "everybody.")
Your turn: Who would want to read this piece? (And don't say "everybody.")
Your final draft
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students

Additional Resources

Get inspired by these top humorists...
- Read: David Sedaris Is As Awesome As Everybody Hoped (Rookie)
- Listen: The Onion: Mocking All Who Deserve it Since 1988 (NPR)
- Watch: The Writing Habits of Mitch Hedberg (Modern Comedian)
- Read: Interview with Lena Dunham (Time)
- Listen: Tina Fey reads from her memoir Bossypants (YouTube)
- Read: Advice From the Prettiest Girl in the Office by Grace Bello (Splitsider)
Discover the writing processes of these witty authors and comedians...
- Read: Writing rules from author Zadie Smith (The Atlantic)
- Read: The Dan Harmon School of Comedy Writing (Splitsider)
- Watch: South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker on Storytelling (MTVu)
- Watch: Stand-up comedian Louis CK on digging deep for comedy (New York Public Library)
Find out how to workshop and edit your writing...
- Read: Creative writing workshop etiquette (Grace Bello)
- Read: Excerpt on editing from The Secret Miracle (Daniel Alarcon)
- Read: The Making of a Story (Alice LaPlante)
Optional (mentioned in this week's Office Hours):
- Read: Advice From the Prettiest Girl in the Office by Grace Bello (Splitsider)
- Read: Patricia Marx on Hazing, The New Yorker and TV Eyebrows by Grace Bello (The Hairpin)
Learn about getting published...
- Read: Tips on Getting Your Humor Writing Published (And Here's the Kicker by Mike Sacks)
- Read: How to Become an Author (Alexander Chee)
- Read: List of Humor Writing Publishing Outlets (Grace Bello)
- Watch: Skillshare Humor Writing Office Hours Dec 27th (Grace Bello)

Hannah Husman

Student of Copywriting and Dance at UNL

1

2