Confucius says: "A single conversation across a table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books." Well, I'm no wise man, but I have conversed across my fair share of tables (and studied more than my fair share of books). So I feel sort of qualified to offer you my WEbook Writing Secrets: Tips on writing better, stronger, faster, and longer.
Today’s WEbook
Writing Secret: The Punchline
In any list, put the most important item last. This is what your reader will notice and remember. This rule works especially well with humor. You can create a list of ordinary things, and surprise the reader with something unexpected, funny, or absurd at the end. Example: “After a good tumble in the sack, Ted likes nothing better than to smoke a cigarette, drink a glass of orange juice, and polish his lightsaber collection.”
Okay, maybe not the funniest sentence in the world, but it’s a heck of a lot funnier than: “After a good tumble in the sack, Ted likes nothing better than to polish his lightsaber collection, smoke a cigarette, and drink a glass of orange juice.
Bonus: This is a great rule for job applications and resumes. When listing all the things that make you excellent, put the absolutely, totally, most excellent thing at the end. “Melissa has published stories in numerous literary magazines and contributed two chapters to WEbook’s first collaborative novel, Pandora, and last summer she saved the world from imminent attack by hostile aliens, using only a spatula and three slices of cheese.”
And every word of it is true!
-- Melissa
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