Okay, you’ve all heard of the rockin’ blog, A Fuse #8 Production, right? So, this blog post is a direct product of this post here. Go and read it and then come back. I’ll wait with a cup of coffee. I promise.
Floored, right? I kinda was. Especially when not even her commenters could come up with one funny main character girl, preferably middle grade, written by a male. There are some funny side kick girls, but that’s not the same thing.
Wow. This just made me think. And I’m still thinking about it.
Funny girls. Read most agent websites and they want funny. Funny is great. Funny is hard. Funny can’t be forced the way some emotion can.
A girl sense of funny is totally different than a boy sense of funny. I’m a girl, so I’m speaking on good authority here. I want funny with lots of heart to back it up. I love physical humor, but I want more than that. Wit. Sarcasm. Dry humor. Situational humor. Hyperbole. Suprises. All of that kind of funny makes me smile and sometimes laugh out loud.
Many of the realistic mg for girls that I’ve read are about moving and new friends and losing friends. (And that’s okay because some girls like to read about that stuff to know they are not the only one to lose a friend. sniff sniff.) And there might be some funny situations but not as many funny girls. And there is a difference, don’t you think?
Clementine is a funny girl. How she interprets the world and her relationships are funny. Plus, there are humorous situations in the book. But, it’s written by a girl, Sara Pennypacker. Sigh.
Okay, Jon Scieszka, (why do authors have such tough names to spell? What happened to authors like John smith or Ray Grant. Come on.) I think you’ve been given a challenge. But I doubt he’ll be interested since he’s all about getting Guys to Read. But who knows, maybe some day…
Oh, and here’s a post from WriteonCon by Rachel Hawkins about her funny writing and don’t be afraid to ‘bring on the funny’!! I think just about every post I have, I could link back to WriteonCon. Seriously.
So, what’s the funniest book you’ve read? What do you find funny? And do you know any boys that write funny girls? Or girls that write funny boys? How different is a boy vs girl sense of funny. (See this is just a sampling of all my thoughts created by one blog post – kinda cool.)
J.K. Rowling did well with funny. Fred & George Weasley were hilarious. And Luna Lovegood and Dobby! She did well with other funny things, too. There’s a lot of dialogue and actions throughout the series that had me laughing out loud.
Boys like everything to do with bodily functions. Anything gross gets them laughing. I see it with my nephews all the time!
Sigh. I don’t have much of a sense of humor…unless it’s sandwiched in a book like THE HELP or LITTLE BEE or The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow.
Then I howl.
So kinda serious humor.
Blessings, dear one.
Patti
I’m trying to write a somewhat funny main character right now, but would love some suggestions of go to funny main character books to read while I write!
And true the Weasley twins were funny, Fred was my fave character in the series.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t get why it matters whether a male or female author writes a funny girl MC. I know male and female humor are different, but as long as the MC’s humor is believable for gender, who cares about the sex of the author?
I was relieved when I finally noticed that authors weren’t all “Mary Smith” and “John Williams” anymore. I mean, when I saw Maia Wojciechowska on a book jacket, I figured there was hope for me. 🙂
Funny is hard. Sure, there are writers who are funny PEOPLE. But a lot of writers weren’t the class cut-ups as kids; they were the class bookworms and introverts. I’m not funny; if I could write a funny character I’d know how to BE funny, right? I think funny situations aren’t as hard as an entire funny protagonist. Everybody loves really hilarious books, but I’m wondering if their rarity isn’t part of the magic.
My daughter has read some of her Junie B books out loud to her brother and me. And I’m sure part of the humor for us comes from the voices and funny faces my daughter makes as she reads.
But my son loved the Fudge books by Judy Blume, so there’s a female writing funny boy humor!
Replying late to everyone! Thanks for commenting everyone!
Marcia – I don’t think it matters which sex writes a funny girl or boy – I just found it interesting. And you’re right, I’m glad all authors aren’t John Smith and the like. Shows great diversity, which is wonderful. It just makes it hard on me trying to spell names and get them right! 🙂 And I agree, I think it’s the rarity of funny protagonists that makes them so special!