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Written by Alice Hunt
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Tuesday, 12 December 2006 |
How to write a book series...
Down and dirty on writing with attitude
On a more accessible street-level, your use and manipulation of Attitude creates Satire, and that is a chuckle, or a laugh out loud, for the reader or viewer with a sense of humor. Of course, there is the occasional instance in history when Satire pays for its power, and the people who are skewered in the satire fail to see the humor.
They did throw Jonathan Swift in jail for a few days back in the 18th century. And no recent example of this paranoid interpretation is greater than the Cartoon Riots that have erupted in Muslim Middle Eastern countries. The world of Islam cannot accept their great prophet portrayed in such a negative light that makes such brute fun of the messenger they believe in.
Can you believe this is all because of a single Cartoonist's Attitude? Well you better believe it, because it is strictly the creator's Attitude that has thrown the powerful and insulting blow.
But since we are talking about Attitude developing into Satire, one thing is definitely true: if there were not a serious grain of truth in the Swift essay, "A Modest Proposal," nobody in Ireland would have been the least bit insulted. Swift's satire would have been just another lame joke and he would have seen no time behind bars. But such was not the case. The truth sure does hurt sometimes, especially if you have your nose rubbed in something you prefer to deny, and satire gives a better nose-rubbing than any other use of Attitude that a human being can muster.
Attitude is the primary ingredient in Satire, and it often does get the upper hand to become an end unto itself: Satire for Satire's sake. Bad Boy comedy and some Saturday Night Live skits fall into this category. Attitude can become downright silly in its broadest strokes.
So how do you know when enough Attitude is not too much? Any child who has smarted off to the parents has walked onto that thin ice! Well, usually in the first draft of satirical pieces, the writer doesn't have a clue how much is too much. The writer is just throwing in all kinds of fruit in to the "truthy-fruity," and some of the material will be so ungainly as to loose its connection to the topic at hand.
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