The late Erma Bombeck and the late Art Buchwald, were two of my favorite humor writers...they were so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o funny! As a woodcarver for over 25 years, I'm out of the art and craft world, and I have to background in writing whatsoever.

As a novice in writing, therefore, I'm reluctant to call myself a writer...much less a humor writer, and I'll tell you why. If there's a business that's subjective, it's the humor business. What may be funny to one individual, may be an insult to someone else, and you might get your face slapped, if you're not careful with humor!

Because I'm not a musician, I can't "toot my horn," but over the years, people have told me that I should have been a stand-up comedian. (how many people, Jer?) But, that won't happen anytime soon, because I suffer from what millions of people all across the United States suffer from...STAGE FRIGHT! (you're a scaredy-cat, Jer!)

Presenting humor is quite difficult, because what is necessary is a smooth delivery, and I would quickly freeze up in front of an audience, and I would be shown the door! (you could get the door prize, Jer!) "Being funny," is easier than writing funny , because a person has all the tools available to be funny such as a "pie in the face," blank-stares; double-takes; body language; making faces and so forth! Writing funny is a different ballgame.

Let's face it...writing is easy, and most of us do it everyday...but, writing WELL is not so easy, and writing humor is the hardest of all. To write funny, a person has to be funny to begin with! I can't see it any other way. A person has to be interesting and a good story-teller. Professional comedians are good story-tellers...and they tell about their miss-adventures throughout life, etc.

They're interesting people, and many of them see things we don't see! As I mentioned earlier, I've a woodcarver out of the art and craft world, and during that long period of time, and over the years, I produced over 200 original cartoon-like characters in wood. I did this, because I like to make people laugh.

Most of my pieces were captioned. (wooden pieces talking, Jer?) One example, is a little wooden skunk about 6 inches tall, carrying a sign which reads, "Help Stop Pollution!" As if I didn't have my hands full teaching myself to carve wood, I had to stick my nose in the difficult field of writing...I must be crazy! (if the shoe fits, Jer!) Most of the pieces were captioned, and to do this,

I would take a small white piece of poster board (2" x 4") and carefully write the caption on it. I know it sounds strange, but the public seemed to like them, and I sold almost everything I ever made. (bragging again, Jer?) This is how my interest in writing began. Over the years, I've participated in over 40 arts and crafts shows and sold my work.

People would come up to my display, and I could see for myself, up close and personal...their reaction to my work. I could see the body language; see the smiles and frowns and listen to the chatter about my work, etc. (lots of frowns, right Jer?)

But, being on the Internet is different! You can't see any of the visitor's...at least not yet anyway. A person can't see the reaction to their work, and that makes humor writing much more difficult. This issue makes it difficult for the new-comers in humor, too. I've been around humor so long, and
I've participated in so many shows, that I pretty much know if something I create is funny or not. I just have to rely on my experience. If something I produce, makes me laugh...I go with it. If it doesn't...I usually hold it unitl I know it's funny, etc.

Before I can be a good humor writer, I have to be a good writer first, right? All the things that make a good writer such as; good speling; good grammer; good punkuation and so forth! (oh, my goodness, Jer...here come the Grammar Police!)

As a novice in writing, and to call myself a writer, I have to have a few writing credits...a resume in writing. In my first year of writing (8-06 to 8-07), all 61 of my articles were published on over 160 websites on the Internet. (beginner's luck, Jer?)

About one third of my articles are humorous or humor-related, and the others are of a serious nature. I will always be reluctant to call myself a humor writer, because what I write and how I write it, I don't know if it's funny to somebody else on the Internet. I'll just have to take my chances.

Jerry the writer! Sounds good, doesn't it? Jerry, the humor writer! Sounds even better, doesn't it? Jerry, the author! WOW! Where did I go wrong? (in your dreams, Jer!) One thing is certain, I will never be a stand-up comedian, so I will just have to settle for being a "sit-down" comedian on the computer! (gee...Jer, I didn't know you were in the humor business...why didn't you tell us!)

SITEMAP; 350+ Links For Your Convenience;
Copyright; 2009Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor
Website name; humordoctormd