ElijahRyne
A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2021
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I was rewatching Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan for the 6th time, because I couldn’t really find a novel focused almost primarily on comedy here, and when there are they seem to focus more on thing the plot than characters and are less episodic. Which is pretty sad to me, because episodic character focused comedies are my favorites when done right. So what is stopping it? Is it lack of interest in reading and/or writing it? Is it just too hard to do in text form? Is my intrest just a bit too niche/have I not searched hard enough? Or is it something else?
Also, before we start, I do know that it is hard to do visual gags in novels without images, but I don’t really think this is the issue. And, everything past this is how I would approach writing this type of comedy, there are definitely other ways.
I think that it is totally possible to create a novel like that. All you need is to create a couple of characters whose personality is slightly absurd in some way. Perhaps one never react to anything, another that is suspicious of those who approach them, one that constantly makes/solves puzzles, etc.
Once you create the characters you need to find the one(s) the pov will come from. Then you use that character to introduce the people and world around them. Although you will want to avoid info dumping unless it is logically consistent and/or a gag, like if the pov was from a noir detective like character that goes into absurd depth when describing the people around them. You then want to come up with a couple gag structures you can use to make an ‘episode’. You will use them to create different scenarios in which the joke/comedy will come from. An example would be having each chapter having 3 scenes the first will be the set up to the joke/scenario, then the joke/scenario, and then the after effects of it. Once you have your structures, write a couple of chapters using them until you get used to how they work, before messing around with them. If the story gets too episodic, and/or if the majority of jokes/scenarios are, then it will get boring fast, so you do need to keep the structure flexible.
Then you need to actually write, while doing so you need to keep the characters logically consistent. If they wouldn’t do something normally, then they need a reason to do it. If the character has no reason to break the 4th wall then don’t do it, and things like that. Also, don’t forget your scenarios, this is pretty much how you tell the story. How will x react to meeting y? What if this happens in a library? Etc. Just make sure that the scenarios make sense in context to the rest of the story, have them be less due too deus ex machina, and more due to the choices of the characters. Don’t be afraid of having more relaxed/mundane scenes to set up your scenario. Finally you probably need to decide how episodic you want to be. Will every episode have little to no effect on the next, like Phineas and Ferb, would every episode effect the next, like School Rumble, or will it be somewhere in the middle, like Saiki K.
Anyways, what do you think?
Also, before we start, I do know that it is hard to do visual gags in novels without images, but I don’t really think this is the issue. And, everything past this is how I would approach writing this type of comedy, there are definitely other ways.
I think that it is totally possible to create a novel like that. All you need is to create a couple of characters whose personality is slightly absurd in some way. Perhaps one never react to anything, another that is suspicious of those who approach them, one that constantly makes/solves puzzles, etc.
Once you create the characters you need to find the one(s) the pov will come from. Then you use that character to introduce the people and world around them. Although you will want to avoid info dumping unless it is logically consistent and/or a gag, like if the pov was from a noir detective like character that goes into absurd depth when describing the people around them. You then want to come up with a couple gag structures you can use to make an ‘episode’. You will use them to create different scenarios in which the joke/comedy will come from. An example would be having each chapter having 3 scenes the first will be the set up to the joke/scenario, then the joke/scenario, and then the after effects of it. Once you have your structures, write a couple of chapters using them until you get used to how they work, before messing around with them. If the story gets too episodic, and/or if the majority of jokes/scenarios are, then it will get boring fast, so you do need to keep the structure flexible.
Then you need to actually write, while doing so you need to keep the characters logically consistent. If they wouldn’t do something normally, then they need a reason to do it. If the character has no reason to break the 4th wall then don’t do it, and things like that. Also, don’t forget your scenarios, this is pretty much how you tell the story. How will x react to meeting y? What if this happens in a library? Etc. Just make sure that the scenarios make sense in context to the rest of the story, have them be less due too deus ex machina, and more due to the choices of the characters. Don’t be afraid of having more relaxed/mundane scenes to set up your scenario. Finally you probably need to decide how episodic you want to be. Will every episode have little to no effect on the next, like Phineas and Ferb, would every episode effect the next, like School Rumble, or will it be somewhere in the middle, like Saiki K.
Anyways, what do you think?
