Hey cHEwY gum gums

I love the Perth Writers Festival, it’s got nice Summer vibes and it’s very laidback too. I did a couple of school Sessions on Thursday, but I also got to be in the audience too. It’s a throwback to the days when I used to be an aspiring writer, eager to learn more about my craft. And I still do of course 🙂

I sat in Personal Punchlines, a chat about mining personal stories for comedic effect, with Nakkiah Luu and Osamah Sami. Both poke fun at their own cultural backgrounds, but for noble purposes. Nakkiah mentioned that she makes fun of things to draw importance to them, and it’s true. I managed to shed some light on some dark issues with jokes in my books. I guess it’s the whole ‘I can make fun of it because I’m from there/been there’ thing. I reckon go for it, since making fun of yourself is a good place start for anyone who wants to write Comedy 🙂

Then I went to see Laughlines, a session about the line between tradegy and Comedy, with Nathan Hill, Toni Jordan and Josephine Wilson. I learnt many things. Writing Comedy is a promise to the reader, and it’s either gonna be a success or failure. It’s true. As a funny writer, I used to scared of that pressure to be funny. I say, used to because I’ve decided not to worry too much. Over the years, while my books have Laugh, they also have a lot of heart behind them. So they’re not totally LOL-machines. In other words, I’ve gone down the Morris G route hehe. 

But I’m never going to stop trying to make people laugh, in my books too. Sure, I may write a sad or serious story, but there’s going to be jokes in between those pages. I promise haha.

O.W