How Do I Write Satire?

Alix T. — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:26:40 +0000

This year's NaNo for me is a fantasy, but I still have to write some satire skits for our school talent show (plus, we're about to write satire in English). So I came to the place that will have the most experience with satire: the satire writers. What advice would you give to someone like me?

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

DTgringo — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:57:58 +0000

I write some satire. I find that making fun of everything I can helps me. Even if you like something, make fun of it. There's music I like that my friends will bring up and I will say I despise it. If you are using sarcasm, stick with it. Make people wonder if maybe you are serious. I did this global warming story that one would see the arguments as, "We can't have green energy because what if there stops being weather and a windmill can fall over and crush somebody." I had people that read it say, "You know, for a moment, I thought you were serious." That's how I know I did a reasonably good job. I do a lot of song satires. I make sure I write a lyric that I fully believe some person that performs that style of music might write. The difference is, he would be serious and I am mocking what he does.

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

SillyHats — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:33:07 +0000

What may help is if you compare "satire" to "straw man."

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

Scott Zaboem — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:51:37 +0000

I was going to add something, but I think that DTgringo already answered the question particularly well.

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

xxCoFxx — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:15:36 +0000

Read! Read satirical stories, get a sense of the style. Then try writing it.

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

knaffhauser — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:06:52 +0000

Here's a seemingly decent article with ten tips on writing satire that look pretty good. (I haven't tried them myself, as I just discovered it. YMMV.) http://www.bandersnatch.com/how_to_write_satire.htm

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

xxCoFxx — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:18:04 +0000

These tips are great.

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

xxCoFxx — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:18:44 +0000

Satire is taking reality and making it humorous, usually in a sarcastic manner. I think that about sums it up.

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

Madame M — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:47:54 +0000

Isn't satire usually a larger comment on the state of society as a whole? I love Terry Pratchett's satire. So funny, but he says something about the human condition, too. I think J. Swift comes off as a tiny bit mean; don't feel much love for humanity in his stuff, but that's my personal taste. Perhaps the place to start is a Great Wrong in society or even just in your school. Then discuss it seriously, then discuss it with a good dose of ridiculousness. For example, a lot of the arty kids resent the time and money that the sports programs get. What would happen if art students were treated like football stars? Would they be obnoxious? How would it go to their heads? What would the now down-graded sports people be doing? Then, to make a skit out of something like that, take a girl athelete and a boy artist, and have them overcome their "different" worlds and the scorn of their friends to fall in love. This is just a mild example. Riskier ones might involve satire about teen pregnancy (totally ripe for satire, but good luck getting it past the administration!), inequalities in the treatment of boys and girls (and there are a lot of people saying boys get the short end of the stick these days!), cheating for fun and profit, substance abuse . . . .

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

Mutive — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:53:26 +0000

I agree. A huge portion of satirists do it in large part to make a statement, as humor is far more effective than almost any other argument. (Think how often you genuinely sit down and listen to someone making a point you disagree with vs. how often you're willing to listen to a joke, laugh, and then think "ouch, that smarts". The last is what good satire does.) Shaw is a great writer to check out, if you're curious about satire in play form. Another great piece of satire is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa-4E8ZDj9s For school you'll obviously want different topics. (Madame M gave some great examples, and Glee is chock full of them.)

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

Dana Leipold — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:35:31 +0000

Another great author who is one of the best is David Sedaris.

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

helltank — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:07:19 +0000

I'll give you an example:let's say you want to write about how boys are treated worse than girls these days. Write a story about a guy living in a female dominated world. Eventually he... overthrows them or something in a humorous way(you can also side-satire cliches at this point)and becomes a hero. Then the story switches to a drunk guy in the bar who was telling the story all along and everyone in the bar cheers. At the end, imply that the drunkard is the MC(which raises questions about how he got downgraded from hero to drunk).

Re: How Do I Write Satire?

eniko — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:03:24 +0100

02When making san francisco asian escorts a list of your favorite san francisco asian escort pleasurable san francisco escorts activities around the house, you probably won’t include “cleaning,” yet it’s important to clean your sex toys san francisco escort properly and frequently so that they can continue to provide pleasure as long as possible