As Woody Allen said, “80 percent of success is showing up.”

Well, this is certainly true when it comes to blogging.  I started this humor blog a year ago today.  And it’s a thrill to be sitting here writing this morning with the knowledge that I’ve stuck with it for a whole year come rain or shine.

Here are some things I’ve learned about writing humor over the course of the last year.

Steady Eddy Kills the Humor Muse

Humor likes extremes. I’ve noticed over the course of the year, that I tend to write best when I’m either in a horribly bad mood or in an unusually good mood.  And if I have a headache or a backache?  I can really deliver!

So my advice is if everything is running along a little too smoothly — wreck your car, get in a barroom brawl and/or go to jail.  This will  give you all kinds of fresh ideas for your blog — plus give you something to do while you waiting for bail.

Good Writing Follows Good Concept

I’ve found that rarely does the writing lead me to a good concept but that the concept leads me to the good writing.  So my advice is to throw away all the words you want –there’s plenty more where they came from — but never throw away a good concept.

(Of course, if you insist on throwing away that good concept — feel free to throw it out in MY garbage can.)

Shoot for Being Different, But Not so Different You Need to be Shot 

I can get pretty carried away at times.  I love writing nonsensical, surreal, reckless humor.  I get in a mood and I can’t stop myself.   When my inner wackadoodle takes over my keyboard, I find that it’s best to let things sit awhile before publishing.  Good rule of thumb is:

Try not to publish anything that would be embarrassing enough to make you want to apply to the witness protection program.

 In The Long and Short of Writing– Little Voices Are Big. 

If a little voice inside is telling you that what you just wrote stinks on ice, it most assuredly does, I’ve found.

On the other hand, sometimes something you write that you personally don’t care for turns out to be quite popular.  It’s like when you wear an outfit that you never wear because you hate it, but you get all kinds of compliments on it whenever you do wear it.  So sometimes you can’t ALWAYS trust the little voice.

And Finally Read Other Writers Who Are Stimulating 

Here is a list of eclectic bloggers that  I whole-heartedly support and whose minds I enjoy peeking into:

Running Naked with Scissors

http://runningnakedwithscissors.wordpress.com/

Nailing Jello To A Tree

http://nailingjellotoatree.wordpress.com/

Orange Spice Drop

http://orangespicedrop.wordpress.com/

Spectacular Disaster

http://spectaculardisaster.wordpress.com/

Ashley Jillian

www.ashleyjillian.com

Teal and Tulle

http://tealandtulle.wordpress.com/

Pretty Feet, Pop Toe

http://prettyfeetpoptoe.wordpress.com/

Break It Down Pete

http://breakitdownpete.wordpress.com/

David Wallace Fleming’s Blog

http://davidwallacefleming.com/

Eldon 

http://awkwardeldon.com/

Dehypnotze

http://dehypnotize.wordpress.com/

robotic rhetoric

http://roboticrhetoric.wordpress.com/

Diedra Alexander’s Blog

http://deidraalexander.wordpress.com/

I’m Going to Twirl

http://www.imgoingtotwirl.com/

Ryman Tolentino

http://www.imgoingtotwirl.com/

Oh and One More Thing . . .

It is absolutely OK to title a post Secrets to Writing a Sexy Humor Blog even if said post doesn’t really have any secrets in it and isn’t the least bit sexy.  Why?  Because it’s my birthday, which makes me the Birthday Girl which means I can do whatever I want!

At least for today, anyway.

Until next time . . . I love you