Jokes
about Writing
A visitor to a certain
college paused to admire the new Hemingway Hall that had been built on campus.
"It's a pleasure to see a building named for Ernest Hemingway," he
said.
"Actually," said his guide, "it's named for Joshua Hemingway. No
relation."
The visitor was astonished. "Was Joshua Hemingway a writer, also?"
"Yes, indeed," said his guide. "He wrote a check."
________________________________________________________________
A linguistics professor was lecturing to his
English class one day. "In English," he said, "a double negative
forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative
is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can
form a negative."
A voice from the back of the room piped up,
"Yeah, right."
A writer died and was given the option of
going to heaven or hell.
She decided to check out each place first.
As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers
chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were
repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes.
"Oh my," said the writer.
"Let me see heaven now."
A few moments later, as she ascended into
heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop.
As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes.
"Wait a minute," said the writer.
"This is just as bad as hell!"
"Oh no, it's not," replied an
unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published."
There was once a young man
who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.
When asked to define great, he said, "I
want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react
to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in
pain and anger!"
He now works for Microsoft writing error
messages.
A
screenwriter comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and
slightly-singed wife is standing outside. “What happened, honey?” the man
asks.
“Oh, John, it was terrible,” she weeps. “I was cooking, the phone rang.
It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn’t notice the stove was
on fire. It went up in second. Everything is gone. I nearly didn’t make it
out of the house. Poor Fluffy is--”
“Wait, wait. Back up a minute,” The man says. “My agent called?”
How many science fiction writers does it
take to change a light bulb?
Two, but it's actually the same person doing
it. He went back in time and met himself in the doorway and then the first one
sat on the other one's shoulder so that they were able to reach it. Then a major
time paradox occurred and the entire room, light bulb, changer and all was blown
out of existence. They co-existed in a parallel universe, though.
How many publishers does it take to screw
in a light bulb?
Three. One to screw it in. Two to hold down
the author.
How many mystery writers does it take to
screw in a light bulb?
Two. One to screw it almost all the
way in, and the other to give it a surprising twist at the end.
How many screenwriters does it take to
screw in a light bulb?
Why does it *have* to be changed?
How many cover blurb writers does it take
to screw in a light bulb?
A VAST
AND TEEMING HORDE STRETCHING FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!!!!
How many screenwriters does it take to
change a light bulb?
Answer: Ten.
1st draft. Hero changes light bulb.
2nd draft. Villain changes light bulb.
3rd draft. Hero stops villain from changing light bulb. Villain
falls to death.
4th draft. Lose the light bulb.
5th draft. Light bulb back in. Fluorescent instead of tungsten.
6th draft. Villain breaks bulb, uses it to kill hero's mentor.
7th draft. Fluorescent not working. Back to tungsten.
8th draft. Hero forces villain to eat light bulb.
9th draft. Hero laments loss of light bulb. Doesn't change it.
10th draft. Hero changes light bulb.
------------------------------------------------------------
Punctuation Parable
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all
about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to
being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever
when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?
Gloria
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is. All
about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to
being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings
whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria
_________________________________________________________________
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren't necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations.
Tell me what you know."
11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly
superfluous.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Understatement is always best.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
22. Don't never use a double negation.
23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of
repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition
is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
30. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10
or more words, to the irantecedents.
32. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
33. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
35. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
36. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in
their writing.
37. Always pick on the correct idiom.
38. The adverb always follows the verb.
39. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They're old hat; seek
viable alternatives.
_____________________________________________________________
Ode to the Spell Check
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It cam with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew!
________________________________________________________