Surviving the Family Gathering
Imagine you are writing a witty guide on "How to Survive Your Family's Annual Gatherings." Use anecdotes, humorous survival tips, and illustrate the quirkiest family traditions or characters.
Suggested length: An essay or article: 800 to 2,500 words
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Find one surprising fact and build around it.
- Use one example from your own life.
- Open with a specific story, then widen out to the big idea.
Writing humor and satire books
Laughs first, with a point under the punchline.
Comic fiction sets out to make readers laugh; satire uses that laughter to skewer something real, from war to bureaucracy to the publishing industry. Either way, the jokes have to land on almost every page.
What readers expect
- A distinctive comic voice
- Absurd situations played straight
- A target, in satire
- Running jokes that pay off
A tip before you start
Play it straight. Characters who take the absurd seriously are funnier than ones winking at the reader.
More Humor prompts
- An Open Letter to My ToasterCompose a humorous open letter to an inanimate object in your home, expressing your feelings about its quirks and how it impacts your daily life.
- The Perks of AdultingDevise a funny listicle of "Top 10 Unexpected Perks of Adulting" that pokes fun at the responsibilities and surprises that come with growing up.
- My Funniest Travel Mix-UpRecount the funniest miscommunication you’ve ever had while traveling in a country where you did not speak the language. Include gestures, a mix-up of…
- The Worst Dinner I CookedWrite an essay about the most comically disastrous meal you've ever attempted to cook. Describe each mishap and mistake from prepping ingredients to…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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