November 2018: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Dungeon… Writing Comedy F&SF

Terry Pratchett. Douglas Adams. Christopher Moore. Some of the best-selling authors of fantasy and science fiction have made their names by writing incredible stories with a comedic bent. What does it take to write original, humorous work? What do you need to keep in mind when adding humor to genre fiction? What are some of the pitfalls to avoid? What are some of the pratfalls to embrace?

During this month’s meeting, we’ll get a brief history of comedic F&SF, learn best practices for writing comic fiction in general, tackle a few writing exercises to get in a comic frame of mind, and put some of these best practices to work in longer pieces.

Moderator: Ted Wenskus
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: November 6, 2018 from 6:45-8:45 p.m.

Ted Wenskus is an F&SF writer from Greece, NY. He has had numerous comedic fantasy and horror short stories published over the years and co-wrote The Mostly Weird Chronicles of Steffan McFessel, a post-apocalyptic comic novel, with Marcos Donnelly. His F&SF comedy plays have been performed in England, Australia, the Philippines, and across New York, winning a Theatre Association of New York State Award for Playwriting in the process. He also co-authored a comic fantasy audio drama, Take It or Weave It, with Meredith Powell Carroll, which won the Audio Verse Award for Best Writing of an Original Long-Form, Self-Contained Production, was as an official selection at HEAR NOW: The Audio Fiction and Arts Festival, and broadcast on radio in Nashville, TN and across Indiana.