[stylist] Writing exercise: satire and humor

[Bernadetta Pracon]

Hi all,
I don't usually contribute much to this list--Although I'd like to. 
However, having a brand new baby has a peculiar way of stealing the 
spotlight, so to speak.
This writing excersise caught my attention though, because I also tend 
to approach my life with a sense of humor, and I love satire. I'm 
definitely going to try my hand at this one, although, like Bridget, I 
find it to be a bit of a challenge to cater to people's sense of humor 
through my writing sometimes.
Before I do that, I'd like to comment on your piece, Bridget.
First of all, I found the essay very entertaining. It was paced well 
and I love the imagery. I could totally invision the scenario where you 
as a child bit your mother's calves. Your description of it was, in 
fact, very funny. "I looked at the back of her slender calves and 
licked my lips." That line made me imagine  a small child with an 
animalistic urge to bite, in the way that a puppy would--That's what 
made it funny for me. The showdown between the two sisters also held my 
attention because again, the sceen came alive in my mind.You built the 
tension perfectly by describing how you and your sister glared at each 
other from across the bedroom.
 Finally, here are a few things that I personally understood and 
apreciated as humourous, but perhaps other readers might not be able to 
catch in general.
The reference to the theme song from "The Nanny" wasn't lost on me--I 
chuckled at that one. I'm not sure how many people would make the 
connection if they aren't familiar with the show. However, I tend to do 
the same thing--I make references to movies and/or shows in my writing 
wherever I think they might fit. I'm always being told that my readers 
might not be able to connect with my work because of that, but I think 
that if at least one person besides myself can identify with that, it's 
worth doing. In general, like I said, I really enjoyed the piece, 
especially because of the cynical sense of humor. Perhaps that's 
because I share the same sort of sense of humor.
As I mentioned previously, I'm caring for my brand new little one these 
days, so I'm running on roughly a couple hours of sleep--So I'm sorry 
if this message is one scattered ramble. I wanted to contribute though, 
just as well. Hope it's useful to some degree.

Sincerely,

Bernadetta Pracon

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