By Candy Gourlay
It seems a long, long time ago now, in a galaxy far, far away that I first heard of Dougal Trump. I 'd just been friended on MySpace by an unpublished writer called Jackie Marchant, who was active on the British SCBWI list serve. On her MySpace was a very funny blurb about the manuscript she was shopping around, about a boy named Dougal writing his last will and testament.
That was a while ago (I wonder if my Myspace account is still alive?). When The Diary of a Wimpy Kid became big news, I felt a tiny ripple of recognition. It reminded me of something I read a while back ... OMG, Dougal Trump! I got to know Jackie over the years and we've been unpublished comrades-in-arms forever - except Jackie was agented from the start. And now ... well, Dougal is FINALLY alive and well, on the shelves of bookstores everywhere, annoying his big sister.

Jackie I did start writing for adults and had some success (of the unpublished variety, things like having agents ask for a full Ms, competition wins and stuff), then found children's writing by accident, through a competition. It's the best thing that ever happened to me and opened up the whole wonderful world of children's writing.
I definitely didn't aspire to be a writer of children's humour - in fact I think my early sights were set on the Booker Prize . . .



Candy I seem to remember seeing that on your website once.

Dougal came to me by accident, after my son asked me a question about writing a will. I stood in the mess of his room and wondered what he'd put in a will. I wrote (or thought) 'This is the last will and testament of . . . To my mother I leave all the mess in my bedroom, so she can put it into black bin liners and throw it out of the window - I know that has always been her greatest wish.'
Then this character just grew and I called him Dougal Trump. My son will always call himself 'the inspiration' but Dougal is very much his own character. As I said, I had no idea it was funny, so I was not working on any other funny ideas at the time (I was actually trying to write that Booker winner)
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At the book launch at Waterstones, Oxford Street, Jackie reads out a note from Dougal which he wrote on the back of a homework sheet. |
The fact that people find it funny is lovely, but quite scary. I honestly don't know if what I've written is funny until after I give to someone to read. If they laugh, I heave a sigh of relief!


I'd also say the Roald Dahl Funny Prize has done a lot for humorous fiction and I take my hat off to Michael Rosen for that.
Children's authors (plus one lord mayor and one Boris) have a giggle over Dougal. (from top, left to right) Chris Priestley, Katy Dale, Sarwat Chadda, Jon Mayhew, Joe Friedman, Helen Peters, Jasmine Richards, Fiona Dunbar, Candy Gourlay, Tim Collins, Lord Mayor of Ocklesford, Steve Cole, Steve Hartley, Philip Ardagh, Janet Foxley, Malorie Blackman and London Mayor Boris Johnson






How do I switch from one to the other? Well, I'm Dougal when I'm writing Dougal and I'm a sword wielding heroine when I'm writing her, or a girl with a dilema whizzing around in space. We can write different characters when working on the same book, so why not different books?
Or maybe I'm just a multi-tasker (I've done the washing, made tea, organised my launch and worked on my new WIP while doing this interview!)






DON'T!! Don't try to be funny
There is nothing worse than someone trying to be funny. Humour often comes from situations that aren't funny, like slipping on a banana skin - it's not funny for the person doing the slipping. DON'T flag your humour. NEVER tell your reader that this is funny, don't have your characters rolling about laughing, it's your readers who should be doing that.
PG Wodehouse is brilliant, because all his characters take themselves so seriously. Not one of them would think of themselves as funny, yet the way he writes them keeps you laughing.
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TV's Wooster and Jeeves |
Give your character a VOICE.
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The bearded Mr. Ardagh |
A good example of voice is anything by Philip Ardagh. His humour just leaps off the page. He is an expert at making any situation funny, through the way he writes it.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket aka Daniel Handler is a perfect example of great use of the authorial viewpoint and definitely humour in there too.
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A Series of Unfortunate Events |
Be your character
You have to literally jump inside your character's skin. You have to BE that character, see though his/her eyes, smell what he smells, feel what he feels etc etc. Don't just look through their eyes, see they way they do, hear the way they hear, be them. Wherever you are, imagine what it would be like to be your character. Imagine them at the dinner table - and don't worry if your family wonder who you are talking to, they get used to it!
In children's books, Socks are not Enough by Mike Lowery, is about a boy who finds himself in the horrendous situation of having nudist parents who have decided that from now on, they will go around the house stark naked.
Can you imagine the traumatic effect this would have on a 14 year old boy? Not at all funny for him, but absolutely hilarious for the reader. And it was quite rightly shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.
Things have to go wrong to be funny
I heard Hugh Dennis say that on The One Show.
Give it a twist
Humour is also about the unexpected, about giving things a twist. Tim Collins' Diary of a Wimpy Vampire is a great example of that. We all expect vampires to be scary, powerful and sexy - so Tim invents one who is spotty, awkward about girls and lacking confidence. And being a vampire just makes it all worse. And very hilarious to the reader.









Great interview, full of fascinating and useful insights about writing humour. Thanks very much, both of you: this post is one I'll definitely read again and again.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Interviewing on Facebook is the bee's knees. When I interviewed Elizabeth Wein for Words and Pictures we were both making dinner for our children while tapping away questions and answers.
DeleteLovely interview, lots of interesting thoughts on humour and how it works, and how not to do it. And very impressed with the multi-tasking whist being interviewed!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat!
DeleteGreat interview! I can't wait to get my copy of Dougal Trump:Where's my Tarantula!
ReplyDeleteCould I swap one for a copy of The Crystal Mirror?
DeleteGreat interview, great character, great book! And thank goodness for Jackie and her agent's persistence! Very much looking forward to reading "Where's my Tarantula" and possibly sending Dougal a real one...
ReplyDeleteYes please! I'd love another tarantula!
DeleteI love this interview and I love the thought of Jackie occasionally being Dougal.
ReplyDeleteJackie, good luck with the YA fantasy stuff - I have heard you talk of it before though not been lucky enough to read any of it.
Thanks, Amanda!
DeleteExcellent points and comments! Writing funny is my dream--thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, Candy and Jackie! And we didn't overlap too much with my Guardian thingummy jiggummy whatsit. See! Lots of ways to be funny completely by accident x
ReplyDeleteMy writing humour was most definitely by accident!
DeleteA fabulous interview and some much appreciated tips from an expert. Thank you both - off to spend some money on Amazon now, my class will thank you too on Monday.
ReplyDeleteAn expert? That's the first time I've been called that - thank you!
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