Writing Satire

 Hello! My name is Eric Gorday and I’m an aspiring comedy writer. I want to write jokes for a living. Everyone knows that any joke writer worth their salt has a creative process. I would like to share mine with you all today. 

I’m a writer for the UF Crocodile, a satirical media organization, similar to the Onion, that covers UF-related news and topics. Today I’m going to try to write a satirical headline that could be later extended into a full article and posted on the Crocodile website.

Alright time to brainstorm!

I’ll start with trying to brain dump any and all UF-related stories I’ve heard about recently:

Firehouse Subs replacing Subway

Protesting Reitz

Hyflex

Continuous Testing

Getting Cleared To Return To Campus

Dream Team

Long Krishna Lines For Covid

Spring Subleases

Bright Futures Return

University Ave Being Dangerous

Alright good, those are some solid topics. ‘Getting cleared to return to campus’ is sticking out to me a little bit, because It’s something that I’ve talked a lot about with my friends. It seems almost too easy to get cleared to return. I could write a headline making light of that fact. Also inverting the covid clearance requirement onto things that are on campus but can’t get tested.

I like the Firehouse Subs topic too, mostly just because I’ve already started to brainstorm a few headlines. This topic doesn’t really stand on its own too well. I can’t think of any strong points of view to communicate through the headline (and article). The best satirical headlines have something to say, something that is communicated through the humor - a subtext. The only subtext I can think of for this topic would be that UF tries too hard to to improve upon its own institutions and facilities, they take up too many redundant and unnecessary projects.

Now I will try and brainstorm some headlines. It doesn’t matter if they’re very good now. I can always go back to them and edit later. For now, it’s important to keep a creative flow going with my ideas. Whenever I get stuck in this stage, I guide myself with a list of ‘funny filters’ that I’ve taken from a book I read about writing print comedy. The funny filters are a list of the types of humor that we communicate, for example: irony. If I get stuck, I can reference the list and see what angles I’ve tried and which I haven’t. The full list of funny filters are: irony, hyperbole, madcap, character, reference, shock, parody, wordplay, analogy, metahumor, and misplaced focus.

Subtext: Getting cleared for campus is too simple and easy.

Headlines: 

Student Cleared For Campus After Claiming To Be Covid-Negative

Thermometer guns being replaced with something more subjective - pinky swear?

Covid Clearance Now Requiring Student Pinky Swears

Subtext: Inversion

Headlines:

Squirrel Population Driven From UF After Failing To Receive Clearance

Turlington Potato Removed From UF After Failing To Schedule A Covid Test

etc...

Subtext: There are too many UF projects, ex: Firehouse Subs

Headlines ideas:

____ To Be Replaced With Another Firehouse Subs

____ To Be Replaced With A Second Firehouse Subs

Firehouse Subs

Gator Dining 

Midtown bars

Chic Fil A

Little Hall

Lib West

Krishna

Turlington

Jamba Juice

Uf Bat-houses

Review:

I will return after having written the ideas in order to critique/edit them. This way I can more objectively judge my writing with fresh eyes. So what do I think? I ended up liking the Firehouse Subs idea, especially if it’s Jamba Juice: UF Jamba Juice To Be Replaced With Another Firehouse Subs. I think the idea is so silly and ridiculous because, for those of you who don’t know, the new Firehouse Subs is right next to the UF Jamba Juice. I also like applying the testing logic onto things that are on campus but aren’t human. I think campus squirrels would work well here, everyone at UF knows about the squirrels, everyone fears them.

So there ya go! I write, I edit, I rewrite, edit, then rewrite some more! All until I’m satisfied or a deadline approaches. I will try to continue workshopping these into more presentable, polished content for the Crocodile. I hope you had fun reading, I had lots of fun writing!