Publications

What you will find within these pages is, firstly, a brief overview of a number of different features and techniques that can commonly be found in humour and how they work (and in some cases, work together). After that, we’ll look at different styles of delivering comedy, as well as some common genres and subgenres that use those styles.

What we’re going to do together in this text is explore what makes different forms of writing distinct from each other, and what is needed to excel at them. We’ll do this by pitting opposites against each other: long-form and short-form texts, fiction and non- fiction, prose and verse, and texts that are and are not written to be performed. We’ll also compare the merits of serialised and standalone pieces. This can help you more easily narrow down what you, specifically, enjoy most.

Back in my undergraduate days, I spoke to a lot of classmates who maintained that studying the humanities was ruining their ability to enjoy reading books or watching films for fun. Of course, these encounters mostly took place at the university campus, while we were completely buried in texts someone else was telling us to analyse and write essays on, and that sort of environment has the power to ruin doing anything for fun. Nevertheless, I have noticed a persistent belief that you can either enjoy a text or analyse it, but not both; the two acts are, apparently, mutually exclusive. Analysis can be hard work for the brain; it’s also a process that has an uncomfortable tendency to point out the flaws in a text, and that does admittedly taint any nostalgia you might have for it. However, a bit of discomfort doesn’t have to spoil analysis for you entirely! In fact, you might enjoy a text even more when you have a better appreciation of what it does well. Plus, if you're a creative type, analysis helps you develop your craft as well. We’re constantly picking up ideas from the media we come across anyway, but imagine how much more you’ll find when you’re being deliberate about it!

In this text, we will explore three different methods of analysis (close reading, comparing and contrasting, and using context clues), including practical exercises for each. I also discuss the importance of analysis and making good arguments, and the concept of "death of the author".

Red Pens 101 is an an introductory writing guide designed to familiarise readers with the basic elements of good written communication and develop a better understanding of how words, sentences, and punctuation work. Features include: concepts of grammar and punctuation explained in the signature engaging Red Pens and Playwriting style, heaps of examples, a lot of cat references, key point summaries at the end of each section, and one rickroll.