Petty Quarrels and Other Such Nonsense

While I was developing the character of Toralu, my male protagonist, I was brainstorming what type of personality I wanted him to have. While I wanted my characters to get along (at least for the most part), I also wanted them to have some moments of random humor, and some small quarrels here and there. Toralu ended up being a funny character who, while still developing, is pretty much the way that he is going to be throughout. As such, he is relatively humorous and sarcastic, and he is somewhat of a flirt (which I find hilarious to write). On the other hand, he has his grumpy moments (don't wake him up, whatever you do), and he has a bit of a short temper. Still, he's cool.

Anyway, since I decided to create the character to be the way that he is, I realized that there were going to be some arguments involved... many of which would involve something ridiculous and develop into a hilarious situation between the two. I feel like this can be one of the ways to almost liven up a piece that is dragging along on the ground behind you like a dead body (not that I would know...). Even some of the larger fights can be incorporated into the story line, as my two main characters are going to have a blowout about something that is going to lead to a key event, but I refuse to spoil it more than that. However, there are some very funny situations that your characters are able to find themselves in.


1. Quibbles: everybody fights, so if there isn't some sort of argument in your story, there probably should be. After all, what is the conflict that needs to be resolved? Do your characters who have different emotions confront one another? On the other hand, small quibbles can end up being pretty funny, not only for you when you go back and read it ("I can't believe I made them argue about potatoes" or some such nonsense), and can be humorous for the reader as well. Unfortunately, depending on the character personalities, little quibbles like this may not always be within the character of the piece.

2. Awkward situations: who doesn't love giggling over these...or at least among the girls. I mean come on, you know that the one character has some sort of crush or something for the other one, and then the clumsy nature comes out... though this can end badly. For instance, if the other character doesn't notice, the character could trip and land face-first in the mud... though that in itself is pretty funny. On the other hand, there could end up being some sort of semi-romantic moment by chance. It's all up to how evil the plot bunny feels.

The biggest thing to do if you want to add some humor is to look at your characters. Now that you know the personality, think about the best ways that you can make the character be humorous and yet not become OOC (out of character). I hope you enjoy my example below, and I am curious to know what other kinds of situations your character might find himself or herself in. Until next time!

Here are just a few examples of my random sense of humor... you may or may not find them funny, but I try to incorporate as much context in as I can:

1. “Arynna,” she heard the voice but mumbled something incoherent and rolled over to go back to sleep. “Oh for the love of…” there was a sigh, and then she was picked up and spilled onto the floor, much to her aggravation.

2. The only thing he will know unless he has some of his court watching is that I am within the Shadows. She smiled and padded over to the banister, nimbly hopping onto it to look at the garden below. When she saw Toralu below her, she cursed and narrowed her eyes. He seemed to hear her because he looked up and waved sweetly at her. Arynna gritted her teeth. That man gets on my last nerve sometimes! Placing a smile on her face, she hopped down, bending her knees as she landed so that she was engulfed by the Cloak of Shadows.

Sorry for the lack of more examples, but I am not yet very far in my story... I will be able to provide more later when I have written farther into the plot, but as of now I am barely beyond exposition.