The Independent
Heritage Writers Guild will meet Tuesday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room downstairs at the St. George Library, where guild board member Tom Garrison will give a presentation on writing for humor.
Garrison, a local author, published his third book, “Hiking Southwest Utah and Adjacent Areas, Volume One,” in December. His first book, “Why We Left the Left: Personal Stories by Leftists/Liberals Who Evolved to Embrace Libertarianism,” was awarded honorable mention, nonfiction category, in the September 2013 League of Utah Writers Published Book Contest. In the same contest in September, his second book, “Challenge Authority: Memoir of a Baby Boomer” came in second place for nonfiction.
Garrison has lived in St. George for over five years and is an active member–as well as current vice president–of the Heritage Writer’s Guild, which is the St. George chapter of the League of Utah Writers. Since December of 2010, he has published more than 60 essays—some about hiking and politics as well as humorous essays—in The Spectrum, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Mesquite Local News, and the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Garrison quotes Eller Wheeler Wilcox: “Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone.”
“There are certainly times to weep,” Garrison said. “But I hope most people, most of the time, spend much more of their lives laughing.”
His presentation on writing for humor begins with humor: “After considerable Internet research, I found no consensus on what makes something funny. That is the end of my presentation, go home.”
During his presentation, he will discuss three main theories of humor in writing: incongruity, superiority, and relief. He will also present several lesser-known theories about what makes something funny. Attendees will leave with a wealth of information about how they can add humor to their writing.
In addition to Garrison’s presentation, the guild will discuss the upcoming writing workshop to be held on July 11 in St. George. The June, July, and August general guild meetings will be critique group sessions and will be held in a smaller conference room downstairs in the library.
The meeting on Tuesday, May 12, and the critique groups in June, July, and August are free and open to the public. Heritage Writers Guild welcomes writers of all genres and skill levels. For more information, please contact Jon Thompson at (435) 817-9123.
