Satire: a tongue-in-cheek guide
© Richard Dudley
Satirical writer Fran Hill produces a monthly column for the Comment page of the Times Educational Supplement and writes a humorous blog at www.beingmiss.blogspot.com. Here she offers her biting insight into writing satire. From ignoring the law to avoiding irony, there’s plenty to learn, especially if you’re not keen to be published. However, if you do the exact opposite of what each of Fran’s tongue-in-cheek top tips demands, you’ll be in with a chance of satirical success.
I’ve been writing satirical articles for a while now. I’m hoping, some day, to get one of them into print. But I know you’ll benefit from my years of experience. So, here are my top tips.
Step one - Let your writing flow
If you want to write a satirical article, put pen to paper and let it flow. You feel strongly about something? Then forget all that rubbish about planning and structuring (yawn, yawn). Who’s got time for that when there are politicians to poke fun at and society to slander?
I see it as a kind of therapy. When I’ve had a good old bash at someone, I feel so much better. And I wouldn’t dream of going back and changing anything, even if editors ask me to, which they often do. What’s on that page is pure, unadulterated passion, and it’s going to stay.
Step two - Don’t let the law hold you back
Don’t worry about all that libel and slander rot. Look, satire is controversial. You’re bound to upset people. You might as well do it properly. And anyway, making the odd accusation that you can’t prove saves you time researching what really happened and who really said what and all those tiresome details which hold up the whole process. Use your imagination; that’s what we writers do, isn’t it? Any editor who asks you to withdraw the more creative elements of your piece needs to broaden his idea of what real satire is.
Step three - Feel free to ramble
You’ve probably heard the old advice about keeping to the point. Yeah, well, that’s beginners’ stuff when it comes to satire. You’re a grown up now - you have opinions, feelings, things to say. Digressions and interesting asides will stop you from sounding boring. So, don’t worry about trying to link your ideas too strongly; no one will expect flowing prose from someone as opinionated as you are. When editors use words like ‘rambling’ and ‘incoherent’ in their feedback to you, don’t take it personally. I haven’t, and I’ve had thirty-nine say it to me.
Step four - Exaggerate to your heart’s content
I love exaggerating. Some say you can’t over-use exaggeration otherwise you don’t sound convincing. But what’s the point in exaggerating carefully? There’s no benefit in having a tool if you can’t use it. Just tip-toeing around the issue isn’t proper satire. I think a good satirical article should have a trillion examples of exaggeration to be effective. When I get one published, and I will, because I’m the best satirist in the world, you’ll see what I mean.
Step five - Steer clear of subtlety
We’ve all done those creative writing courses (I’ve done thirty-three) where they trot out the old clichés like ‘less is more’ and ‘trust your reader’. That’s why they reckon understatement and subtlety are vital if you’re writing satire. Well, understatement and subtlety, my arse. Everyone’s just scared these days to voice their opinion because of all that political correctness garbage. No one’s ever going to misunderstand me, except some editors, it seems.
Step six - Write what you don’t know
An editor once said to me (well, he didn’t exactly say it as he’s refused to speak to me personally, but he wrote it in fourteen rejection letters) that I needed to prove why I was qualified to write a satirical article. He reckoned that insight into the world I was satirising would give my article substance. Well, all I can say is, I think my D in Economics at school gives me all the insight I need to write about the real reasons for the recession. The D wasn’t my fault anyway. I worked really hard in those classes (the ones they let me into).
Step seven - Make your insults personal
Ignore people who say you shouldn’t get personal. They’re losers. If you’re going to satirise some politician’s ideas, then prove that he’s a real idiot and find out something salacious about his private life. I found this especially useful once when I was writing about a politician but, frankly, found his ideas rather complicated. It was much easier to look up what the tabloids said about his wife and put that in to pad out the article. I increased it from 30 to 300 words that way and the editor who slashed the last 270 words with a red pen obviously didn’t know expertise when he saw it.
Step eight - Avoid irony
Finally, onto irony. I’m a plain-speaking sort of person, and I don’t see the point in irony. If you’re going to say something, say it. Don’t faff about, hiding your real meaning under some witty statement or other. People say it’s clever and it’s one of the main satirical tools, but that’s only because they’re afraid to come straight out with it. I can be ironic when I want to, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve tried it in my articles, and as the editors didn’t seem to notice the subtleties, I stopped. It’s no good wasting your skills on people who don’t appreciate it.
I hope my tips have been helpful and that you’ll get published soon. If you do follow my advice, be warned that there are some editors around who don’t appreciate this kind of writing. I can supply a list of these by email to any who’d like it, but bear in mind that downloading the file may take a while.
