Why Comedy Is Probably The Hardest Genre To Write Well

 

There are certain genres that are harder to write than others, because a creative examination of life is not the same for all parts of our earthly living. Comedy, for instance, is particularly hard to write well, and easy to write poorly. As much skill as it takes to write good dramas, tragedies, thrillers and romances (and it takes a lot), the one advantage the writer has in choosing those genres over comedy is that those genres more easily express their quality with the intrinsic nature of the story.

For example, if you're writing a tragedy about the death of a child, one thing in your favour is that the occurrence of death naturally devastates those engaged in the narrative, so at least some of your work is done for you, because child death is a tragic thing, and most of us can elicit deep sympathy as we share in each other's suffering. Similarly, a woman being stalked by a serial killer is a chilling thing, so, as with tragedy, some of the work is already done for you if you're writing a thriller intending to unsettle the reader. 

But when it comes to the writing of comedy, we have a slightly different situation to the aforementioned - because when setting out to write a comedy, almost every scene won't naturally be funny or witty. We all know how discomforting it is to be in a room or a theatre or a comedy club in the presence of someone trying desperately hard but failing to be funny. The writer has a harder job constructing the right setting, plot and (in particular) the right dialogue to make things funny, as well as choose the right literary characters to deliver those lines.

That is why, in my submission, comedy is the hardest genre to write well.