Grade 3 · Writing · Lesson 23

Create Humorous or Funny Stories

Being funny in writing is a skill — and like every skill, it can be learned. The best comic stories follow the same pattern: a ridiculous character gets into a ridiculous situation and solves it in the most ridiculous way possible. Humor lives in the gap between what is expected and what actually happens.

What this lesson teaches

1Write a humorous story paragraph using a silly character, silly problem, and silly solution
2Invent a silly character with one over-the-top, specific quirk
3Build a silly problem that grows from the character's quirk and escalates
4Resolve the scene with a silly solution that is absurd or out of proportion
5Use humor techniques such as exaggeration, specificity, and the rule of three

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