Amusing to Amazing

At the Erma Bombeck Writers Conference, one of the sessions I attended was on how to take your work from amusing to amazing, by Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant (which is a whole lotta names for one person).

Advice she passed along:

• If you don't have emotion about what you're writing about, you shouldn't be writing it.
• When writing, you must know how you're feeling.
• Quick writing exercises open creative flow.
• You have to write a lot to get to the good stuff.
• She recommends that humor writers do stand-up: "It's good for you. Very empowering. Even if you're a failure at it, that's good too--it makes rejection letters so much easier."
• Comedy = tragedy + time.