Quick question… In my podcast, I use a lot of humor. The humor is almost always tangential to the actual point. After all, how funny are file folders? Not very. But file folders being used as emergency underwear? Er, hilarious.
Work Less and Do More is shaping up to be a book of a great many chapters or sections, each of which has a concrete tip. As I write, I’m having doubts about the humor-to-content ratio. In the podcast, about half the content is humor and attitude, and half is content. In a book, this seems too high on the humor for me.
Do people want more humor or more time spent on the content? Content seems pretty dry to me, but then, humor can feel overbearing if it’s hundreds of pages.
What do you think? You’re (hopefully) going to be my readers. Your thoughts appreciated!
19 responses so far ↓
1 J. Hall // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:13 am
LOL … File Folders as emergency underwear… Nice!
Honestly, if humor is part of making the point, then in my book it IS content. There are many ways you can get to a point, but I think that humor makes things stick better than just bland ol’ reading.
just my 45 cents (Inflation, you know)
J
2 Diana LeRoi-Schmidt // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:18 am
Personally I like the mix of both. It makes a book that is on the longer side go a lot faster. Also I think when you add humor to an important point it can help it stick in one’s head better.
I’m all for humor. Being organized, creating structure can be dull
3 David // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:28 am
I would say that readers familiar with the podcast would be disappointed if the book pulled back significantly from the humor. I know that I listen to GIDG more religiously than competitors because the pearls of wisdom are wrapped in laugh-out-loud (no exaggeration) er .. oyster shells.
4 James Connors // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:35 am
I think that when doing a GTD book – it’s best that the signal to noise ratio be higher than on the podcast.
I’d say a paragraph per page of humor would be about right. If you can somehow parse out the tip from the humor, you may be able to allow the reader to skip it if they’re having a tough time.
In the Lifehacker.com book, stories and humor were usually contained to asides and flyout boxes etc. I found this to be useful so I could get to the tips and move on.
5 Matthew J Hendrickse // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:35 am
A 50/50 ratio to me doesn’t sound bad. There’s two sides of the line here to watch out for as you’re said.
You don’t want the book to be dry. All of us have a different kind of personality – and yours should show up in the book. When I read David Allen’s GTD, I don’t read a lot of jokes – but that’s not him. What I do read it something that is not just facts, but that makes me feel like if I could fully implement GTD I would be a superhero of productivity. But that’s his personality – he’s a *huge* motivator.
On the other hand when I hear your podcast you don’t make me feel like I could be a superhero of productivity – you make me go “oh yeah, I never thought about doing that” and you let me laugh at myself and give me hope. These are the things that I’d like to see in your book – the humour that you bring that keeps us going when we sometimes feel like we might be failing with GTD.
But then we also want the facts, if we have to page thought pages upon pages of humour in order find the one “how about doing this…” fact that it’s too much humour.
In short we hope you’re got a good editor, and they should be able to help make sure you have the right balance. But while you’re writing it.. don’t worry too much. Allow the book to be invaded with who you are.
And I’m sure it’s going to be good.
6 Intchanter // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:35 am
Some of my favorite reading has been the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, and I’ve gained many insights and additional ways of looking at the world through his writing. One of the things he excels at, though, is making it clear that while he takes his writing very seriously, he also takes his humour (sic in the UK) very seriously.
As a result, he has quite possibly the most avid fan base I’ve ever encountered. How many other authors can claim to have written a series of 30+ books and have readers irate that life will deprive them of 30+ more through a degenerative neural condition?
What’s the lesson here for a non-fiction author? I have absolutely no clue, but it’s a fun data point.
7 Rob Kendrick // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:38 am
Stever, I concur with James. Gina uses a similar style as you on the Lifehacker site, but in the book, she put the humour in the context boxes and related stories.
Since people usually buy self-help books to get help, they’re usually a bit stressed, and stressed people tend to respond to humour differently. Some, like James pointed out, like to skip it.
With that said, I believe most of us greatly appreciate your sense of humour, goofball.
8 Fred Firestine // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:39 am
In college as a math/comp sci major, I took the obligatory (at the time) class on the programming language Pascal. We used a book called “Oh! Pascal!” Even the title was a joke, because the authors figured if they started the title with an O it would land ahead of all the “Programming” books in alphabetical order. They included “Who’s on First?” in their discussion of variable names. The book was a great mix of humor and really easy-to-understand lessons about the programming language. The layout was about the same as other “how to” programming books, but the examples made it memorable. I think Grammar Girl has hit on a similar formula with the characters she uses in her book and podcasts.
Now, what should the ratio be? If you are providing humorous stories as a lead-in to your material, they shouldn’t be more than 25% or so of the total. If the humor is integrated with the point you’re trying to make, then go with it. As I said about “Oh, Pascal!” it will be a memorable book for sure.
9 Michael // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:48 am
As I read a transcript, it does seem to me that the humor is quite concentrated, so that the experience is somewhat like drinking orange juice concentrate right from the can–it tastes good, but *wow*.
Three possible solutions:
(1) Ease off on the funny. This seems not only hard to do, but would be a shame, since you have so many good lines.
(2) Give EVERYTHING a slower pace, not just the humor. You cram lots of good material into a small space, which is excellent for the podcast (it is QUICK & Dirty Tips, after all), but can seem rushed on the page. Tiny sentences, lots of fragments, etc. It should be possible to slow things down by reworking and lengthening your paragraphs.
(3) Keep the material as it is, but lengthen it visually, by inserting breaks and white space to better simulate the timing of your vocal delivery. This would probably be the easiest route to take.
Each of these has its pros and cons, and no one of them is obviously (to me) the best way to go.
One note, in support of #1: Even though the humor is often tangential, as you say, that doesn’t automatically make it a target for the blue pencil. But some of it can be scrapped without doing damage. What’s more, there are some lines that come up in different casts; they contribute to the individual episode for the listener, but the visual reader who has all the episodes together might wonder why they weren’t thinned out (e.g., loving meetings…no. Hating meetings).
That’s my $.02 for now.
10 Erin B // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:52 am
I do find your podcasts funny and enjoy them all the more because of that.
However, I’d want to see less humor in the book than in the podcast. Yes, you want to keep people engaged and entertained. But it’s also very likely readers will jump in and out of the book as they look for specific tips, try things out, etc. I think if you sat and read the book cover to cover, your head would explode with all the information. So with shorter reading periods, you’ll want digestable bites. Too much humor might get in the way of that. Maybe a 3:2 content:humor ratio?
But as Matthew said, don’t worry too much while you’re writing. It’s easier to cut (esp. with a good editor to guide you) than go back and add.
11 Pewari // Jul 17, 2008 at 11:26 am
TBH, I listen to the podcast BECAUSE of the humour. Oh okay, I also like to be organised and the tips are good, but if I’m buying the book over all the zillions of other “get organised” style books it’s because I want to buy a book *by you* and to read your humour.
So please don’t filter out too much of it
12 John // Jul 17, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I enjoy the humor on the podcast. Don’t change that! However part of the humor is in your delivery. I’m not sure how well it’ll translate into written form. But it’s worth a try. The worst that could happen is you’d ruin your book, no one would buy it, and you’d be homeless and penniless.
13 Russty G // Jul 17, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I love the humor in your podcasts. If you were going to write an audible book which you were going to read, I think the same amount of humor would be good. However in a printed book read silently by me, I think too much of the humor would be distracting and difficult to pull off without the verbal emotions you add in the podcasts. As stated by others the humor would also make finding the good parts more difficult making the book less useful as a reference guide. Also, the humor would lose some of its effect after being read several times and would just be in the way.
I have never read any of the transcripts of your podcasts. I’ll read some and see how your podcast humor works when I read it. I’ll repost if it changes my opinion.
14 Steve Parker // Jul 17, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I love the 50:50 ratio of humor and content. although, that file folder bit may haunt me for life.
15 Carl D // Jul 17, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Humor in writing is harder to pull off than when you’re speaking it. That said, I believe you have the skill to pull it off.
You might want to consider having particular pieces which are clearly identified as serious or not. If something was called a “bizarre tangent”, I’d expect it to be informal and funny. If something was called “key points”, I’d expect them to be serious and to the point. Mixing up these different elements will also help to make each chapter more attractive.
I’ve also found that many times it’s easier to have a cartoon of a funny point than of a serious one. And the cartoon can have just as much serious impact!
16 Sam Fawaz // Jul 17, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Your humor and delivery is your trademark, and if the book flops (not likely) as a getting-it-done guide, then perhaps it will make it in the comedy aisle. Seriously, you should stick with what comes natural, and your loyal listeners will welcome and appreciate it and so will new readers. Keep the humor in and don’t worry about the critics.
17 Shana // Jul 18, 2008 at 1:10 am
Like many of the other commenters, your sense of humor and the quirkiness you bring to your subject matter are a big part of why I enjoy your podcast so much and have become a loyal listener — please keep that up!
In written form, 50% humor might be too high. I think that you struck the right balance in your piece on “Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload” for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4438.html — great piece, by the way!) Your voice and personality shone through, yet did not distract from the wealth of information and tips that the piece conveyed.
Can’t wait to read the book! Keep up the terrific work!
18 Drake Anubis // Jul 27, 2008 at 1:21 am
I like the humor you use on the podcasts. I wouldn’t use much more than that.
19 Bryan // Aug 7, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Stever,
I’m a recent convert to your podcast, a productivity addict looking for the good stuff. I work for a major trade publisher and edit several business authors. As a thanks to the value you add to my workday, I thought the least I could is give my educated opinion.
Humor is a part of your brand and should definitely pepper the book. The question “how much?” should be tweaked to “how frequently?” In your podcast, your trademark blast at meetings or your zany examples to end a serial list are entertainment. Entertainment that helps the medicine go down, say, if I’m not so good at zeroing out my inbox (I’m not). But you obviously can’t trump that meeting line over and over. Readers will get tired of it.
I just read a book that I think could be a great informant and influencer to your brand of communicating: The Word of Mouth Manual, Vol. II by Dave Balter. There was a blog blitz about it one month ago, and a free download is available. Balter’s is a truly funny book; I laughed out loud a lot. But he’s also a trustworthy authority on the topic. He does a great job of mixing humor and information. Another thing you could consider from him is the brevity of his chapters and the overall book. It gave a great pace, and I never felt like I was getting too much or too little.
Because your podcast is so brief, readers might get a little miffed if your chapters are thirty pages long. You’ve trained them to want small, strong doses. Just something to think about.
I hope it sells gazillions.
Best,
Bryan
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