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I never write anything without humor, just because I like humor, but at the same time, it is a way for anything fantastical to become relatable.
Joss Whedon
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Humor makes complex and fantastical ideas more relatable to people.

Joss Whedon emphasizes the importance of humor in storytelling, suggesting that it serves not only as a personal preference but also as a crucial tool to connect extraordinary concepts with everyday experiences. By infusing humor into his writing, he aims to bridge the gap between the fantastical and the relatable, making his work more accessible to a wider audience.

Themes

HumorStorytellingRelatableFantasyWriting

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech at a writing conference, I shared this quote to highlight the role of humor in storytelling.

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Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length of time it's supposed to be. The restrictions of budget and sets can be really useful. When you can have everything, it's very hard to make things feel real and lived in.
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