There’s nothing like a sharp-tongued, quick-witted character to light up a scene—especially when the stakes are high or the tone is dark. From sarcastic sidekicks to roguish heroes, witty characters often steal the show. But when the humor feels forced or out of character, it can suck the life right out of a story. So why does some wit dazzle while other attempts fall painfully flat?
In the last few years, there have been a rash of movies (mostly summer blockbusters) that try really hard to live up to the witty legacies of films such as Indiana Jones and the original Star Wars, only to fall sadly short.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), 20th Century Fox.
Why is this?
Often, it isn’t the jokes that are to blame. Words that might have been hilarious coming out of the mouth of Han Solo fall flat on their faces coming out of the mouths of other characters.
So what’s the difference?
In a nutshell: character.
The secret to pulling off a witty character is putting the emphasis not on the wit itself, but on the character.
As we’re planning or writing our stories, it’s easy to say, “You know, it would be fun to have a witty character. A wisecracking hero or a bumbling sidekick.” So we stick ‘em in. But our immediate problem with this decision is that we may be trying to force the humor, instead of allowing it to emerge organically from the character.
Humor grows all the more funny in context. And when that context is a fully developed personality, the humor is then able to offer not just a bigger laugh, but a deeper understanding of both the character and the plot.
If your characters are nothing more than smart mouths, readers will instantly perceive they’re cardboard cutouts, stuck in to garner a quick laugh. Some readers will forgive you for this, particularly if you do indeed happen to be able to write hilarious dialogue. But others may resent it as a gimmick and go looking for something that manages to combine both entertainment and depth.
When you craft characters who are fully realized—whose humor springs from their worldviews, flaws, and relationships—that’s when the wit lands with authenticity and impact. Humor can become more than a joke; it can be an insight. So next time you write a snappy one-liner, ask yourself: is it something this character would say, or something you wish someone would say? Instead of just sticking witty words in characters’ mouths, create complete personalities from whom the wit can flow realistically, organically, and engagingly
For more on writing authentic humor, see these posts:
- How to Write Funny
- 6 (More) Ways to Improve Your Book by Writing Humor
- The Hilarious 2-Step Plan for Writing Humor in Fiction
- How to Write Funny Dialogue
- 4 Ways to Write Meaningful Comedy
Writing Masterclass: Alchemizing Plot, Character, & Theme for Powerful Fiction
How to Choose the Right Character Arc for Your Story
6 Ways to Discover Your Character’s Greatest Fear
New Writing Class: The Hidden Psychology of Story Conflict
About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland
I don’t believe you can write funny if you aren’t funny. If a wise-cracking snark at just the right moment hasn’t ever come out of your mouth, there is no way it’s ever going to appear on the page. Luckily for most writers, if you have a vivid imagination, you’re probably snarky as hell and it will come as second nature. Every writer has multiple personalities in them, and at least one of them will be the straightman…which gives lovely leeway for the funny one to emerge. All you have to do, as a writer, is set the snark free, then teach it a few manners.
This is an excellent comment Patricia. As a wise-cracker since grade school (have my report cards to prove it), most of the time it comes natural. On the flip side, I can see when a friend or family member has decided that they want to be funny in a specific moment. Perhaps it’s a toast or a speech. Generally, it comes off stilted and unnatural if it’s not ingrained in their persona.
As far as K.M.’s advice that the witty banter has to be organic to the character, she is absolutely right. Perhaps for me those characters are closest to my own personality. As I sit down and write, I can see the humor and the absurd through their eyes in situations just as I do in my everyday life.
Of course, that doesn’t mean other characters can’t have funny reactions to things said and happening but it still has to organic to the character and the situation. We have all watched mediocre sitcoms where almost everybody who walks on-screen is a quipster and the humor mostly falls flat.
This leads to the essential matter of timing. All humor is based on timing. Hitting those beats is just as hard as writing the actual humorous words. In the written word, it’s much harder to master pacing and emphasis to maximize the humor. If you are naturally funny, you already know how important this is to verbal humor.
I think one of the most important traits witty characters need is to be in pain or at least to have been in pain. It’s not a coincidence that many of the most successful comedians suffer from depression. Humour rarely exists for its own sake. Its usually a coping mechanism, especially sarcasm and irony. Look at Han Solo up there and what he’s been through. Or take Pratchett’s Sam Vimes. They both been through a lot of pain in the dirt.
Darynda Jones’ snarky sheriff Sunshine Vicram in A Bad Day for Sunshine. I was looking for an audio book at the library for a long plane trip. I laughed out loud so often that I probably freaked out some of my fellow passengers. Lorelei King’s narration didn’t hurt.
I have a character in my head that I’ve wanted to write for years and years, but in my head she is witty, sarcastic, devilishly charming, and a genuinely good hearted person. But I’m not overly funny and not overly charming, so although I know how I want her to be, and I see her in my head doing all these things, I don’t know how to write for her, so I haven’t done it yet. Mostly because I don’t want to do a disservice to the character. I always think it’s better to leave her suit on the sidelines than to discredit the character as I want her to be, a shining beacon of fun, humor, and charm.
Sounds like Ma of Golden Girls.
Write funny, eh? “It’s easy if you know how to do it.” ~ Woody Allen.
I’ve been trying my whole life to write funny… because the whole world is so un-funny and getting un-funnier by the day. Methinks it behooves us writers to make every effort to bring some mirth into this world. Godspeed everyone! … and thank you, Katie for this reminder.
So happy to hear that you’re visiting siblings now! Hoping you’ll have lots of that natural familial witty joking and gut wrenching laughter.
This post is so well timed for me because I have a couple of characters who’ve found their way into my novel and they seem to think they’re Lucille Ball or something. What to do???
Thank you Katie! As always your insight is inspiring.
I have this problem with some of my brain children. I slap humor into their dialogue often pulling it from thin air and it sometimes fits, and other times it falls flat. But I find that I just have to get the initial thought, joke, or sentence written out first, to know where it is I am going. After, I cloak the dialogue with my characters’ voice.
Safe travels and have a great summer!
I love this post! It completely explains why I stopped reading contemporary romances that other reviewers cited as ‘hilarious’ and I see as just one obvious cutesy or otherwise meh line after another, with whole scenes feeling so forced. And it explains why reviewers of my series with the Kim character said they enjoyed the humor, but I know the newer stories have a lot less: sister Meg is a serious, logical engineer. She laughs at herself and at absurd situations but doesn’t have the witty repartee. Different character. Some of Kim’s badinage partners show up in Meg’s stories and liven things up for the readers when two of them are ‘on screen’, but again, that’s an intrinsic part of them. The lower-key rueful humor of the engineer makes my beta readers smile.
I can imagine you badinaging with sibs and having a nice refreshing break. You definitely have the witty module installed, LOL!
THANK YOU!!
Spot on! It’s all about character. And there are a thousand ways to bring funny to your fiction. If you’re interested I’ve written a book about it… I’m a British comedian and writer who has made my living writing comedy for 42 years – anyway it’s called Funny Up Your Fiction and you can pick it up on Amazon.
Hi Everyone Over the years I have seen and heard many comedians on television that were very good. I tried to picture them and imagen which one would make a good Hans Solo, the results were hilarious. Can you imagen George Carlin, or Gallagher, or maybe Robin Williams. Let your imagination run wild you’ll laugh at yourself laughing at yourself. I Love Your ideas for writing Thank You.
If I’m writing a funny character, they have to make ME laugh. If they can make me laugh, they’ll (hopefully) have a chance of making my readers laugh. If they don’t make me laugh, they’re not funny.
When I think of witty dialogue, I think of “The Importance of Being Earnest ” Oscar Wilde sets the tone of the play in the first exchange of words. You know that it’s going to be clever. You know the characters are taking themselves seriously. They have goals they’re trying to achieve and every exchange moves the story along towards its conclusion. The humor isn’t imposed from outside; it’s organic to the story. When it isn’t–a smart-mouth–I (YMMV) find it distracting at best. If it happens more than a couple of times, I DNF the book.