Heritage Writers Guild presents Writing for Humor workshop

ST. GEORGE – The Heritage Writers Guild will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room downstairs at the St. George Library. Guild board member, Tom Garrison, will give a presentation on writing for humor.

Local author Tom Garrison published his third book, “Hiking Southwest Utah and Adjacent Areas, Volume One,” in December, 2014. His first book, “Why We left the Left: Personal Stories by Leftists/Liberals Who Evolved to Embrace Libertarianism,” was awarded Honorable Mention, nonfiction category, in the September 2013 League of Utah Writers Published Book Contest. In September 2014, the League of Utah Writers Published Book Contest, nonfiction category awarded 2nd Place to his second book, “Challenge Authority: Memoir of a Baby Boomer.”

Garrison has lived in St. George for over five years and is an active member, and current vice president, of the Heritage Writer’s Guild — the St. George Chapter of the League of Utah Writers. Since December 2010 he has published more than 60 hiking, political and humorous essays in The Spectrum, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Mesquite Local News, and the Los Alamos Daily Post.

“Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone.” – Eller Wheeler Wilcox.

“There are certainly times to weep,” Garrison said. “But I hope most people, most of the time, spend much more of their lives laughing.”

His presentation on writing for humor begins with:

“After considerable Internet research, I found no consensus on what makes something funny. That is the end of my presentation, go home.”

During his presentation he will discuss three main theories of humor in writing; incongruity, superiority, and relief. He will also present several lesser known theories about what makes something funny. Attendees will leave with a wealth of information about how they can add humor to their writing.

In addition to Garrison’s presentation, the Guild will discuss the upcoming Heritage Writers Guild writing workshop to be held July 11 in St. George. The June, July and August general Guild meetings will be critique group sessions in a smaller conference room downstairs in the library.

The meeting on Tuesday and the critique groups in June, July and August are free, and open to the public. Heritage Writers welcomes writers of all genres and skill levels. For more information, contact Jon Thompson, 435-817-9123.

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