Registration opens:
October 18th, 2026 at 9:00am

Mining Your Life for Laughter

Write Here

Learn when and how to use humor in your writing.

Space is limited and registration is required.

Do you like to laugh? Do you like to make others laugh? Writers have been making readers laugh for centuries. Some writers use their lives as a vehicle for humor. Why not you? This class explores how to take the joy, blunders, daily mistakes, even pain and turn them into humorous essays and stories. As Carol Burnett said: Humor is tragedy plus time. The goal is by the end of the class, attendees have learned and practiced methods to use humor in their writing. Some takeaways include: three humor theories, seven ways writers deliver humor, when to use and why to use humor, using humor to impart truth. All writing levels welcome.

About the Presenter: 

Bob Balmer’s writing has appeared in the Smithsonian, Golf Illustrated, ZYZZYVA, the Oregonian, the Seattle Times, Oregon Coast Magazine and other print media. It has aired on Marketplace, the Savvy Traveler and Oregon Public Broadcasting and Television. He has facilitated workshops for the Deschutes Public Library, Thurber House, Fishtrap, Writing in the West, Write on the Sound, the Palm Springs Writers Guild, and other writing organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

Questions? Contact: Sydneyl@dpls.lib.or.us