The Short Humor Piece to Novel Pipeline

Andrew Knott on transitioning from writing short humor pieces to a novel, writing and editing humor for Medium, and introverting tips

Today I’m bringing you a conversation with humor writer

Andrew Knott

. I first virtually met Andrew several years ago when we were both writing in similar parenting and humor spaces like Medium, Razed (RIP), McSweeney’s, and old Twitter (also RIP). He became one of my internet humor-writing friends and I can always count on his writing to make me laugh.

Andrew recently published his first novel—a second-chance romance with humor and heart called Love’s a Disaster. The book is set in Florida and follows Sadie and Caleb as they get another chance at love years after their breakup. It also features sword fighting, relatable parenting moments, and some very important library instructional videos.

I talked to Andrew about transitioning from writing short humor to a novel, writing and editing humor on Medium, introverting, and what is making him laugh lately.

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Congrats on the new book! As someone interested in writing a novel in the future, I'm curious how you found the transition from writing shorter humor pieces and essays to writing a novel. Were there any resources or techniques you found particularly helpful in making the switch?

Thank you! First off, I hope you do write a novel because I would love to read it! 

As far as resources go, probably to my detriment, I didn’t really utilize craft books nor did I take any classes. A couple of friends have had a lot of success with online novel writing workshops and classes but I am very hesitant about those types of things because I’m a very nervous person. Having people read and critique my work at that very direct and personal level would take all the fun out of it for me, so I decided to give it a shot on my own.

I do think techniques I’ve naturally developed over the years writing essays and short humor did help. I aimed to give each chapter a story arc with some sort of ending. And, of course, there is a lot of humor in the book so I definitely used my joke-writing experience.

Early in the drafting process, I settled on a structure that was basically one chapter from the main character Caleb’s perspective, one chapter from the other main character Sadie’s perspective, and one chapter of flashback that included both main characters. This made it easier for me to plan ahead. I would often leave myself simple notes at night so I would have ideas to work with for the next chapter when I sat down to write the next day. I think that helped me keep my momentum and allowed me to write the first draft in a fairly short amount of time. 

I love that your book is a romantic comedy because I think a lot of romance novels are funny but maybe don't get the credit they deserve. Funny romance banter can be great. Did you mull other potential genres for a novel or did you land on romance pretty quickly?

I agree! There are so many smart and funny romance novels out there. 

So, I had this premise of the failed marriage proposal at a rock concert in the back of my head for literally decades. Since I ultimately decided to move forward with that idea and build it into a book, I knew the novel would be at least somewhat in the romance genre and it would be funny because that’s what attracted me to the premise–-the ridiculousness of the entire situation. 

As I got deeper into it and started building out the characters and plot, I wanted to create a mixture of funny and sentimental because that tends to be what I enjoy most in books. Honestly, making the romantic storyline more solid took a lot of work and I got quite a bit of help from my editor Elizabeth at Bayou Wolf Press. I got a lot of notes that boiled down to “I need to know what they are feeling here.” That was tough because I’m an emotionally stunted person, but I persevered! 

Side note. I enjoyed writing the character Helen who is Caleb’s mom because she is a very straight-laced, emotionally flat character (largely, as it turns out, because she’s covering up her past disappointments and traumas). It was nice to have someone in the book I could easily relate to. 

You are also an editor for the parenting humor publication Frazzled and have been writing on Medium for a long time. What tips do you have for people submitting to Frazzled? Do you find that certain types of pieces or subjects work better for the publication or on Medium in general? 

This is very cliche advice, but it does help if writers read a few Frazzled stories before submitting. We get a lot of pieces that are just totally outside our scope. Everything from humor that’s not about parenting to serious parenting advice to 5,000-word short stories. 

As for what works on Medium, it’s a bit hard to say because it often feels like a moving target. However, in general, humor that isn’t too esoteric, absurd, or edgy tends to get a better response from Medium readers. Sometimes pieces that you might see on McSweeney’s or similar sites which I would classify as very abstract or niche humor don’t do as well on Medium because the audience isn’t specifically a conceptual humor audience. So, personal stories told humorously or satire that isn’t super obscure tend to have the best response.

I know you have talked about being a socially anxious/introverted writer in the past (something I might relate to). But I think you are really good at sharing your work and being a good literary citizen who shares other writers' work. Do you find it easier to talk about your work online rather than directly to people's faces in real life? Do you have any other strategies that help you with the whole "marketing" side of writing?

Absolutely! I’m so much more comfortable on social media and online, in general. I’m always so impressed by your ability as an introverted person to do so many conferences and online and in-person events. I get anxious just thinking about it!

I love having the time to think and craft coherent answers. Written interviews and online interactions tend to allow that time and space. When I’m on the spot in a live event, I’m so obsessed with just managing my anxiety and making it through that it’s hard to move beyond that worry and be thoughtful or insightful in any way.

I still feel like I’m not great at marketing, but I’ve learned to focus most on doing things that I’m comfortable with and enjoy to some extent. Written interviews like this, writing an annotated musical playlist for my book, and posting on social media are all things I like to do so it doesn’t feel too stressful or overwhelming. So, if you’re anxious or introverted like me, I’d suggest starting with the types of marketing activities you are comfortable with and then trying to grow slowly from there.

As a fellow introverted parent, I am impressed that you do things that scare me like hosting sleepovers with multiple children. Do you have any introverted parenting tips to share? 

So, for me interacting with children is so much easier than interacting with adults. For whatever reason, I feel more like my authentic self when I’m around kids and I can talk to them and joke around with them easily. Of course, I feel like that will probably change as my kids get older and their friends become teenagers. I’ll have to start worrying again about being judged, but for now, I’m reveling in my moment!

As far as tips for introverted parents, I would say you kind of have to play to your strengths. If you’re like me and you are more comfortable with kids, try to plan events that don’t involve other parents or focus your energy on interacting with the kids at a party instead of making small talk with adults. Honestly, most adults will love it if you’re bouncing with the kids on the trampoline so they can chill out and talk about insurance or whatever. It’s a win-win.

What is something that has been making you laugh lately?

I’m really enjoying this comedian/substitute teacher named Sam Salem who makes videos about his teaching experiences and the insecurities he feels interacting with the middle and high school kids. He also has a series of videos about making up words that sound like Gen-Z slang terms and trying to convince his students they are real. Apparently, a couple of his made-up slang words made it onto Sportscenter on ESPN. The content is funny and his delivery is great.

I believe this is the first video in the slang term series from Instagram:Making Up Gen-Z Slang Part 1.

Thanks, Andrew! Learn more about him here:

Andrew Knott is a writer of essays, humor, and fiction based in the Orlando area. He is the author of the book Fatherhood: Dispatches from the Early Years, and the founding editor of Frazzled, a parenting humor publication. His writing has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Washington Post, and Parents Magazine, among others. Love’s a Disaster is his first novel.

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