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Any budding writer who has ever attending a creative writing seminar or course will most likely be familiar with the advice to "find your authentic voice" or "write from the heart" and although these phrases are often so overused as to sound trite, the advice is solid.

For any piece of writing to truly dazzle, it comes from that deep place the writer sometimes goes to, when it's just you and the pen - or keyboard - and the outside world fades away. To come over all Zen like, there is no writer, only the writing.

We've all experienced that sense of flow sometimes when you feel like you're writing from the very core of yourself and the words just pour out of you. For a humor writer, it's those times when the work takes on a life of its own and the laughs come thick and fast, whether it be black humor, a scathing and witty observation or chick-lit lite. You're funnier than you ever thought you could be.

Serious Writing

It's a great place to be. Yet of course, striving to get there can make it all the more elusive. For a humor writer there is also a double bind - there is often a perception that humor writing is, by its very nature, not "serious writing," which can be taken to mean, not authentic, not coming from that deep place. As Laraine Herring, writing tutor and author of Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying your Authentic Voice tells us, humorous writing can often come from the deepest source of all - our sense of inner joy, or alternatively as in the case of black humor, our deepest sorrows, be they individual or societal.

In short, humor writing can be simultaneously one of the most fun and yet one of the most serious creative pursuits of all.

Reaching Out to the Reader

There can be no better way of connecting with your readers than to make them laugh, whether that be a bitter laugh at a recognized truth, a giggle at a wry observation or a deep belly laugh at some fundamentally hilarious truth of life.

The best laughs are those that take readers by surprise because such moments are what make readers carry on reading, whether their material of choice is an online copy article, an e-zine essay, a witty novel or a dazzling piece of non-fiction. Laughter, and reading material that makes you laugh, is therapeutic.

A good laugh can make light of the darkest situations, bring people together, even strengthen the immune system and ward off illness. So don't let anyone tell you that writing humor is anything less than a valuable vocation. At the very least, you've brightened up someone's day.

Connecting with Yourself

What about humor writers themselves? How do we write from that authentic place where our observation skills are keenest, our ability to find humor in the blackest of situations the sharpest, or our wit and verve the lightest - and still be funny? Not to mention, still be happy?

Deep writing can be draining, and giving those insights and often-private thoughts to others in the shape of creative humor can be very draining. It's no coincidence that high levels of depression can be found among history's funniest comedians - and among our most talented writers.

To guard against this feeling of being drained - which in turn can lead to the dreaded writer's block or, disastrously for a humor writer, leave you feeling too bleak to see the funny side of anything - Laraine Herring recommends a period of solitude and/or stillness, every day for at least half an hour. No writing, no thinking about writing, no talking about writing. No reading either. Meditation and contemplation are of course perfect but if you're not that way inclined, then a hot bubble bath or treating yourself to a massage are other great ideas. Afterwards you'll be refreshed and recharged, and your writing will benefit.

Creative tutor Julia Cameron, author of the phenomenally successful The Artist's Way recommends taking yourself on regular "artist's dates" to inspire the same feeling and even lay the seeds for future writing ideas. An artist's date could be a trip to the theater, the circus or even a toy store; just make it fun.

Yes, that's right. Let yourself laugh.

- Claire Parker

Claire Parker is now a freelance writer, but before she chose this precarious path, she worked as a graphic designer and artist. She divides her time between her family, her friends and her computer these days and likes to creatively juggle her workload with a good sense of humor.