Writing a comedy scene in a novel requires an author first to develop a realistic plot, and to create characters that readers find believable, however absurd or outrageous the situation may become in its funniest moments.

A comic scene can contain witty dialogue, but should never rely on jokes or funny characters. The character, or characters, involved in a comedy scene need not themselves be funny people. The more serious the character, the more amusing it can be to see how they become involved, and how they react, in a comedy situation.

Slapstick is the probably oldest form of comedy and a comic novelist can set up a scene where things start to collapse, or unintentionally go wrong. If valuable items become lost or get damaged, this can cause a character to panic, and lead on to further confusion as the character gets deeper into trouble and attempts more evasive action.

Characters telling lies, and receiving false information, can lead up to a good comedy scene. People often trip themselves up and get into further trouble when they tell lies. Lying can cause comedy confusion and funny dialogue between the someone who has something to hide and is lying, and another character who insists on asking questions.

Even sex scenes can be funny, if an author intends a relationship between two characters to lead into the bedroom when they are not romantically in love. It does not have to be an explicit scene, merely an embarrassing one, to create an extremely comic episode.

A writer can put a naive or ignorant character into a comic scene, by creating a situation that allows deliberate misunderstanding or misinterpretation of what is happening, and the arrogance of a fictional character can be ridiculed in a comic scene arrived at through the intricacies of a plot.

Consider the character of Malvolio in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". A humorless steward, who is secretly in love with his lady, Olivia, is persuaded that wearing bright yellow stockings with garters will make him irresistible to her. The plot is all set up to make a fool of him, and the outcome is the cause of much amusement and laughter.

Half way through her complex novel "Possession", the distinguished novelist A. S. Byatt has an American academic staying overnight as a guest in the home of an English widow. The professor needs to examine a document in secret, and he locks himself in the bathroom in order to do this.

Byatt turns this scene into high comedy by setting it in an extremely pink bathroom. Slowly she reveals details of almost every possible example of bad taste. The pinkness and fluffiness of the bathroom is completely incongruous to the male character, who prides himself on owning a personal collection of exquisite and rare items. The contrast between his perceived status and that hideously frivolous bathroom decor creates a great comedy moment in a piece of serious literature.

Writing an effective comedy scene in a novel requires a slow build up, and development of a credible character who gets into an increasingly amusing situation. Subtlety leading to absurdity can create the funniest comedy scene.

Learn more about this author, Ruth Belena.
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