Since Christmas I have read about 30 novels, in every novel I have noticed how little the mood of the characters change. Most of the novels have been horror or fantasy but I have been surprised at the lack of light hearted moments or humor in any of the stories. Personally I like to inject a break in any tension in a story to give a more balanced feel. Am I wrong to do this?
I doubt it's wrong. I never thought it'd there be to balance things out, it's just the way I write (and my writing partner writes), so it's never been a no-brainer. Humor kind of happens, it's actually quite hard to "inject" it, to me anyway. It's really difficult to make it work, and I can't think of that many sci-fi or fantasy works I've read that had truly funny moments. Joe Abercrombie's humor is to my taste, and I also like Glen Duncan. Nicola Barker has often cracked me up as well. I just noticed all my examples are British. I guess Brits have a good sense of humor, then.
If you do it well, it's great. There's a long tradition of comic relief in dramatic fiction. If you do it poorly, it's jarring and ruins the mood.
Being a east end Londoner I can understand what you are saying. To me, I want to make my characters as true to life as possible despite being in extraordinary circumstances, humor is just a part of life that should not be omitted, it has a place whatever the situation.
I was just browsing his novels yesterday , but couldn't make up my mind which one to download. One of those writers I've always been meaning to check out, but then ended up reading something else.
Agreed. Comedy is about the unexpected, so its placement within a differently-toned setting can create a great set up.
