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    Mark Shatz

    Stop Micromanaging Your Funny Writing Secrets

    Stop Micromanaging Your Funny

    Many writers believe they have an idea problem when they really have a micromanagement problem. When writers sit down to brainstorm, their minds should be…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzApril 2, 2026
    Educational Tinder Online Learning

    Educational Tinder

    “I will never forget my first day of school. My mom woke me up, got me dressed, made my bed, and fed me. Man, did…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzApril 2, 2026
    From Parental ATM to Full-Service Bank Parenting

    From Parental ATM to Full-Service Bank

    An earlier version of this essay appeared in YourTeen Magazine. I used to be a parental ATM. Now that my son is college-bound, I’ve expanded…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzApril 1, 2026
    Writers Who “Don’t Do Jokes” Writing Secrets

    Writers Who “Don’t Do Jokes”

    At almost every humor writing workshop I teach, someone eventually says: “I’m a writer. I don’t do jokes.” What they mean is that they write…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzApril 1, 2026
    Teaching in the TikTok Era Online Learning

    Teaching in the TikTok Era

    I have an AARP card, which means I’m officially banned from Snapchat, TikTok, and most other social media platforms. The one exception is Facebook, which…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzApril 1, 2026
    Why Pain Is Funny (Sometimes) Writing Secrets

    Why Pain Is Funny (Sometimes)

    One of the first confusing things newbie humor writers discover is that people often laugh at situations that, objectively speaking, suck. Someone slips on ice.…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 31, 2026
    Your Refrigerator Will Tell You When Your Child Has Grown and Flown Parenting

    Your Refrigerator Will Tell You When Your Child Has Grown and Flown

    An earlier version of this essay appeared in Grown and Flown. How will you know your teen has grown and flown? Your refrigerator will tell…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 30, 2026
    Live and Write in the Unexpected Writing Secrets

    Live and Write in the Unexpected

    If you ask people why something is funny, the answers usually aren’t very helpful. “It was just funny.” “That joke cracked me up.” “I laughed…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 29, 2026
    When Humor Hurts Learning Online Learning

    When Humor Hurts Learning

    I wrote a bestselling book on humor writing, Comedy Writing Secrets. I know how to target humor, write one-liners, and even perform stand-up comedy. Which…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 29, 2026
    If You Have to Explain the Joke, It ain’t a Joke Writing Secrets

    If You Have to Explain the Joke, It ain’t a Joke

    One of the most painful moments for a humorist happens after telling a joke. Someone looks confused. There’s a pause. Then the words are uttered…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 20, 2026
    Why People Laugh: Every Humor Writer Needs an Answer Writing Secrets

    Why People Laugh: Every Humor Writer Needs an Answer

    Aristotle studied humor. Charles Darwin wrote about it. Sigmund Freud developed theories about jokes and laughter. Psychologists analyze humor and laughter in laboratories. Despite all…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 17, 2026
    The Nothing Does Suck Rule Writing Secrets

    The Nothing Does Suck Rule

    Many writers believe they have an idea problem. They don’t. They sit down to write something funny, and nothing happens. The brain freezes. The page…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 16, 2026
    Why Humor Is the Red Bull of Online Teaching Online Learning

    Why Humor Is the Red Bull of Online Teaching

    A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep. —W. H. Auden A teacher’s job is to educate, not entertain. And it’s certainly not…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 16, 2026
    Let Students Help You Find the Funny Online Learning

    Let Students Help You Find the Funny

    Designing, building, and teaching an online course is ungodly time-consuming. Asking instructors to also hunt for humorous material can feel like adding another task to…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 13, 2026
    Why Brevity Is the Secret to Funny Writing Secrets

    Why Brevity Is the Secret to Funny

    I love being a college professor—except for one thing. Student papers. Reading assignments is the worst part of the job. Like many people, college students…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 12, 2026
    The Safest Target in Classroom Humor Online Learning

    The Safest Target in Classroom Humor

    A classic comedy adage says: “If there’s no corpse, there’s usually no joke.” In other words, humor almost always attacks something—people, places, ideas, or institutions.…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 12, 2026
    The Fastest Way to Kill a Joke Writing Secrets

    The Fastest Way to Kill a Joke

    Every family has one. The relative who tells the world’s longest joke. It’s usually an uncle or grandfather who begins a “funny story” sometime before…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 11, 2026
    Who’s on the Exam? Online Learning

    Who’s on the Exam?

    From a student’s perspective, there’s nothing fun about taking a test. Yet research and classroom experience suggest that students actually appreciate exams that contain small…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 11, 2026
    Comedy’s Secret Number: Three Writing Secrets

    Comedy’s Secret Number: Three

    Three may be an odd number in math, but it’s the most important number in comedy. That’s because three creates rhythm. Da-da … da-da ……
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 9, 2026
    Buying Baby Gear: A Rite of Passage for New Dads Parenting

    Buying Baby Gear: A Rite of Passage for New Dads

    Originally published in Fatherly Discovering you’re going to be a dad is life-altering. But you don’t fully appreciate your newly anointed status as a father-to-be…
    Mark Shatz
    Mark ShatzMarch 1, 2026
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