Writing Humour in Fantasy Without Breaking the Story
Fantasy and humour have enjoyed a long partnership.
From Terry Pratchett’s wonderfully absurd Discworld to the dry wit found throughout modern fantasy, laughter has become as much a part of the genre as dragons, wizards and magical swords.
Yet humour is surprisingly difficult to write.
Not because jokes are hard.
Because stories are.
The moment readers stop believing in your world, the joke has gone too far.
So how do you make readers laugh without breaking the story?
The World Must Take Itself Seriously
One of the biggest misconceptions about humorous fantasy is that the world itself should be ridiculous.
I disagree.
The world should remain believable.
The characters should take their jobs seriously.
The knight genuinely believes honour matters.
The mage genuinely believes this spell will work.
The priest sincerely believes the gods are watching.
If everyone knows they’re in a comedy, the illusion disappears.
The humour comes from the situation, not from the world winking at the reader.
Character First, Joke Second
The funniest fantasy characters rarely think they’re funny.
They simply behave exactly as they always would.
One character is painfully honest.
Another cannot resist touching dangerous magical artefacts.
Someone else insists everything can be solved with an axe.
Each personality creates humour naturally because their strengths also happen to be their greatest weaknesses.
Readers laugh because the joke belongs to the character.
Not because the author interrupted the story to tell one.
Never Stop the Story for a Punchline
One of the easiest mistakes to make is pausing the plot so somebody can deliver a joke.
Readers notice.
Instead, let the humour happen while the story continues moving.
Perhaps the heroes are escaping a collapsing ruin.
Perhaps negotiations are going disastrously wrong.
Perhaps someone is trying to save the world while simultaneously explaining why setting fire to the Mayor’s favourite statue was technically an accident.
The plot never stops.
The joke simply happens along the way.
Humour Needs Contrast
Comedy works best when it has something to contrast against.
If every page contains a joke, nothing feels especially funny.
Likewise, if every chapter is relentlessly bleak, readers never get a chance to breathe.
The quiet moments make the dramatic ones stronger.
The dramatic moments make the humour land harder.
A well-placed laugh can make the following danger feel far more real.
Trust Your Reader
Some of the best jokes are the ones that aren’t explained.
A passing remark.
A throwaway footnote.
A completely serious conversation about something utterly ridiculous.
Readers enjoy discovering the joke for themselves.
The less you explain it, the more rewarding it becomes.
Humour doesn’t always need a spotlight.
Sometimes it simply wanders past, waves politely, and leaves again.
Humour in Ashes and Embers
When writing Ashes and Embers, I never wanted the comedy to overshadow the adventure.
Axalar is a real world with real dangers.
Its people take those dangers seriously.
They’re simply gloriously imperfect.
One companion reads quietly while chaos unfolds around him.
Another insists honour is always the answer.
Someone else possesses remarkable magical talent but occasionally lacks the judgement to match it.
The humour grows from those personalities rather than from parody.
That, to me, makes the characters feel human.
Even when one of them is accidentally setting something important on fire.
Final Thoughts
Fantasy doesn’t become less epic because it makes readers laugh.
If anything, it becomes more memorable.
Readers who laugh alongside your characters will care far more deeply when those same characters face genuine danger.
And that’s the balance every humorous fantasy hopes to achieve.
Ashes & Embers is the first novel in the Voidshatter series, a humorous fantasy adventure set in the world of Axalar.
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