Lately I’ve been enjoying using Twitter as a platform for very short-form comedy writing. I have ongoing series on various themes. It’s only recently that I started including a hashtag on these for easy retrieval (or for others to contribute to the theme, although they rarely do). There is something about being constrained by 140 characters (actually, it’s fewer now that I tack on a hashtag) that is invaluable to improving my writing skills. It’s a challenge to be funny in that format, just as it’s challenging to write a good haiku poem.
Anyway, recently I’ve had a few series that are running-related. The first was a series that explored the best reasons to drop out of the NYC Marathon. Last night I did another in response to a stupid article I read with tips from Kara Goucher and her sponsor, Amway. That one’s on tips for running your first marathon.
I write a lot of these during the weird mental twillight that happens in the 45 minutes between when I take an Ambien and when I fall asleep. I think there’s something about that drug that blows mung out of the cogs and lets absurdity flow.
I’ll probably do more of them since runners are such a dedicated crowd. And it’s not like there’s a ton of runner-specific comedy out there. Unless you count Toni Reavis’ violence-laden race commentary.
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Races Like a Girl 