Danielle Krage interviews author Fran Hill about ways to develop your observational humour skills as a writer. Fran is a former English teacher, and had a monthly satirical column about education in the Times Educational Supplement. She further shared her experiences in diary form in her memoir ‘Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?' And she published her novel, ‘Cuckoo in the Nest’ in 2023.  

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

01:19 Starting the Satirical Column

03:09 Observational Humour and Learning

07:30 Transition to Writing

10:26 Discovering the Craft of Writing

11:17 Honing Observational Skills

15:00 Exaggeration and Specific Detail

19:19 Writing Poetry for Special Occasions

24:20 Challenges of Writing Fiction

28:30 Observation, Hypervigilance, and Comedy

34:34 Crafting Poems for Others

38:16 Writing with a Macro Perspective

41:07 The Inspiration for Character Development

41:24 The Power of Setting

42:14 Continual Learning and Growth

42:32 Where to Find More of Fran Hill's Work

You can find out more about Fran Hill and her work here:

https://www.franhill.co.uk

https://linktr.ee/franhill123

https://twitter.com/franhill123

https://www.instagram.com/franhill123

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social