Seriously Ridiculous # 6: Noticing and digging things up

Story fiend. Word nerd. For the comedy curious.

Author

Danielle Krage
October 04, 2025

What’s Up?

Well, hello there. How goes it?

Let’s get into September…

2 THINGS I SAW…

A stylish cow

The sea

2 THINGS I DID…

Swam in said sea. And…

No farmers were put out of work in the making of this photo.

…Drove a digger for the first time. I hooked wooden ducks, dug for bricks, and stacked tyres. Fun

Comedy Craft / Story Fiending

On the writing craft front, this was an interesting read:

Very Good Copy, Eddie Shleyner

The 207 micro lessons are thoughtful and applicable to way more than writing copy.

For example, I loved the one on NOTICING.

In it, Eddie references Jennifer Robert’s class at Harvard where she has students go and look at a painting or sculpture for three hours straight—no phones or screens—to see what they notice, and how it changes.

He draws out the lesson: ‘To be a good copywriter—and a creative person, in general—you must allow yourself to decelerate to the speed your work demands.’  

Decelerating has been A PROCESS for me. Oftentimes, a struggle.

Right now, with all I am juggling, I’m probably not going to be sitting in front of a painting or sculpture for 3 hours. But for those who’ve been following along with my latest Quest, you’ll know that I’ve already been doing a mini version.

It’ called, 100 places, 300 pages. I am describing…you’ve guessed it…100 places. The first 2 pages are what I notice, and then in the 3rd I switch up the POV (point-of-view). E.g. the place as seen from the vantage point of a pigeon, or through the eyes of a wannabe house-buyer.

It has been an excellent excuse to get out of the house and have an adventure. (I toured an Amazon warehouse.) But it’s also been a wonderful eye-opener for places right under my nose. I am now officially hooked on noticing. And honing this practice as it relates to places, not just people.

The Flip

In one of my writing blocks this month, I worked on a draft of my query letter. (The letter I’ll be sending to agents, along with pages of my novel, Beth Raises Hell.) In considering advice for this, it struck me how many story structure terms are better flipped or tweaked for comedy.

These are a few that have shifted for me, plus the podcast conversations and books that guided them.

  • HERO/PROTAGONIST ➜ STRIVER: Chris Head, The Complete Comedy Script Toolkit / NON-HERO: Steve Kaplan, The Hidden Tools of Comedy

  • ANTAGONIST ➜ OPPONENTS: John Truby, The Anatomy of Genres

  • GOAL ➜ INAPPROPRIATE GOAL: Keith Giglio, Writing the Comedy Blockbuster

For example, ‘antagonist’ always had a ‘bad guy’ connotation in my head. This doesn’t fit a world where ALL my characters are flawed and messy (i.e. human), but none of them are bad. It’s much more helpful for me to think in terms of ‘opponents’. Plural.

What language helps you wrangle your story dynamics?

Stash: things I love

One book and one series from September…

Fundamentally, by Nussaibah Younis

This novel was shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize, and I get why.

Comedy Masterclass guest, and fabulous writer, Michelle Gallen described it as ‘a Muslim Bridget Jones’.

It’s a vibe. Irreverent. And utterly unique.

Loved it.

I finally watched Hacks season 4.

It wasn’t my absolute favourite season, but there were still so many moments where I shouted “Jean Smart is a genius!” that I have to include it. Her performance! What an absolute legend. So funny.

I will definitely watch the next (and final) season.

Jean Smart. (Hacks, Season 4)

Dare Bears

I dare you to have a go at the following, and nudge your friends/family to do the same. So fun to write. So fun to share. So fun to read.

Make a list of 50 things you know. (It doesn’t have to be 50.)

I was inspired to do this by Cate Hall, who was inspired by Sasha Chapin, who was inspired by Mari Andrew.

A few I shared on instagram, blurred for dramatic effect. (i.e. I can’t figure a higher resolution for this screenshot?) Please connect with me on instagram for cute pictures of horses. @dekrage

I would love to know yours. What’s a thing you know?

And please do forward this if you want others to try it and join this benevolent hive mind.

Until next time,

PS: Thanks for reading my Seriously Ridiculous letter. All feedback is welcome, as I only want to do this if it’s useful or fun for you to read. You can hit reply and it will wing its way to me.

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