“With the proper tools, we can all write funny . . .” —Rachel (R.L.) Toalson
On Saturday, September 20, Rachel (R.L.) Toalson is teaching a class for the WLT called “Let’s Lighten the Mood: Why and How to Add Humor to Your Stories.” In this class, students will explore different techniques to naturally incorporate humor in their writing, ultimately balancing heavier themes and deepening their emotional impact.
Rachel Toalson writes books. Lots of them. For everyone—kids, teens, adults, fiction lovers, poetry lovers, essay lovers. People who adore realistic stories or magical realism or fantasy or tales that keep them up at night or make them laugh out loud. Most of her stories examine the intersection of neurodivergence, trauma, feminism, and mental illness and feature characters who challenge societal norms and shatter misconceptions. Her books have received awards, been Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and are studied as curriculum in English classes. She loves running, reading, writing, and drinking peppermint green tea in her home in San Antonio, TX, where she lives with her one extraordinary husband, six brilliant kids, and two arrogant cats.
Here’s what Rachel had to share with us:
Who are your earliest influences? What people and books made you a writer?
Rachel (R.L.) Toalson: I grew up reading the works of Madeleine L’Engle, L.M. Montgomery, Mary Downing Hahn, Scott O’Dell, Lois Lowry. Those are my earliest influences. Later, in high school and college, I read and studied (for pleasure!) the work of Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe. They all made me want to be a poet and a writer and hugely influenced my writing.
What writing challenges have you faced? What have these challenges taught you about your process?
RT: I take everything personally. You know how they tell you that you need to grow a thick skin to be a writer? I’ve been writing a long time (and I was a journalist for a decade before I even started my fiction career), and my skin has never gotten thicker. So for me, one of the biggest challenges is the mental toll publishing takes on a person, all the way from start to finish. The rejections, the negative reviews, the opinions of so many when we put ourselves out there—all of that hits me hard. I have to constantly remind myself that writing is subjective and not everyone will like every book I write. I also have to constantly remind myself that I belong at the table and that my stories are important, because the world can make you forget that.
From your perspective, what’s the most rewarding part about being a writer?
RT: I’m one of those strange writers who loves (nearly) every part of the process (with the exception of the rejections and negative reviews/opinions mentioned above). I love the way writing heals old wounds. I love how it connects me to readers. I love taking the threads of a story that flap and fail everywhere and braiding them into something that might look a little bit beautiful. I love revision and chipping away at a story until it’s just right. I love the first exciting pieces of a new idea. I love layering in the elements that will make a story unforgettable—the heart of the story, the humor that makes readers laugh out loud, the poetic language that makes them have to read a passage again because they love its music. I love challenging myself to learn new things and write in new ways and new genres, because it’s rewarding to grow. The whole writing process is rewarding.
Who do you write for?
RT: I mostly write children’s books and young adult books, and I think I mostly write for 12-year-old, 13-year-old, 16-year-old Rachel. I am constantly delving into my past and pulling out pieces I want to explore and heal from and crafting a story around it so the child in me can be told (because she didn’t hear it enough at that age, if at all) that she’s magnificent just the way she is, that she doesn’t have to do anything to deserve being loved, and that she’s stronger and braver than she knows. I write the books I needed as an adolescent and teenager. In the process of writing for younger me, I hope that kids all around the world who pick up my stories can absorb the same message.
I do write for adults as well, and I’d say I probably write mostly for me in this space, too—and the people who, like me, have neurodivergent brains, have always felt different, and constantly ask questions about and challenge the status quo. I write the books I want to read and hope someone else wants to read them, too. ☺
What do you hope writers will learn from your course?
RT: I hope writers will gain confidence in their ability to write funny, even if they don’t exactly consider themselves a funny person. Funny people aren’t funny all the time, and lots of funny people had to work hard to get there. It’s the same for our writing. With the proper tools, we can all write funny, and I hope that’s what writers get out of my course: the proper tools to help their humor shine.
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Thanks, Rachel!
Click here to learn more about Rachel’s upcoming class.
