Stephen Rowley

I would trip over the characters.

I'm a character-centric writer.

I'm not a plot-centric writer.

I love to put people together in awkward situations and see how they relate to one another and how they react.

And that's usually where I start.

That's where the fascination is.

That's where the exploration is that we talked about.

It's very human.

It's very small.

And something very big happens in this, but we are tightly focused around the people it affects the most.

Well, I've done my job, but I'm sweating bullets.

Oh, I put myself on the therapist's couch.

For the first time last year, I had the opportunity to teach humor writing.

And I'm not a teacher by trade.

Many writers are.

This was my first time teaching, and it was really an eye-opening experience.

But I'm going to share with you and your listeners, I think, the most important lesson that I shared with my students last year.

And that is this.

If you take nothing else from me, write this down.

Humor is nothing but a mode of engagement with the truth.