My daughter is graduating from secondary school in the UK and has been asked to write a quote for her yearbook. Firstly, I didn't realise this happened here! And also I remembered I have previously been asked for advice on this so I reproduce my advice here for my daughter and anyone else having to write one!
1. How can students create original, stand-out humour in their yearbook quotes?
To write your own, you could start by looking up serious yearbook quotes, then ask yourself, what would be a playful way to parody this serious quote?
To write one from scratch, here are three starting points to play with:
- sharing something personal about yourself
- gratitude for help received
- giving life advice
You could of course play this straight, but in terms of taking a comedic approach I particularly enjoyed these ones (from the examples the questioner shared with me) and they fall under the above three approaches:
If you like water then you already like 72% of me. (Something about yourself)
I want to thank Google and Wikipedia and whoever invented copy and paste. (Gratitude)
Remember, the more you weigh the harder you are to kidnap. Eat cake. Stay safe. (Advice)
How can you now write your own memorable, funny quote? Try picking one of these approaches and then ask yourself: given this starting point, what would be a playful and surprising thing to say? So:
What would be a surprising thing to say about yourself?
Who or what would it be surprising to thank?
What would be surprising advice to give in this context?
And a really key element of a stand-out and funny quote is raised by your next question…
2. How important is self-awareness in crafting funny yearbook quotes?
Self-awareness is absolutely key with a funny quote as they work best if you are aware of how you come across to others and tap into that in your quote. So if the guy who wrote the water quote above numbers and statistics driven the people who know him who read the quote will find it even funnier as it’s so him. Similarly if the young woman who wrote the Google/Wikipedia quote was known for being cheeky (as we Brits would say) and rebellious, it would be so much more funny and memorable. As would the the cake one if the young woman was known for indulging herself with treats! If they don’t fit the personality of the student they won’t work as well, so it’s really key to write a quote that suits you and references something everyone knows about you.
3. We all know clichés are the worst. How can students avoid this?
The simple answer to avoid cliché is to have an original idea! But in truth there aren’t many 100% original ideas out there. It’s often a case of putting a fresh, personal spin on an existing idea. Even if the idea is not 100% original, if you express it in your own personal quirky way it will feel fresh. Then again, you can also go for a complete curveball that undermines the whole premise! One you shared with me that I loved was from a guy who simply wrote:
I don't even go to this school.
For advice and inspiration for writing yearbook quotes or jokes for your stand-up, or anything else quick and funny, book a 30 mins session on Zoom with me.
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