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June 29, 2025

Ways Your Short Humor Piece Can Go Wrong: Confusing Premise and Justification

A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

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This week we're talking about a common problem that we often see crop up in drafts: Confusion about premise and justification. After that, we’ve got a couple of recommendations of things we’ve been into lately: A nifty little puzzle game you can play in your browser and a new English edition of a classic comic.


Premise and Justification

The distinction between justification and premise is an important one to understand and keep in mind while writing your short humor piece. We often see drafts that aren’t quite working because the author has gotten mixed up about their piece’s premise and the justification for that premise. This can lead to a whole host of issues that can create a confusing or dissatisfying experience for a reader.

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LukeBurns @lukevburns James Folta @jamesfolta.com
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