How to Write Satire for Readers Who Don’t Know It’s Satire｜bohiney.com

How
to
Write
Satire
for
Readers
Who
Don’t
Know
It’s
Satire

A
Masterclass
in
Fooling
People
Who’ve
Never
Met
Irony

Let’s
be
honest:
writing
satire
today
is
like
yelling
“fire”
at
a
mime
convention—no
one
reacts,
and
someone
ends
up
trapped
in
an
invisible
box.
There
is
now
an
entire
demographic
of
readers
who
will
stumble
across
your
well-crafted,
absurdly
exaggerated
piece
of
satire
and
scream,
“THIS
IS
MISINFORMATION!”
while
aggressively
sharing
it
to
their
extended
family
group
chat.

At

Bohiney.com,
we
know
that
subtlety
is
dead
and
nuance
is
on
life
support.
Which
is
why
writing
satire
for
readers
who
don’t
know
it’s
satire
isn’t
just
an
art
form—it’s
a
public
service.

Need
the
full
blueprint?
Grab
the
crash
helmet
and
read

https://bohiney.com/how-to-write-great-satire-with-techniques/
—
and
then
come
back
here
to
find
out
how
we
keep
confusing
the
internet
professionally.

Step
One:
Lean
Into
the
Deadpan

Your
tone
should
be
so
dry
it
feels
like
you
typed
it
with
a
chalkboard
eraser.
Satire
for
the
satire-challenged
must
never
wink.
If
your
reader
even
suspects
you’re
joking,
you’ve
lost
them.

This
is
how
we
managed
to
get
“Mosquito
Breeder
Sabotages
Coachella
with
One
Billion
Buzzing
Wingmen”
shared
on
three
eco-farming
forums
and
a
Reddit
thread
titled
“Bill
Gates
is
behind
this.”

No
joke—someone
mailed
us
essential
oils.

Step
Two:
Use
Real
Statistics
in
a
Fake
Story

The
average
satire-illiterate
reader
only
respects
numbers
and
bullet
points.
Want
to
write
a
story
about
a
yoga
cult
that
worships
Elon
Musk’s
tweets?
Throw
in
a
stat
like:
“According
to
a
Pew
Research
survey,
26%
of
Gen
Z
say
they’d
let
an
algorithm
pick
their
soulmate.”

Boom.
Credibility
unlocked.
Now
you
can
say
anything
and
people
will
yell
at
it
like
it’s
on
cable
news.

Step
Three:
Use
Absurdity
That
Sounds
Just
Believable
Enough

If
your
story
says,
“Florida
man
installs
bidet
on
car
because
seat
warmers
are
too
communist,”
someone
will
believe
you.
We
once
wrote
“Club
DADA
Tokyo
Declares
Itself
a
Nation,
Issues
Visas
to
Anyone
Who
Can
Do
the
Macarena”
and
someone
emailed
us
their
passport
photo
“just
in
case.”

That’s
the
beauty
of
modern
satire—it
doesn’t
have
to
be
true,
it
just
has
to
feel
like
Florida
would
do
it.

Step
Four:
Remove
Anything
That
Says
“Satire”
in
the
First
Two
Paragraphs

At
Bohiney,
we
hide
the
word
“satire”
like
it’s
a
CIA
secret.
Why?
Because
if
readers
see
it,
their
satire-immune
brains
will
automatically
switch
to
“disregard
mode.”
Instead,
let
the
article
marinate
in
straight-faced
absurdity
before
revealing
the
punchline
around
paragraph
six—or
never.

This
technique
is
sacredly
broken
down
in
our
tutorial
at

https://bohiney.com/how-to-write-great-satire-with-techniques/.
Seriously,
it’s
our
Church
of
the
Delayed
Chuckle.

Step
Five:
Embed
Satire
in
the
Middle
of
Real-Sounding
Quotes

One
of
our
classics
involved
a
fake
quote
from
a
fictional
economist
named
Dr.
Harold
“CoinDaddy”
Schlapstein,
who
explained
why
“printing
more
money
is
fine
if
it’s
got
a
hologram.”
Readers
reposted
it
with
furious
comments
like,
“This
is
what’s
wrong
with
academia!”
and
“Why
does
Biden
let
this
happen?!”

We
regret
nothing.
Except
not
trademarking
CoinDaddy.

What
the
Funny
People
Are
Saying

“If
you
want
people
to
believe
your
satire,
make
it
just
dumb
enough
that
someone
on
Facebook
will
call
it
brave.”
—
Tony
R.,
Bohiney’s
Head
of
Earnest
Misunderstanding

“Satire
only
works
if
it
walks
into
a
bar
and
no
one
knows
it’s
satire.
Until
it
starts
ordering
conspiracy
cocktails.”
—
Karla
J.,
Confused
Comment
Section
Moderator

The
Bohiney
Expectation:
Convincing
Lies,
Truthful
Consequences

Bohiney
doesn’t
just
want
your
article
to
be
funny—we
want
it
to
become
a
rumor.
If
three
people
don’t
send
it
to
a
group
chat
with
the
message,
“IS
THIS
REAL???”
then
you
haven’t
done
your
job.

And
yes,
that’s
the
goal.
Not
because
we
want
to
misinform
the
public,
but
because
reality
is
already
so
confusing
that
sometimes
the
only
way
to
explain
it
is
with
a
lie
dressed
up
in
uncomfortable
truth.

In
fact,
some
of
our
most
popular
articles
were
shared
by
influencers
as
if
they
were
true.
No
corrections
were
issued.
We
were
too
busy
laughing.

So
go
ahead—write
satire
that’s
so
straight-faced,
your
aunt
shares
it
to
warn
people
about
“that
thing
she
heard
on
the
news
or
Bohiney
or
something.”

When
in
doubt,
stay
dry,
stay
calm,
and
stay
at

https://bohiney.com/how-to-write-great-satire-with-techniques/.
That’s
where
we
hide
the
rest
of
the
sharp
objects.