How to write your own pun in 5 steps
Writing a pun is a skill, and like most skills it gets easier with a method. You do not need to be naturally funny. You need a few minutes, a list of words, and a willingness to be silly. Here is a simple five-step process.
Step 1: Pick a topic
Start with something concrete: an animal, a food, a job, a place. Concrete topics give you plenty of related words. Say you pick bread.
Step 2: List related words
Write every word you can think of connected to the topic. For bread: loaf, toast, crust, dough, rise, butter, bake, slice, yeast, crumb.
Step 3: Find words that sound like something else
Look for words with a second meaning, or a near twin in everyday speech. "Loaf" sounds like "love" if you say it quickly. "Dough" is also a word for money. "Rise" is something bread does, and also something people do in the morning. "Toast" can mean a cheer or being in trouble.
Step 4: Build the setup
Write a setup that points the listener toward the wrong meaning. For "toast" meaning trouble: "Why was the bread worried?" The listener will think about bread feelings, not about bread's actual problem.
Step 5: Deliver the punchline
Finish with the second meaning, as short as possible: "Because it was toast." Cut every extra word. Pun punchlines work best when the key word comes last, so the surprise is the final thing the listener hears.
Tips from the pros
- Keep it short. If you have to explain the pun, it is too complicated.
- Say it out loud. Puns live in sound, so test how the punchline rings.
- Save the key word for last. The final word should be the pun.
- Be proud of it. A pun told with a straight face and a smile lands better than a nervous one.
- Collect your failures. A pun that does not work today may work with a different setup tomorrow.
Practice prompts
Try these starters, and fill in your own punchline: a cat on a sofa, a scientist at a party, a knight at lunch, a robot with a snack. Then compare your answers with what our cartoon characters came up with on the Shorts page.
Not sure which kind of pun to write? See 7 types of puns, with examples.