Fans of Irony, Take Note [socs]

Back on Usenet, I was in a writing chat and we often used the phrase “fans of irony, take note,” commonly abbreviated as FOITN. But I’m not sure we were using irony correctly. Mostly, we were engaging in sarcasm when we decided someone was being a hypocrite. For example, if I said I didn’t like swearing, but a month later I wrote dammit, someone might go FOITN.

Rain on your wedding day isn’t ironic either, just unfortunate. I do like Alanis Morissette in general, but you know what? Her songs were better, more intense, when she was single and miserable. Then she met someone and her music became bland and boring. Is that ironic? I can’t imagine wanting to write if I were in a happy relationship ~ a lot of my inspiration comes from loneliness and sad memories.

That’s not to say I’m unhappy ~ I’m talking about writing inspiration. Take Ghosted, for example; it began as a reaction to getting ghosted in real life and then it spiraled out into its own universe. What’s possibly ironic about that book is its drift into the supernatural when I don’t believe in that at all. But it’s fun to play with in fiction and poetry.

Irony is something unexpected and often amusing. I think The Gift of the Magi story about a poor couple illustrates the concept perfectly. She sells her beautiful hair to buy a gold chain for his pocket watch; he sells his watch to buy fancy combs for her long tresses. Neither of them can use their gifts, which is unexpected and funny, but they have something better, which is true love.

Happy Saturday!

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