Carr's Review of Seth's story 9/15

To: Seth
From: Carr
Re: “Southern Upbringing: A Minor Tragedy”
Seth,
I suppose what you’ve got here could be called a parody of a southern story: you’ve got some quirky characters with quirky habits, a setting in the Deep South, and a death in the family to spark a realization. Those are good starting points, for sure.
All right. So think about a few things for revision. First, I think you would do well here to decide what it is you want to say with this story. It looks like a parody, but exactly what you are parodying is unclear. What is it about the Southern tale that you want to poke fun at? Try to decide that, and then you can really home in on those details that would send up one of those types of stories.
Second, I think you need to figure out what you want to say about Charles, Jr. He looks like the central character in many respects, and yet this version of the story doesn’t seem to be about him. He serves mainly as a way to talk about his family. So what makes him somebody we should want to read about?
Finally, take a look at the details here. Writing parody requires walking a fine line. On one hand, you have to go over the top with the details. On the other, you can’t go too far or the joke collapses. For example, Charles, Sr’s shrubbery is funny. But the idea that he was somehow the source of a stereotype about gay men and Cher is too much – it doesn’t have any basis in the facts of the story and indicates to the reader that you are trying too hard to be funny. The key to good parody is to not seem like you are trying to be funny at all.
OK. Keep going with this. It’s hard to be funny, but well worth it if you can pull it off. Let me know if you have questions.