Ernie Witham Pulls Off a How To Memoir on Writing, Being Funny, and Earning a Living
Melinda Palacio -- August 9, 2009
Funny man Ernie Witham follows his debut book Ernie's World the Book with the more complex, A Year in the Life of a "Working" Writer. While Ernie's World the Book represents a large sampling of the author's collected humor columns from the Montecito Journal, Witham's second book is much more than a collection of columns. Imagine stalking Witham for a year, finding out what makes his funny bone tick, and how he goes about writing his humor columns and you'll get an idea of what his memoir is all about.
Witham's story is not unusual. Freelance writer struggles to make it big and make some money in between. The answer for the Laconia native comes in the form of a day job. After ten years of hitting the freelance scene, struggling with deadlines, and tracking down payment, A Year in the Life of a "Working" Writer shows the determination of one writer's desire for a regular paycheck while fulfilling his greatest sense of accomplishment, seeing his name in print.
"I never tire of seeing my name in print. I reread my column because it always reads different in the paper than on the computer. It reads like you wrote it in five minutes."
A little recognition doesn't hurt either, says Witham. "The great thing about being a columnist is that a photo runs with your piece and sometimes people recognize you."
As a high school student, Witham enjoyed writing and often sprinkled humor onto his essays. However, it wasn't until his first year at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference in 1990 that he discovered just how funny he was. By his second year at the conference, he won First Place for Humor Writing and later went on to take four more conference related writing awards. He also started submitting his award-winning work to local newspapers and soon became the go to funny dude for humorous holiday editorials.
Almost 20 years later, after hundreds of articles in various anthologies and newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, The Santa Barbara News-Press, and Chicken Soup Magazine, plus two books under his belt, and a steady day job with Forester Communications Inc., Ernie receives the most enjoyment out of his yearly teaching stint, giving back to the community that gave him his start, at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. "I love it," says Witham. "I love having people come in all excited about writing because I've been doing it for so long and I can help them get started.
Ernie emphasizes two important aspects of writing: working at writing and being polite about acceptances. For many humorous folks, sitting down and producing a funny story on paper is much harder than telling a funny story. Being a humor writing is not the equivalent to being the class clown or funniest person at a party. Witham's workshops stress the discipline of writing. He also shares something from his own experience. "I always thank people when I get published," said Witham, "and I follow it up with, can I write another piece for you."
The desire to return to the SBWC with new material to audition helped instill the discipline it takes to produce several columns on deadline. For Ernie, the hardest part of writing is getting started. Once he gets rolling, he loves writing. What's there not to love about being a writer and a local celebrity? Ernie says his wife Pat enjoys being married to a columnist and doesn't mind being the subject of numerous columns or making appearances in his books. Like most writers, Witham has several projects in the works, including more columns, a novel, and a couple of screenplays. In the meantime, readers can learn how he juggles it all and how he develops humor columns from his daily life by spending time with him or sitting down with A Year in the Life of a "Working" Writer.