9 Simple Ways to Write an Awesome Lifestyle Parody
So, your professor told you to parody lifestyle writing? You may be thinking, “I have no idea how to do that!” Don’t freak out. I’ve got your back. You need to exaggerate the style of lifestyle writing. That covers lots of amazing topics, including fashion, dating, sex, cosmetics, diets, celebrity gossip, and pop culture. Lifestyle writing tends to pressure us to be skinny, savvy, and sexy. You can satirize these ideas by pushing them to the extreme to show that they’re honestly kind of ridiculous. (If you need inspiration, check out Reductress and McSweeney’s.)
Let me break this down for you in 9 simple steps:
- You want a totally provocative title to grab the reader’s attention.
- Make your reader feel like you’re talking directly to them.
- Use relevant slang or abbreviations. Maybe throw in some emojis 😉.
- You can create a quiz, product spotlight, or list of tips.
- Try opening your article with an anecdote. Tell your reader a brief story that sets up your topic.
- Keep it short and sweet. Your lifestyle parody only needs to be about 500 words. Nobody wants to read a long, boring article, so just TL/DR it for your reader.
- Choose a sweet image to really make your article pop.
- Follow the timetable provided by your professor. Your proposal is due October11th, followed by your draft on October 21st, the final on October 23rd, and your reflection due October 25th.
- Your classmates will help you figure this stuff out. #SquadLife
If you follow these 9 simple steps, you’ll write an awesome lifestyle parody!
Student Work
To see more work from this semester, check out the News Parody and Parody Video projects.
