Why so serious?

Recently, I've been thinking about why I finally decided to tell the world I wrote in my spare time. I mean, some people who know me know I've always written. I thought long and hard about it and came to the conclusion that I didn't want people to see me as just a 'writer', and by that I mean the serious type of writer, the one who sits up into the early hours of the morning wondering if an additional paragraph would flesh out their character a bit more.

There is a common misconception about writers, one that sort of extends to teachers too. It is that they take themselves far too seriously, that they spend most of their time with their nose in a book or musing away about what they can say about how the world is in decline. I'm a teacher and do you know how I spent my last weekend? Sitting in a pub with a couple of friends and my girlfriend, drinking beer, chatting away and then ordering a Chinese take-away. I was not moping in a corner pondering the futility of my existence (well not until the next day and the hangover kicked in).

I understand that people like to be moved by books, but what greater emotion is there than laughter. It can cure a broken heart, make the ill feel better, or just brighten up somebody's day. Comedy is so often underrated amongst the arts and yet one of the greatest writers in the English language wrote comedies. Yes. Shakespeare wrote comedy. I can't help imagining Big Willy standing on the stage of an Elizabethan Comedy Club asking his audience 'How art thou Stratford Upon Avon?' or 'Does it worrieth thou when thine carriage gets stuck in a ditch?'

I started out thinking I had to write serious prose to be realistic.But look around. There is comedy everywhere. From the sarcastic friend who makes quips, to the father dancing to Rhianna at his daughter's wedding. Yes, there is tragedy in the world too, but that's what makes comedy so much sweeter.