Yrurtj

I constantly see reviews of people criticizing how it feels like "whiplash" when going from something like a death scene to someone cracking a joke, and I agree, but I don't know why I agree.

I just can't imagine how to follow up a tragic scene.

How can I create transitions between tragic and comic scenes?

As the writer, if you cannot imagine it, nothing happens.

While I cannot tell you what to write as the creative process is unique to each, I have two methods of dealing with fictional tragedy.

In one instance, I have my MC telling another who is contemplating suicide of the effect on him growing up an orphan - even though well loved. I have him tell of learning the details of the accident that killed his parents, having believed himself somehow responsible. He learns it destroyed the life of the driver of the other vehicle - completely guilt ridden. My MC eventually consoles this driver, giving him the closure he never could find. I let the sorrow of the scene be, respecting its power. Since he is trying to persuade this other character, I let him dwell on his grief, explain his pain and try to prevent such from happening to another.

In other scenes, when it is getting a little too dark, I leaven it with humour. The humour I use tends towards the dark, but serves as a release. Some observer sees this scene and, confident that all will end rather well, lets his humour run free.

I have one character, a rather sardonic fellow who has seen it all, but still sees the absurdity of life. It would be wildly bizarre for him to crack a joke, but he will quip or sometimes just consider the situation. I have one scene where a wounded assassin, hunted by many, is trapped by his loved ones on the kitchen table and forced to surrender. My sardonic character starts with a grin, the contrast just seeming absurd to him. He restrains his mirth until the MC looks at him and he can’t stop himself from laughing.

One thing you could try is to write an intervening scene that allows the reader to digest the information and feel those emotions and then relax. A character could leave his father’s deathbed and walk down the street to a club - intending to get drunk - only to discover it is not that kind of club. He wasn’t paying attention. You and the reader are now out of the tragic scene and can segue to the next.

Whiplash is a physical injury caused by your body moving in one direction then very suddenly switching to another. To a degree that can only come from something like a severe car accident.

The emotional equivalent of whiplash comes from a lack of transition between heading one direction then turning off to head in another.

I would guess that going from comedy to tragedy isn't that big a deal. People understand that, in real life, tragic things can happen without warning. Laughing your guts out at a comedy club when the roof caves in.

The real problem is moving from tragedy to comedy. Or even lightheartedness. It feels wrong. Like the awful thing that just happened wasn't important. Joking in the midst of tragedy is different. That's black humor or just lightening the load. It's moving back to ordinary life that feels wrong to do too quickly.

So don't go too fast. Respect grief and the characters going through it. Give people time to heal.

In extreme cases, writers may follow the death of a major character with a time jump. In the TV show Jane the Virgin, they had a 2 year jump. Why? Because the show is fundamentally a comedy. There are murders and deaths of minor characters but they didn't take as much time to work through. In this case, a character very close to the MC died and we would have spent 2 seasons of the show doing nothing but watching her cope had they not jumped forward. Even so, her grief was still there, just not in the foreground most of the time.

At the very least, give the situation a chapter break. Or, as Rasdashan suggests, add in a neutral intervening scene. You can also play off the fact that some characters either don't know or really don't care about the tragedy. But some characters will.