Monday, December 11, 2006

Where ideas come from

People often ask cartoonists where they get their ideas. I can only speak for myself, but over the next few weeks I’ll share some guidelines for creating cartoons. You may have noticed that this blog has a monthly “caption contest”. It is my hope that you will use the following guidelines to send some great ideas. That way I won’t have to work as hard. Above all, cartoonists are known to be somewhat lazy.

Guideline #1: Don’t be too specific. I know, I know, your Uncle Tad is hilarious. Someone should do a cartoon strip about him. No one will of course. Uncle Tad would only be funny to that small audience who know him intimately. Of course, a strip that features a character with aspects of “Uncle Tad” might be better. Everyone likes weird personality quirks, but they must be part of a larger (and more general) approach.

That’s it for today. I want to keep these short so you don’t have to read too much on any one day. I assume you’re lazy too. Check back in a few days and we’ll move on to guideline #2: Weird combinations. See you then.

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