Dining Out - A Great Source of Ideas

 As I pretty much shelter in my own home, only going out for necessities like food and medicine, sometimes it's been difficult to come up with new gags for cartoons. I find that I need to get out of the house and experience things to come up with new ideas. In these difficult times, I do a lot of reading - at home.

 One of my favorite places to get ideas is restaurants. Maybe because I like to eat and really enjoy the atmosphere of talking to the people I'm dining with, eating out has a special place in my heart. The experience of eating out, to me, is also a great source of material: snooty and/or inattentive waiters, demanding customers, high prices, small portions, cold food that's supposed to be hot, hot food that's supposed to be cold. We could go on and on. Restaurant dining is just a great place to get ideas for cartoons. 

 When I write restaurant gags, mainly I write about myself. I'm one of those people who will take home a doggie bag and ask for extra napkins and silverware. Not that I don't have napkins and silverware at home. I just would like to use their napkins and silverware and save my own. Into the doggie bag I've been known to throw extra rolls left on the table and pats of butter or jellies. My husband jokes that maybe I should take home the ketchup, mustard, and salt and pepper shakers left on the table as well. When I write for the Lockhorns, I'm able to use many of these ideas. I'm really writing about myself.

I miss going out to restaurants. I miss going into New York City and observing people. I miss cultural events. I miss going to parties and hanging out with my writer and cartoonist friends. 

Things will get better. I long for the day when I can walk safely around my neighborhood or into a store and not wear a mask. 

Stay healthy!

Any questions or comments, send me an email at: gagsbyhelene@gmail.com.

The Benefits of Re-Reading Old Entries

A reader recently asked for assistance on how to connect with cartoonists. I directed them to the very helpful online publication, Gag Recap, which lists magazines that run cartoons,  giving a description of the setting, the punchline, the cartoonist, the date it ran, what the publication pays and information on how to submit. I believe the reader was able to obtain a copy, or copies, of Gag Recap, but had a few more specific questions about the gag submission process. I was able to look at old entries of this blog and give the reader specific entry dates for more information.

This motivated me to reread old blog entries myself. I started with the first entry, June 17, 2015, and read forward from there. Gee, I had a lot to say! I had a lot of information to share! I wrote at great length about how I get my ideas, what my daily routine is, how I'm constantly reading and jotting down ideas, single words and phrases. I touched on the importance of networking. How I learned to come up with single-panel cartoon ideas and captions by studying cartoon collections. How I motivated myself to keep writing even when all I saw was rejection. 

And then the strangest thing happened. As I'm reading these old entries, I got motivated! I'm reading about how to get ideas for cartoons and suddenly I'm coming up with new ideas for cartoons (which I promptly wrote down). With the world we're living in right now and the inability to network in person with people in the field, I was getting motivated! I was writing new gags! I was getting excited about following my own advice and creating something new. Amazing!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to write!

Any questions, or comments, send me an email to: gagsbyhelene@gmail.com.