Focus on What You Want

I read a lot of motivational-type books. In fact, I read them over and over again. Two of my favorites are the classic, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill and the more contemporary "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. "Think and Grow Rich" has to do with thoughts being things and how your thoughts and beliefs determine what actually happens to you. The theme of "The Secret," in my opinion, is to focus on what you want, not on what you don't want. I read these books over and over. "Focus on what you want" has become my guide.

In my own experience, sometimes I've taken on too many projects at once, juggling between many and not putting 100% of my attention to one thing. I've become much better at sorting these things out, prioritizing what needs to be done first and focusing on the one project I'm working on. I try to be organized, make a to-do list for myself every day, get assignments done in advance so that I don't have to be in a panic to produce gags at the last minute. This works for me.

I guess you have to constantly ask yourself what's the most important thing you need to be working on at that moment. Once you identify what your priority is you have to focus on it. If you're working on your own strip, or someone else's strip, or non-syndicated single-panel gag cartoons for a specific publication, you have to live and breath it; make it a big part of your life, look at it from all angles, put all your energy into it and believe that you will succeed at it.

Focus on what you want - not on what you don't want.

And, don't work completely in isolation. Get out and talk to people in the same field if at all possible, or correspond with people by e-mail or phone. Show people what you do. Send your work out to the world. Be proud of it. Here's another one of my favorite sayings: "You won't catch fish if you don't go fishing." 

Finally: Enjoy what you do.

Identifying with your Characters or Write What You Know

It doesn't really matter if you're writing a novel, a magazine article, a cartoon strip or poetry. It's easier to write about something you know than what you don't know anything about. If you've spent your life working in education, writing about students, parents, teachers and homework should come easier than if you've spent years working in construction.

As I write and submit cartoon gags, thousands of them, I often ask myself what should I be writing about? What should I be focusing on? What's easy for me? For the cartoonist or gagwriter, if you can find the subject you know and have opinions about, it'll be a lot easier for you to succeed. I spent many years working in offices, so I can relate to the whole boss/worker situation. I know about job interviews, having gone on many of them over the years. I know about salary issues, co-worker issues and all the other crazy things that go on in offices. I write a lot of business gags and they seem to come easy to me.

I also write for the syndicated strip, The Lockhorns. This very long-running strip shows, with great humor, the conflict between husband, wife and wife's mother, with a marriage counselor, friends, doctors and shopkeepers added to the mix. The thing is, I can identify with this couple, drawing from my own experience, my husband's, my father's, the fact that I now am a mother-in-law, etc. Some of these issues are: my lack of cooking ability, my tendency to spend money, my tendency to not spend money, to not have enough money, laziness, family issues, etc. There's plenty of material I can find  right around my house. It's easy for me because I can relate to it.

I guess if you're thinking about creating a cartoon strip or just submitting cartoons to various publications, you should ask yourself what's easy for you to write about, what opinions do you have, what's funny about your life. It will be much easier to write about these things for the long haul than to write about something you know nothing about. You have to be honest about it, but once you find what you should be writing about it gets much easier.

A Few Books To Enjoy

This week I'd like to mention a few books I've read which may be of interest to you. They've motivated me and helped me write better. They're so full of relevant information that you can read them again and again and always learn something new.

Besides many New Yorker cartoon collections, my list includes:

* "The Cartoonist's Muse: A Guide to Generating and Developing Creative Ideas" by Mischa Richter and Harald Bakken.

* "Cartooning: The Art and the Business" by Mort Gerberg.

* "The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker" edited by Robert Mankoff.

* "I Only Read It for the Cartoons" by Richard Gehr.

* "How About Never - Is Never Good for You?" by Bob Mankoff.

* "Hand-Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People" by Matt Diffee.

There are countless others I've read over the years.

Send me an e-mail to: gagsbyhelene@gmail.com if any of these books have been particularly helpful to you and if there are others you'd like to recommend.

Enjoy!

Ideas Are Everywhere!

Where do ideas come from? From everywhere. From observing what's going on around you, from overheard conversations, from reading current newspapers and magazines, from news radio, from watching TV. I carry a pad of paper and pen with me to jot down ideas. I watch people from benches on the boardwalk. I walk around New York and take in the sights of Times Square, the High Line, tourists gazing up at buildings with their cameras, signs on restaurants and in storefront windows. I also get out to more rural areas and observe what goes on in small towns, in diners, in parks, on long stretches of highway, listening to what the locals say. City vs. country. I've lived in both places. Lots of humor there. Because I often write in the library, I look at books which list cliches, proverbs and catchphrases. After several hours of writing down ideas, I let all this settle for awhile. Maybe later the same day or the next day I'll start writing. Common phrases can be twisted by substituting one or more words, especially at the end, creating a surprise. You can also use the opposite of the phrase. Finally, you can have these phrases spoken by someone in a new, unexpected setting. Again, a surprise. 

It's important to get a lot of ideas. More than you'll need. Some will become great cartoons; some will stay, untouched, in the notebook. I can't say how the mind works but having a lot of ideas to work with (I work with words) can lead to great ideas.

I think it's important to follow a regular schedule and not wait for inspiration to strike. I know I'm more productive in the morning. I'm at my desk early and because I write for many cartoonists, I have a regular schedule for who I send ideas to and on which days. I also write to-do lists. (You won't believe how much satisfaction I get when I get to cross off items from my list!) This may not work for everyone but it works for me.

To write humor, I believe you have to have a skewed way of looking at things. This is really important. You have to be critical and you have to be able to see the humor in what's going on around you. And then you have to take the big step of putting your ideas on paper and sending them out. Many won't be used. But when you get a great idea and see it in print, or online, it's fantastic!

Any questions or comments, e-mail me at: gagsbyhelene@gmail.com.

A Few Words About Motivation

This entry is not about writing, per se, but about motivating yourself to write and create when your confidence needs a boost.

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but you should make yourself a portfolio. Because my background is in print, my portfolio is sort of a book, a scrapbook, of published cartoons which contain my gags. (NOTE: I ALWAYS ask the cartoonist for permission to place their cartoons with my gags in my portfolio. If they say no, their cartoons are not included). There's a couple of reasons to create a portfolio. First of all, if someone asks to see your work (this might actually happen!), you can hand them your portfolio so that they'll get an idea of what you do. This can actually lead to you getting new business. The second reason for this is to motivate yourself. When you've run out of ideas and you think your work is awful and you'll never come up with the great gags you've come up with before, going through your published work can be very motivating. It'll prove to you that your work was good enough to be published before and will be published again.

For those who work primarily online, you can also go through your work to see what you've done in the past. This will let you know that you've created good work before and will inspire you to come up with new work.

I think it's very important to keep hard copies of your accomplishments. For example, when you let someone know, by e-mail, that you just sold your first cartoon, or your 400th cartoon, and they reply and congratulate you on your accomplishment, you should print this out and keep it in a folder. Same with letters or notes from people you deal with who write, "That was a great gag!" There's lots of rejection is this business. I'll send a batch of 35 or so gags to a cartoonist and they'll take nothing. NOTHING! And, then the following week, out of a batch of 35 more gags they'll hold one. I'M IN HEAVEN! Or, when someone pays me for a small sale (with a small check enclosed), if that's the only check I've received that week (or that month) I've been known to say to myself, "It's better than a sharp stick in the eye."  When I send off a batch of gags which I believe to be brilliant and they're all rejected, I usually say something to myself like, "Well, my family still loves me. (I also keep photos of my family on my desk for the same purpose, but only those family members who love me). Going through this folder of congratulatory e-mails and notes will boost your confidence. It will show that you accomplished something before and will accomplish something again.

I think it's important to thank people who help you. Thank the people who consider your work and buy it. Thank the people who give you leads. Thank the people who are a pleasure to work with. Thank the people who encourage you to do more - to work in areas you've never worked in before. And, then, when people thank YOU or congratulate YOU, keep a copy of these precious e-mails. Refer to them when your confidence needs a boost.

Any comments or questions, please send an e-mail to: gagsbyhelene@gmail.com.

A Few Shortcuts To Cartoon Creation and Writing Great Captions

I've mentioned in previous posts that it's important to study collections of published cartoons. There are many reasons to do so. First, you get to see what's already been accepted by that publication. You'll discover what situations they focus on and the quality and tone of their published cartoons. And, guess what? You'll see these situations again and again. If it's a publication that runs business gags, you'll see cartoons where the boss is harassing a worker, where co-workers are hanging out at the water cooler, where an applicant is exaggerating his or her qualifications for a job opening, where a worker is getting fired. If the publication runs cartoons about relationships, you'll see cartoons about husbands and wives arguing...everywhere...the bedroom, the kitchen, the marriage counselor's office, in a restaurant, on a desert island. I read somewhere that the most effective  cartoons are about bad situations: getting fired, getting divorced and dying.

You can make lists of situations that you'll use in your cartoons. Besides writing about business, people in restaurants and couples arguing at the marriage counselor's office, I like to write about:

* Prisoners
* People on Desert Islands
* People in Therapy
* Heaven
* Hell
* The Grim Reaper
* Desert Crawlers

Because I'm a writer and work alone most of the time, I can relate to most of these situations.

I also have lists of caption phrases that are used again and again in cartoons. I'm sure you've seen them. Here are a few examples:

* You had me at _______.
* WILL WORK FOR _______.
* Someday, all my _______ will be yours.
* Thank you for not _______.

I'd suggest as you look over cartoon collections, make your own list of these phrases. When I'm reading, which I do all the time, I carry a notebook with me where I jot down words, phrases and clichés which I can plug into these blanks. These phrases are so well known in cartoon captions that they are instantly recognizable and can effectively be used in your caption writing. They make for funny captions and "funny" is what you're striving for.

As I end this week's entry, I'd like to suggest a couple of blogs written by cartoonists which might give you some added inspiration. Marc Bilgrey's blog can be found at his website, www.marcbilgrey.com. Mike Lynch's blog can be found at: mikelynchcartoons.BlogSpot.com. Both are very informative and well written. Enjoy!

Connecting with Cartoonists

Back in the day, when I started writing for cartoonists and comedians, the Internet was not the amazing source of information it is today. If I wanted to contact a cartoonist whose work I saw in one or more publications, many times I had no way of contacting them except through the publications where their work appeared. Many times I wrote a letter (a real letter!) asking if the cartoonist used writers and offering my writing skills to them, listing my credentials, where cartoons with my gags had already appeared. I'd address this letter to the cartoonist in care of the publication. Somehow these letters were forwarded to the cartoonist and most of the time I received a reply. This is how I found out if the cartoonist used writers or not and if they'd be willing to consider my work.

With the vast amount of information available on the Internet, this process is much easier now. When I find a cartoonist I'd like to write for because I think their work is professional and also because their cartoons match my interests, I can usually find them on the Internet. Many cartoonists have websites and/or profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook. I send an e-mail listing my desire to write for them and wait for a reply. Quick and easy. I have a profile on both these sites and have joined groups of people who are interested in cartoons and writing. It's a great way of promoting yourself.

I'm a firm believer in networking. I think meeting people face to face and talking about what you do can be very effective. For those serious about cartooning and illustration as a profession, there's an organization that probably most of you know about: the National Cartoonists Society (NCS). There are chapters across the country and non-members can attend their meetings. This is the perfect opportunity to network, especially those who might aspire to join the NCS. If you go to their website, www.reuben.org and click on "Chapters," you'll see where they're located and who the contact person is. There's also lots of information about joining the organization.

A publication of great value is Gag Recap by Van Scott. Gag Recap is a monthly online publication which lists approximately 50 publications which buy cartoons. It describes each cartoon in the issue, who the cartoonist is, what the pay rate is, who the editor is and in what form to submit cartoons. There are also articles about gagwriting and cartooning, lists of publications no longer publishing cartoons and additional markets for writers and cartoonists. Gag Recap's website is: www.gagrecap.com.

If there are cartoonists out there who wish to collaborate with a gagwriter I'd be happy to list your names and e-mail addresses in a future entry. Same goes for gagwriters wanting to work with a cartoonist. Personally, I'm always looking for professional cartoonists to work with on creating cartoons and other related projects.

I hope this information is helpful to you.