The Serious Guide to Joke Writing: How To Say Something Funny About Anything pdfdrive com

Honing Jokes For Cartoons
Cartoons  are  slightly  different  from  other  gags.  For  a  start  any  stinky  old  pun
that has been beautifully drawn or illustrated is acceptable. Where cartoons are
dependent  on  words  to  provide  the  gag  then  all  the  same  honing  tips  apply,
especially  things  like  The  Rule  of  Three  because  strip  cartoons  were  born  for
this.  I  recently  did  a  cartoon  for  a  healthy  eating  magazine.  My  basic  idea  was
that most healthy eaters love juicing but never stop complaining about washing
up  the  juicer.  I’ll  admit  it’s  a  fairly  weak  gag.  By  adding  The  Rule  of  Three  it
came out as:
As a cartoon the readers (people who like juicing) get the journey of the juice
drinker as well. Cartoons are a lovely way to use the jokes you write and many
small magazines use them.
If you think you’re not good at drawing – think again. Everyone draws as a child
if you haven’t drawn for a while it’s just going to take you longer. Here’s what I
do...
• Buy a pad of tracing paper. Use it to draw all your test runs and then
choose the best ones and put them together.
• Search on-line for images similar to what you want, trace them to use
them as a template and adapt them.

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• Buy a small wooden artists doll that you can put into positions to copy for
your characters.
• Buy a specialist ‘how to draw cartoons’ book. There are a number on the
market.
So  if  you  have  a  special  interest,  such  as  engineering  or  cheese  making,  then
there’s  likely  to  be  a  magazine  crying  out  for  a  cartoonist  who  can  do  a  gag
about it. It’s a great way to build up your confidence.

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