I want you to know what to expect. This isn’t exactly a straight up “How to Write Jokes” sort of post. What it IS, though, is a run-down on an great creative process, that result in very funny jokes and writing. It could also be used as a technique for any creative process. We can use it to plan better, write better, film better; the list goes on and on!
Writing at The Onion
Specifically, this is a post about the creative writing and planning process at The Onion. In case you are unfamiliar, The Onion is a parody newspaper that you can get in print, on the web, and through video. I even have an Onion app on my Roku box at home. The writing on the Onion is always on point, and the funny ideas they generate are great.
Quick confession. My first website, ever, was my attempt at creating a personal version of the Onion. This was in 1999 maybe, I don’t think the Onion had been out for long. It was a Yahoo Geocities site, so unfortunately it no longer exists. I called it “The News on News.” Trust me, it could have benefited from a writing team using this process.
I wish I had a screenshot of that site to share here. Alas it exists only in my head now.
One more note. My main info source for this post is a podcast from This Amercan Life. I think I may have referred to this program before, but if you don’t subscribe, stop reading right now and go subscribe. It’s some of the best radio production on the air, and one of the best collections of stories from across the country in news or entertainment. I also got a few notes from Bob Sutton’s blog.
Peeling the Onion
The process for coming up with headlines at the Onion is just brutal. Every Monday and Tuesday, the team of 12 writers gather with an average total of 600 ideas altogether. One by one they read them off, soliciting silence most often, sometimes laughter, and occasional heckling. Mostly they move on from headline to headline, but might fight for a personal favorite. This doesn’t seem to make it more likely that it will get through.
The leftover ideas are rehashed on day two, and in the end they have 18 headlines. That’s right, from 600 to 18. How does this happen?
First, they are pretty brutal. Which doesn’t mean they are rude, from what I can tell. It’s just simply understood some things are funny and some are not. Only the best make it to the paper. Even beyond that, only the ideas that match the editorial style of the Onion make it to the paper. Which is to say a lot of good jokes get cut.
Good doesn’t always mean good enough
I’m not one to always beat the drum of EXCELLENCE(!). There’s an insane American ideal that can drive us all crazy at times. But…I
am all for trimming and cutting and refining until an idea is the best you could possible make it. That’s part of what happens at the Onion. The relentless cutting of what doesn’t fit and peeling the layers (get it?) leaves you with a delicious core of hilarious perfection. Delicious core of hilarious perfection.
I think we can apply this principle even when working alone. It is going to be more effective with a team though, just because we inherently tend to have blinders about our own ideas. I have certain topics that I like to sniff around pretty often.
I keep coming back to them because they really lie at the core of excellent creativity. One of those topics is creative teamwork. Or, you might call it creative collaboration. Whatever the term, working on ideas as at team can really help to get past creative blocks or get you out of a rut when stress affects your creativity.
All that being said, we can use this creative technique on our own. What it will require is honesty, persistence, and some extra time. The tendency for me, and I’m thinking for others as well, is to work long and hard on that new idea, and then be exhausted and happy when it’s finally done.
The problem is we may have those creative blinders on at this point, only seeing the result of our hard work. We might not see it in the context of what would be best or what is most appropriate.
What we have to do at this point is take some time, look again, and push the envelope on ourselves. We have to be relentless and brutal with our own ideas. It’s not easy, and pushing ideas this way is something that is a struggle for me all the time. But the results are great.
There’s a lot more I want to say on this topic, so I feel a series of posts coming on. Be on the lookout over the next few weeks. I’ll collect all of these posts together when I’m done.
Until then, how do you push yourself creatively? Do you think you are challenged more when part of a creative brainstorming team? Leave a comment below!
Peel the Onion: Learn to be Funny with Collaborative Joke Writing
I want you to know what to expect. This isn’t exactly a straight up “How to Write Jokes” sort of post. What it IS, though, is a run-down on an great creative process, that result in very funny jokes and writing. It could also be used as a technique for any creative process. We can use it to plan better, write better, film better; the list goes on and on!
Writing at The Onion
Specifically, this is a post about the creative writing and planning process at The Onion. In case you are unfamiliar, The Onion is a parody newspaper that you can get in print, on the web, and through video. I even have an Onion app on my Roku box at home. The writing on the Onion is always on point, and the funny ideas they generate are great.
Quick confession. My first website, ever, was my attempt at creating a personal version of the Onion. This was in 1999 maybe, I don’t think the Onion had been out for long. It was a Yahoo Geocities site, so unfortunately it no longer exists. I called it “The News on News.” Trust me, it could have benefited from a writing team using this process.
I wish I had a screenshot of that site to share here. Alas it exists only in my head now.
One more note. My main info source for this post is a podcast from This Amercan Life. I think I may have referred to this program before, but if you don’t subscribe, stop reading right now and go subscribe. It’s some of the best radio production on the air, and one of the best collections of stories from across the country in news or entertainment. I also got a few notes from Bob Sutton’s blog.
Peeling the Onion
The process for coming up with headlines at the Onion is just brutal. Every Monday and Tuesday, the team of 12 writers gather with an average total of 600 ideas altogether. One by one they read them off, soliciting silence most often, sometimes laughter, and occasional heckling. Mostly they move on from headline to headline, but might fight for a personal favorite. This doesn’t seem to make it more likely that it will get through.
The leftover ideas are rehashed on day two, and in the end they have 18 headlines. That’s right, from 600 to 18. How does this happen?
First, they are pretty brutal. Which doesn’t mean they are rude, from what I can tell. It’s just simply understood some things are funny and some are not. Only the best make it to the paper. Even beyond that, only the ideas that match the editorial style of the Onion make it to the paper. Which is to say a lot of good jokes get cut.
Good doesn’t always mean good enough
I’m not one to always beat the drum of EXCELLENCE(!). There’s an insane American ideal that can drive us all crazy at times. But…I
am all for trimming and cutting and refining until an idea is the best you could possible make it. That’s part of what happens at the Onion. The relentless cutting of what doesn’t fit and peeling the layers (get it?) leaves you with a delicious core of hilarious perfection. Delicious core of hilarious perfection.
I think we can apply this principle even when working alone. It is going to be more effective with a team though, just because we inherently tend to have blinders about our own ideas. I have certain topics that I like to sniff around pretty often.
I keep coming back to them because they really lie at the core of excellent creativity. One of those topics is creative teamwork. Or, you might call it creative collaboration. Whatever the term, working on ideas as at team can really help to get past creative blocks or get you out of a rut when stress affects your creativity.
All that being said, we can use this creative technique on our own. What it will require is honesty, persistence, and some extra time. The tendency for me, and I’m thinking for others as well, is to work long and hard on that new idea, and then be exhausted and happy when it’s finally done.
The problem is we may have those creative blinders on at this point, only seeing the result of our hard work. We might not see it in the context of what would be best or what is most appropriate.
What we have to do at this point is take some time, look again, and push the envelope on ourselves. We have to be relentless and brutal with our own ideas. It’s not easy, and pushing ideas this way is something that is a struggle for me all the time. But the results are great.
There’s a lot more I want to say on this topic, so I feel a series of posts coming on. Be on the lookout over the next few weeks. I’ll collect all of these posts together when I’m done.
Until then, how do you push yourself creatively? Do you think you are challenged more when part of a creative brainstorming team? Leave a comment below!
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