Shelly was scratching her head trying to think up some ideas to draw. While she had no problem at all doodling way and thinking up characters, she found it difficult to come up with funny situations to put them in.
She occasionally came up with an idea or two, but they seemed to be very fleeting - and they did appear weren’t always that good.
What she would really like to do would be able to generate a steady stream of ideas at will.
Maybe you’ve experienced similar difficulties to Shelly, and have also done your fair share of starting at a blank screen or piece of paper waiting for inspiration to strike...and waiting...and waiting...
This is a common problem, whether it’s thinking up jokes or something to write. Writers have struggled with writer’s block since quill was first put to parchment, and artist’s complain about the muse having abandoned them.
But what if you didn’t have to go through cartoonist’s block every time to sit down to draw.
What if you could have a steady stream of ideas to choose from, I mean coming up with one or two ideas isn’t much, what you really need is a whole bunch of ideas to choose from, so you have a greater chance of coming up. with some funny ones.
This article will give you a bunch of idea generation techniques for you to try out for yourself. And I do say ‘try out’, rather than simply read. I highly recommend trying out some of these techniques for yourself as you read along.
Some of the ideas you may have seen before in previous articles, such as ‘how to create a strip cartoon’ While there is some overlap, I hope that you’ll much other useful content as well.
Meet Gerald the Goat
Gerald the Goat and friends are some of the characters who’ll be popping up to illustrate some of the ideas covered in this article.
Gerald first appeared about threeyears ago. At first most of the gags were about his attempts to eat flowers. However as I drew the strip more and more I realised that I would have to start generating a variety of different ideas if I wanted to keep up interest in the strip, both for myself and for the reader.
Remember that cartooning is all about exaggerating things, often something common that appears in every day life and then putting a twist on it.
Over to you
Whenever you see ‘over to you’, that is your cue to pick up your pencil and try out the technique.
This process is not necessarily easy, just as when you start exercise of any sort, however it is not supposed to be a hard slog either. If you put in a little time and do the some of the exercises consistently you’ll start to see results.
During this article we’ll cover the following points:
Coming up with ideas for the opening, middle, and end panels
Adding an antagonist
Story arcs
Creating problems for your characters
Think bizaare
Mind maps
Creating a character profile
Putting yourself into y our character’s shoes - and your character into your own
Ask 5 whys
Listen to your characters
Everyday life
Make a list of questions about your character
Add a new character
Change the setting
Don’t break the chain
The most important thing is to get into the habit of coming up with ideas everyday. You may not come up with many particularly good ideas, but that’s not the point - the point is to come up with lots and lots of ideas so as to increase the odds that some of them will be good.
This guy knows a few things about writing gags.
Jerry Seinfeld, creator of Seinfeld, was a very successful joke writing, but he was also a very consistent one.
Jerry Seinfeld is one of the most well known comedians in the wold, due to the massive success of the Seinfeld tv show. What a lot of folks don’t realise however is that he has been consistently coming up with jokes for a long time - and not just the stuff you see on the tv show.
Here’s a method that he uses when writing gags.
Get a calendar and hang it on the wall. You could also so this on. Your phone or tablet, but I think it’s more effective if they calendar is in sight all the time.
For each day that you write a gag, put a big red X on that day.
After a few days, there will be a chain of Xs. All you have to do now is not break the chain - in order words, write a gag every single day.
It didn’t matter whether Seinfeld as motivated or not, all that mattered to him was not breaking the chain.
The most important thing is to get into the habit of coming up with ideas everyday. You may not come up with many particularly good ideas, but that’s not the point - the point is to come up with lots and lots of ideas so as to increase the odds that some of them will be good.
Over to you:
Go set up your own gag calendar. Come up with a gag everyday, and put an ‘X’ on the calendar. Remember that the ‘X’ is for a gag, it doesn’t matter if it’s a good or bad gag.
It’s not rocket surgery
This is a skill that can be learned like any other skill - you just have to put in the practice.
Some people seem to think that you have to have a special talent to be able to write gags for cartoons, and if they don’t have it, then it’s something that they simply can’t do.
Learning to write gags is a skill that can be learned like any other, you just have to learn how and then to put n the practice. This article will give you some techniques to help you come up with ideas and then the rest is up to you.
Some people seem to think that you have to have a special talent to be able to write gags for cartoons, and if they don’t have it, then it’s something that they simply can’t do.
Learning to write gags is a skill that can be learned like any other, you just have to learn how and then to put n the practice. This article will give you some techniques to help you come up with ideas and then the rest is up to you.
Go for quantity…quality will follow
An important think to remember is that we are not aiming to produce great ideas, but to simply comes up with lots and lots of ideas. The more ideas you come up with, the more it increasing your chances of creating some good ones.
Also, the more you practice thinking up gags, the better you will become at it anyway.
Idea muscle
One of the key features of this article is the idea of the ‘idea muscle’. Thinking up ideas is like building muscles, it takes some skill and application, but the more you do it the better you become.
This process is not necessarily easy, just as when you start exercise of any sort, however it is not supposed to be a hard slog either. If you put in a little time and do the some of the exercises consistently you’ll start to see results.
Mind Maps
You can choose one of the ideas and do a new Mind Map based on it to narrow down even further.
Over to you:
Try a Mind Map with one of your own characters. Remember: don’t pause for thougt, write down whatever comes to mind.
Opening panel method
This is a way to get started on a strip when we haven’t yet got an idea for the ending. Draw a situation with one or more characters in the first panel and what comes to mind for the rest of the strip.
Over to you:
Use this blank template to quickly draw your character starting something in the opening panel. There are two strips to try.
Middle panel method
For this one draw something happening in the middle frame and see if that sparks any ideas for either the punchline or the opening. Here is the blank template again.
End panel method
This is the reverse of the starting frame method. This time you trying to think of the gag or punch line last and then work backwards to think up the rest of the cartoon.
Add an antagonist
One way you can create tension in your stories is to add a antagonist.
What is an antagonist?
An antagonist is someone who gets in the way of your hero/main character/ antagonist achieving their goal. Check I may have this the wrong way around
I originally created a bull as a supporting character for Gerald and to act as an antagonist. I got quite a few ideas from using the character, but it seemed quite smart in a way, as all the bull seemed to do was chase Gerald. ALso, bulls aren’t natural predators of goats, and at the end of the day, a goat is fast enough to run away or agile enough to jump over th nearest fence or hedge.
So I thought it would be far more interesting to introduce an antagonist who could actually eat Gerald, an animal that would do so in the wild. So I came up the idea of having a leopard escape from the zoo.
So that this wasn’t merely a one-off story idea, I thought that I could make it an reoccurring character by having subsequent breakouts from the zoo.
Over to you:
Think of an antagonist for your character. In fact, think of five different ones and then choose one that you think has the most potential to develop ideas/annoy your character.
*add some of the strip featuring Gerald and the snow leopard. I could also use this as an example of a story arc.
Story arc
Problem: a leopard has escaped from the zoo
Using this scenario, it’s possible to crate a bunch of individual strips. Let’s explore some ideas.
Here are a few questions you could ask/answer
How does the leopard escape?
How do people react to the escape?
What happens when Gerald encounters the leopard for the first time?
How does Gerald escape form the leopard?
How does Gerald try to capture the leopard?
Who else tries to capture the leopard?
What happens when they try to capture the leopard?
How is the leopard returned to the zoo?
What happens after the leopard has returned to the zoo, either to Gerald, the leopard, another character etc.
if you have other characters, then you can include them in this process
Problem method
What problems might your hero face?
What might get in the way of them achieving their goal?
With the problem method, you pose a problem for your character to overcome.
Let’s look at a few problems that are standing in Gerald’s way.
First, let’s think up some desires that he might have.
Desire: wants to eat the flowers
Desire: wants to find somewhere dry to sleep.
Desire: wants to avoid having a bath
Now let’s think of some possible problems that might stand in the way.
Think Bizarre!
A cartoon gives you license to push the boundaries and portray things in a different way from regular art.
If you’re trying to come up with an idea, then think about how bizarre the situation could be.
For example, Gerald is intending to eat the flower bed, but what bizarre thing could be lurking in it?
How about a triffid?
Could it be some other common garden creature but made way more unusual than normal?
Create a character profile
Another really good way to get to know your character is to create a profile/avatar for them.
Here is an example featuring Gerald
Name: Gerald the goat
Where does he/she live?: Stan’ garden (well, he’s supposed to anyway...)
What does he do? Eats things...almost anything, especially people’s flower beds...
What does he like? Eating, butting people
What does he dislike? The bull
Describe personality in a sentence: Gerald is a little bit of anarchy in goat-form.
Over to you:
Here’s a blank profile you can use.
Feel free to add additional information, and to add as much detail as you like. The more detail you add the more richer character you’ll create - and the better you’ll get to know them. This will make it more likely to think up funny situations them.
Name:
Where does he/she live?
What does he/she do?
What does he/she like?
What does he/she dislike?
Describe his/her personality in a sentence
Put yourself into your character’s shoes
Spend a few minutes over this and really try and put yourself into your characters shoes. Look at the character’s profile, and also any cartoons that you drew previously and feature the same character.
How do you think they might act?
Put your character into your shoes
What do you find funny?
How about your own sense of humour? What situations do you find funny?
Does this give you any ideas that you could apply. To your character?
How would your character respond to everyday events in your own life? It doesn’t have to be anything big or special , think of the everyday routine.
Character profiles
Emotions
Not sure if this idea works...
Give an emotion to your character
Generating ideas from your cast of characters
Having a cast of characters makes it a lot easier to think up ideas for cartoons, as there is plentiful chance for interaction between them. You can also have a character have a certain personality trait.
Gerald
Gerald likes to eat...anything really...particularly flowers...and especially prize-winners at the annual flower show from which he's received a lifetime bad.
Gerald is from a lineage of mountain goats, known for their love of high places and leaping ability. What isn't clear is about how he developed his voracious appetite which shows no signs of diminishing.
Aside from eating, Gerald likes to butt things and avoid taking baths.
Stan
Stan bought Gerald from a country fair when he was a kid and lost control of him minutes later.
Stan considers himself to be an animal lover, although this is sometimes put to the test when Gerald has eaten whatever has just been planted in the garden.
An enthusiastic, if usually unsuccessful cook, Stan is always working on his next "big idea".
Granny Mills
It is uncertain how old Granny Mills is as it appears as though she's been lying about her age for decades.
She has been involved in a long-running feud with her neighbours ever since their ginger tom cat ate her canary. She now likes to "borrow" pets from the zoo.
Granny Mills likes to practice a particularly boisterous form of bingo, enjoys taking care of her grand daughter, and has never drank a half in an exceeddingly long life.
Little Ivy
Little Ivy is Granny Mills' grand daughter.
She loves animals, but all creatures regardless of their species or size tend to get called "nice doggy".
Her parents often leave her in the care of her Granny, which might not happen so much if they were aware of some of the old lady's antics.
Rex the police dog
The town's long-suffering law enforcement.
Rex has reconciled himself to the fact that with the likes of Gerald and Granny Mills around the best he can hope for is some state of near-anarchy.
He often wonders whether he should have been a sniffer dog or even herded sheep for a living instead.
The Bull
Gerald's nemesis.
Upon first encounter Gerald assumed that with it's horns the bull was some species of super-goat.
It was on that same day that Gerald learnt how fast he could run.
Over to you:
If you already have a cast of characters, then think about what personality traits each character represents.
If you don’t have a cast of characters, then create a new one. Creating new characters is very playful, so make sure you have some fun doing it!
Give your main character a break
If you have a cast of supporting characters you then have the option of giving your main character a break from time to time. This can help to keep your main character fresh, and well as giving your supporting characters thee chance to shine and develop. In the case of Gerlad the goat, sometimes Gerald doesn’t appear at all.
Ask 5 whys
Think of a either a situation or a mood that your character is in.
Now ask why and note down the answer.
Ask why again.
Keep going until you have asked five times and you have drilled down into the root of the situation.
Here’s an example.
Gerald is annoyed.
Why is he annoyed?
The neighbour has erected a new fence he can’t leap over.
Why did the neighbour erect the fence?
Because Gerald kept jumping into the garden.
Why did Gerald keep jumping into the garden?
Because of the neighbour’s prize-winning flower bed.
Why does Gerald want to eat the flower bed?
Because they won ‘best flower bed in Britain competition’
Why did they win?
Because the flowers are an ultra-rare strain of outdoor orchid.
You might come up fifth an idea before you get to the end fo the process of asking why fives times.
Listen to the characters
Imagine your characters carrying out conversations with each other, or thinking about different events. You could even try putting yourself into one of the characters shoes and joining in the conversation itself. Think of this as playful, rather than silly.
Try day-dreaming and putting yourself into the characters shoes. Imagine what you might do if you were in their place.
Everyday life
Popular cartoons that work well are usually the ones that comment on everyday life and people’s habits and quirks - i.e. thing that we are already very familiar with. You don’t have to think of anything too exotic. Even if you have an exotic setting, you can still have the characters commenting on the everyday nature of that exotic setting.
Other situations
What other every day situations can you think up?
They might include: catching a train, waiting in a queue, getting wet in the rain etc.
Just doodle!
If you can’t come up with any ideas, start doodling your characters in funny situations and see what ideas that might spark. Don’t forget that a cartoon gives you a licence to exaggerate the characters and their setting.
Collect different situations to use
As you keep drawing your characters you’ll come across situations that can be recycled and used again and again. In the case of Gerald the goat, this would include his attempts to eat flower beds, running away from the bull etc.
You can keep a note of these situations and bring them out from time to time if you are stuck for ideas.
Make a list of questions about your character
Here are a few examples featuring Gerald the goat.
-What does he want to eat?
-How is he going to get the food?
-What might stop him from getting the food?
-what might happen after he gets the food?
Over to you:
What question could you ask about your own character?
Everyday life
Popular cartoons that work well are usually the ones that comment on everyday life and people’s habits and quirks - i.e. thing that we are already very familiar with. You don’t have to think of anything too exotic. Even if you have an exotic setting, you can still have the characters commenting on the everyday nature of that exotic setting.
Introduce a new character or element or change the background
The character might only make a temporary appearance.
One device that I use for the Gerlad the Goat strip is to introduce occasional characters by means of the local zoo. The strip is set in a town and the town zoo has
How can your cast of characters interact with each other?
If you choose your cast of characters Wright, then it’ll g a long way towards helping you think up ideas.
This is how Gerald started out
He was originally a supporting character in a series of very simple cartoons featuring Stan.
Here is the very first cartoon that he appeared in.
After I drew him a few more times I decided that I was more interested in making him a main character. I kept Stan and he now became a supporting character.
You don’t have to create this many characters.
Over to you
Think of three different supporting characters.
What is their connection to your main character?
Change the setting
You could also try changing the setting of your cartoon. While you may not want to completely uproot your characters ad move them to an entirely new setting, you could try taking them on holiday as a means to introduce. A new setting, Ideads and background.
Aftwards, think about what ideas from the new setting might carry on back over into their daily life.
For example, Gerald goes to the seaside
What could he do there?
What could he eat there?
What trouble could he get into there?
Etc.
Over to you:
Can you think of a new situation to put your characters into?
Beyond this article
Aside from the ideas and techniques mentioned in this article, what else could you do to help your own idea generation process in the future?
It’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for articles on how to think up ideas, whether specifically for cartoons or not.
You could also try reverse-engineering ideas that first appeared in other sources. There is a great tradition in art of borrowing ideas from others sources. Remember to make it your own.
Remember that the idea is not to come up with great gags, the idea is to generate lots and lots of gags. The. More you do so, the greater the odds of coming up with great gags.
Summary
Let’s look at some of the main ideas covered in this article.
don’t break the chain - write a cartoon gag everyday, don’t miss a single one!
idea muscle - it can be grown like any other muscle, but you have to use it
panel techniques - Using the opening, middle and end panels to suggest ideas for the rest of the strip
add an antagonist - use the antagonist to make your main character’s life more challenging
problem method - create problems for your characters to solve
Over to you:
Remember all the ‘over to you’ sections throughout this article? Now it really is over t o you to see what you can come up with by yourself now. Remember that you’ve go to put in the time and practice if you want to get better at generating your own cartoon ideas.
Have patience - and keep going
Call to action
I hope that you’ve found this article useful.
If you’d like to learn further about creating ideas for cartoons, then click here to get the free guide to ‘How to never runout of ideas - how to generate your own ideas for cartoon drawings’
By the end of the day you can have tried out a technique or two and come up with some ideas for yourself - hopefully you will have already done so while reading this article.
About Rob
Rob has been drawing cartoons for more years that he can remember. As well as drawing, he runs some online course to help folks draw their own cartoons.
