The Need for an Idea

Why do you more easily come up with jokes on the way to a gig?

Why does it feel effortless to come up with material when you have a comedy buddy to bounce off ideas with?

Why is it, that the closer you get to a deadline, all of a sudden you start to create?

One simple reason: There is suddenly a need for an idea. Even after a gig you can still feel why you need an idea and it makes writing new stuff so much easier.

You remember the laughterOr the deafening silence. and how it made you feel.

And it’s that feeling that makes you productive and creative. Not the thought that you should write.

Because for the most part, we humans aren’t rational creatures. Knowledge is very rarely the reason for change.

Yes, we know we shouldn’t smoke. It’s written on every pack of cigarettes that smoking will lead to a number of bad outcomes for you. But a lot of people still smoke.

And it’s because cigarettes make us feel something. For one, relieve from the craving. But maybe also a feeling of belonging to a group. A feeling of control over what you can do with your own body in a world where we seem to be able to control less and less. A feeling of being cool. A feeling of doing something forbidden and thus exciting.

What I want to say: Feelings are stronger than rational thought when it comes to our behaviour.

Find your need

So before you can come up with an idea you must have the need for one.

The problem is: Most of us don’t need to write jokes.

To paraphrase the marketing guru Seth Godin: A man doesn’t just buy a hammer to use as a tool for construction. In its place, he is purchasing the capacity to construct anything, like a treehouse for his son. More specifically, he is purchasing the pleasure and joy he will experience after witnessing his child securely playing in the new treehouse.

And the same applies to writing jokes. We maybe want to write new material. But what we need is not making a fool of ourselves in front of a room of strangers. Or not making our editor angry by meeting a deadline. Or proving someone wrong.

So ask yourself: What need is behind your wish to write jokes? And how can you use that need to your advantage?

One example: My lazy, lazy brain

My brain refuses to come up with new jokes when I already have five to ten new minutes of material that needs to get tested on stage.

In these cases I imagine my brain just pointing at the untried new stuff and going: “So… why the heck did we create this?!”

My brain sees no need to write new material when I already have new material.

The fastest way of reminding my brain why writing jokes feels good is to get validation. Even in its smallest form of one person listening to my newest material.

It is crucial for my creative process to have someone else respond to my material. It doesn’t even matter if it is positive or negative. Just any kind of validation that what I have come up with actually exists.

And if the reactions are positive I usually come out of this step of the process with renewed energy and enthusiasm. Let’s write more jokes! Let’s keep these good feelings coming!

If the reactions are negative, I suddenly have a reason to create new things to replace the stuff that didn’t work. Competitive streak activated! Let’s show them!

Either way, I win by again having a need for an idea.

Create a need

If you don’t want to make a deep dive into what fuels your need for writing jokes, then there are certain ways to artificially create a need.

For example you could get a deadline. Either by booking a gig. Or getting hired to write a monthly column. Or giving your friend 100 dollars. And getting back 10 dollars for every joke you write by the end of the day. The rest he will have to donate to a group you absolutely don’t want to donate money to. Or get a comedy writing friend of yours to enter in a friendly competition of who can come up with more jokes until the end of the week.

Whatever you do, find a need for an idea before you try to have one. It will make the rest of the process that much easier.