There’s probably a moral to the story that follows, probably something about the unexpected magic of creative sparks and how hard you have to fan to ignite them.
Two months ago, I entered the cartoon caption contest that’s in each issue of the New Yorker magazine. I had been flipping to the weekly contest, probably since it started, but never before entered. I’d read through others’ entries and, if I thought at all about the current contest and its captionless cartoon, it was only to wonder what might appear the next week.
No caption of my own had come easily to mind and I had not tried to think of one.
But two months ago, looking at the captionless drawing, an idea popped into my head. And it wasn’t bad. It was just good enough, in fact, to get me thinking about other possibilities. Rummaging through my head, more ideas came. Most fell short of that first creative spark. But a few were as good, maybe better.
The cartoon, along with the caption I wound up entering:
A few ideas I thought also had potential:
“No need to wake me when the drink cart gets here. Just order me a beer.”
“Maybe we should have just agreed to the body scan.”
“I’ve had it with adventure travel.”
And the one that had first popped into my head:
“This looked like more fun in Toy Story 2.”
Did I submit my best caption? Are any as good as the first, second and third place winning entries?
I have entered every contest since. I’ve yet to win.
Hi Paul, that reminds me of…me…as an Account guy in the agencies, hunting down the Creative folks who were hiding from me in dark corners, nooks and crannies.