Mike Shapiro: My Gag Writing Process

Cartoonist Mike Shapiro, writing over at (what else?) Mike Shapiro's Cartoon Blog, tells us about his process of writing a joke for a cartoon,

"... or, as those of us in the business say, a gag. This takes time. I either sit around with a pad or do something else, like my taxes, with a pad in arm's reach. During this process I'm thinking about phrases or topics that might lend themselves to gags. I'll sometimes listen to the radio or read the paper with the hopes of getting my brain going. When I do get rolling-and this is important-I write down anything that seems like a gag I might want to use."

This is all part of his How'd I Do That? series and this is just one of three parts.

How'd I Do That? Part Two - Penciling the cartoon

How'd I Do That? Part Three - Fine tuning the drawing

Hat tip to Gregory Kogan for this. Thanks, my friend!