I'm Beginning to See a Pattern Here …
Now look over your list and see if there are any unusual connections between items. Also look for patterns. For example, this list shows that some things about birthdays have a pattern: Your first couple of birthdays are great, then they start to go downhill, then as you get really old they become a big deal again. What can you do with this?
Working with a Pattern
Think about your first and last birthday if you were to live to be 100. On your first birthday, you really don't know what's going on. There are a lot of people around that you don't know. You're in diapers; you don't have any teeth; you have to gum your cake. Are you beginning to see the connection? When you turn 100, chances are you really don't know what's going on. You're surrounded by people you don't know. You're in diapers; you don't have any teeth; and you have to gum your cake.
Try using Google or other online reference tools to research your topics. You might find the actual origins of things we all take for granted. Or you could uncover weird facts that might add interest to your topics. Brainstorm on your own first, but use the Internet to help you expand your ideas.
You could even argue that on your twenty-first birthday, when your friends get you drunk, you don't know what's going on or who all those people are. You might have lost all your teeth in a bar fight. And when you wake up in the morning, you realize that a diaper might have been a good idea.
Back to Basics
Now take the list and look at each point carefully. Look at each item with a critical eye, almost as if someone is telling you about birthday parties for the very first time. Question each item; ask yourself “Why?” Why do we do this at birthday parties? Who came up with the idea of a birthday cake? Why do we give each other presents? Why are certain birthdays more important than others? Who wrote “Happy Birthday to You”?
Why do I have to make a list? Why can't I just write funny thoughts on the topic as I think of them?
You can, but it's nice to separate the grunt work from the creative process. If you do them at the same time, you're asking your brain to do two different things at once. Splitting the tasks makes it easier; you've collected all the information you need and now can just play with what you have.
Now start jotting down the things that catch your interest in your notebook and start developing your ideas a bit further. Here are a few examples:
Piñatas. If a kid's favorite TV character is Dora the Explorer, why do parents think it's a good idea to get a Dora piñata, fill it with candy, and encourage the kids to beat her head in with a stick? Do kids think everyone's head is filled with candy? Would you have a Matlock piñata filled with laxatives for a senior citizen party? What would make a really lame piñata for a kid's party?
“Happy Birthday to You.” What were the origins of the song? Is it owned by an individual or a massive corporation? How is the copyright enforced? How about a sketch that shows a family singing “Happy Birthday” to their child when a SWAT team from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) bursts into the party and arrests the family for violating the copyright? How about a sketch that shows a family celebrating at a restaurant being shut down by the manager when they start to sing “Happy Birthday,” because the corporate office insists that only the official restaurant birthday song can be sung on the premises.
Clowns. A mom hires a clown to entertain at their child's seventh birthday party, but instead of a happy-go-lucky funny clown, the entertainment agency sends a weird, surreal, and confusing Cirque du Soleil-type clown, who (in a French accent) talks to the children about how they are now one step closer to death.
Now try expanding your ideas even further into jokes or sketches, knowing that you have covered all your bases, done your homework, and become an expert on the topic you want to write about.
