Buy a notebook and start jotting your ideas in it. Don't worry about structure and formatting; just keep it with you at all times. When you think of something funny, write it down. Throughout this book there will be exercises to help you start filling up the first of what will be many notebooks to come.

This first exercise is going to sound really weird, but try it out or at least embrace the principles behind it. Write down your observations in your notebook. There are two options you can try; if you're really adventurous, try both.

Can Billy Come Out and Play?

Find a kid. If you have one lying around the house, great. If you don't, ask a friend or relative if you can borrow his for a few minutes. Get down on the floor and play with whatever the kid's playing with — Barbies, action figures, stuffed animals, whatever.

Watch how the child plays and follow his lead. If the baby wants to drive the minivan, let the baby drive the minivan. You know that's not logical, but don't contradict the fun with reality. Have some fun and notice how effortlessly the child improvises and how quickly he makes decisions when he isn't being judged.

Staples: The Mini-Series

Try this when you are alone or you might have a lot of explaining to do. Look at the things on your desk. What have you got? A stapler? A coffee mug? A Mr. T bobblehead? Start treating the objects as characters — living, breathing entities — and have them interact with each other. Is the stapler having an affair with the pencil behind the keyboard's back? Is your “World's Greatest Dad” mug worried because he falling behind on his child support payments? Are the pens and paper being downsized by the computer? For a week or so, create your own little desktop soap opera. Commit to it. Keep the action going and have fun with it.

Why are you doing this? You want to start looking for relationships and connections between random things. Start seeing things from a new perspective, and soon you'll see the world in a different light.