4 Steps to Developing Your Best Ideas with the Founder of The Onion | Scott Dikkers
Mar 26, 2024
In this episode, I talk with Scott Dikkers, a comedy writer and the founder of The Onion, where he served as their owner and editor-in-chief for 30 years. Today, Scott shares his 4-step process for coming up with the BEST ideas, why feedback groups are the missing ingredient for most creatives, and why "being boring is good."
FROM TODAY'S EPISODE:
- The tension between letting ideas simmer and needing to produce
- The importance of cultivating "bad ideas"
- Cultivating community as an introverted, workaholic creative
WHO IS SCOTT DIKKERS?
Scott Dikkers performs, writes, and animates the show, Scott Dikkers Around, available ad-free wherever you get podcasts.
His long career in comedy began with his syndicated comic strip, Jim's Journal, which led to a New York Times bestselling book collection. After that, he founded the world’s first humor website, TheOnion.com. He’s served as The Onion’s owner and editor-in-chief, on and off, for much of the last 30 years.
Scott's work has won a Peabody award, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and dozens of Webby Awards. In addition, he earned the #43 spot on Time magazine’s list of the Top 50 “Cyber Elite” alongside such iconic figures as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and George Lucas.
Scott shares his humor-writing secrets in the best-selling How to Write Funny book series. The latest addition is How to Write Funny Characters. He mentors comedians and comedy writers via a series of online classes he developed through the Second City Training Center in Chicago. He offers workshops, live writers' rooms, and free resources for comedy writers through the How to Write Funny website.
In his spare time, Scott is an accomplished voice actor who’s performed in many national commercials, video games and animated cartoons, including Saturday Night Live’s “TV Funhouse.” He’s also written and directed several award-winning short films, two feature films, Spaceman, and Bad Meat, and several novels. His latest is The Joke at the End of the World.
Connect with Scott Dikkers: https://scottdikkers.com/
