Creativity is a muscle. If you wait for inspiration to strike, you'll be waiting a long time. You need to hit the gym.
Here are five exercises to generate material.
1. The Headline Remix
Open a news site. Read a headline. Try to write three different punchlines for it. * Headline: "NASA discovers new planet." * Punchline 1: "They named it 'Earth 2: This Time We Won't Ruin It.'" * Punchline 2: "It's inhabited entirely by missing socks."
2. The "Worst Case Scenario"
Take a mundane situation (Buying milk) and escalate it to the absolute worst possible outcome. * Buying milk -> Card declined -> Arrested for theft -> Prison riot -> King of the cell block. This helps you practice Absurdism.
3. The 180-Degree Turn
Take a cliché phrase and reverse it. * "Love makes the world go round" -> "Hate makes the world go round faster, because everyone is running away." This helps you practice Misdirection.
4. The Alien Viewer
Describe a normal human activity as if you are an alien seeing it for the first time. * Activity: Birthday Party. * Description: "They light a fire on top of food, chant a ritual song, and then extinguish the fire with their breath saliva."
5. Free Writing
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write without stopping. Do not edit. Do not delete. Just let your brain vomit onto the page. You will write 90% garbage, but there might be one gold nugget in there.