
What I learned from writing for The Onion for a month (2015) - bryanrasmussen
https://wordsbyevanporter.com/what-i-learned-from-writing-for-the-onion-for-a-month/
======
volkk
A few years ago, my friend and I launched our own publication on medium
because we were very into comedy/satire. The Onion was the pinnacle. For a
couple of months we met every morning in a coffee shop before the start of our
respective jobs, around 7;30am and just brainstormed.

The biggest thing to me was that I learned that motivation was something that
could come after you force yourself to wake up early and just get started.
There were many days where we decided to not show up and skipped the days. The
rest of the days that we did show up, I never ever regretted them. We came up
with some hilarious ideas (at least to us) and would just sit there laughing
like idiots in the coffeeshop.

We eventually launched our "publication" on Medium, and it of course fell flat
because there needs to be a level of marketing and consistent effort for years
before you have a dedicated following. But, those few months were some of the
most creative months I've ever had in my life. I loved it. Was it a huge
success? Not in the least. Was it even funny? No idea, our friends thought the
articles were pretty funny, but other than that, it made it nowhere. If
anybody wants to check it out --
[https://medium.com/thedailylemming](https://medium.com/thedailylemming)

After reading this article, though, I think what OP wrote is sort of not what
I imagined. Sitting at home alone churning out ideas to some faceless email
for a name on your resume is not my idea of creativity, I guess. I like the
concept of sitting at a table and just sort of ping ponging ideas until you
get something that is amazing. Of course I can say that since I'm not an
actual writer and I can do this on the side and be picky and choosy as much as
I want.

~~~
doctorOb
> The biggest thing to me was that I learned that motivation was something
> that could come after you force yourself to wake up early and just get
> started

I had a similar experience doing a podcast [1] with a group of 6 others, each
putting out one episode per day. It felt like failing the group if anyone had
to skip their day, as we came close to a year without a break. I'd spend hours
researching and scripting my episodes while riding the bus, waiting for a
friend at a bar, or just winding down before bed. It was peak creativity for
me and I'm happy with how it all turned out.

But after a while we got burned out and decided to stop, with the idea that
we'd keep making our own podcasts. But without that mutual duty to release
daily, no one to date has actually put anything out. The
deadline/responsibility was the only way to make it happen–at least for me.

[1] - [https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2018/8/5/8-5-1...](https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2018/8/5/8-5-18-the-greatest-thing-since-sliced-bread)

~~~
volkk
oh man, i bet podcasts are so much more work

~~~
doctorOb
It varied episode to episode. I'd usually end up putting 10-15 hours into
research and writing but with some topics I couldn't tackle in 7 days, I'd
have to slap a roman numeral after it and try to finish it next week. Or, come
up with some sort of cop-out for the week entirely.

In one case [1] I ended up with a teaser + 3 parter that wasn't super
congruent because research for part 3 sort of changed how I would have
approached the script for the previous two.

[1] Killdozer Teaser - [https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2019/2/16/s2e4...](https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2019/2/16/s2e48-teaser-frontier-justice) I -
[https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2019/2/24/s2e5...](https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2019/2/24/s2e54-killdozer-i) II - [https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-
bird-news/2019/3/3/s2e61...](https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2019/3/3/s2e61-killdozer-ii) III - [https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-
bird-news/2019/3/10/s2e6...](https://www.podcastdotcom.net/early-bird-
news/2019/3/10/s2e68-killdozer-iii)

------
lordleft
RE: creativity as a muscle, I think this is a powerful shift in framing. A lot
of folks treat creativity as this lightening strike that you must passively
wait for. And while some creative ideas are like that, many creatives,
including some of the greatest artists in history, forced themselves to work
for some unit of time with regularity, and were able to train themselves to be
consistently creative over time. Sometimes a great idea feels like the firing
of random synapses, but perhaps the priming of that firing happens through
habit and dicipline.

~~~
pszndr
Creativity is illogical and chaotic. Things that work for one, won't for
another. Trying to find reason in it might be pointless. Getting it down to a
methodology might be ideal for some, but that's because they might be more
logic-oriented than emotion-oriented

Ideally you should find how you can extract the most out of your intellect and
use that. There's a right way and a wrong way, but not on a collective level,
only in an individual one.

~~~
scotch_drinker
The Artist's Way would strongly disagree.

------
yonran
The broken embedded video that he says he had the idea for has been moved
here: “Judge Rules White Girl Will Be Tried As Black Adult”
[https://www.theonion.com/judge-rules-white-girl-will-be-
trie...](https://www.theonion.com/judge-rules-white-girl-will-be-tried-as-
black-adult-1819594949)

~~~
forgotmypw17
Here is a link which doesn't require DRM and works with youtube-dl:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84phU8of02U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84phU8of02U)

------
motohagiography
Congrats to the author, that's a huge gig.

Let's say one were 90th percentile level good, what is the out/endgame for how
much money a writer can make these days? Like if you're the writing version of
the most entry level pro player on a hockey or basketball team - in the big
leagues, but still bottom rung of a tall ladder, are you earning average
software developer income at that point?

Almost all the pro writers I've known (n=50) had one of a higher-earning
spouse, independent means/inherited real estate, an editing/teaching job that
they occasionally wrote through, or a grant funded position or fellowship.

Assuming it's Pareto distributed where the top %20 of writers make %80 of
writing income, how much can a good writer expect to make?

~~~
wolco
Good / great doesn't matter as much as you would think. How well you sell
matters. Your subjects matter.

Great subjects like a Michael Jordan interview talking about Scotty would
superseed any average/good/great writing ability.

I don't find the writing great in the 4 hour work week. But it sold well. A
great writer wouldn't have added much in terms of income generated.

Marketing matters more for income.

~~~
motohagiography
I've published in mainstream publications, and while I see that point,
arguably, the quality of writing is measured by how much it changes the mind
of the reader, and not how it emulates prior art that may have been well-
received by critics. I would even say that writing that doesn't change the
mind of the reader is basically on a spectrum of porn.

By that measure, the 4 Hour Workweek was a great bit of writing. I like
triads, so I'd say it's a balance of Topic, Timing, and Talent. Three is best,
but if you aren't a contender with two, you don't have a chance. I've been
thinking about returning to it as a vocation, but don't think the economics of
writing make sense right now, hence the question.

~~~
darkerside
Not to overanalyze, but there's probably a minimum bar for each leg of that
stool. And once you're over it, investing more time and white won't move the
needle.

Ok overthinking it. There are probably different "formations" of the stool.
Imagine each axis on a scale from 1 to 10. A 10 topic and 10 timing can get by
with as low as a 4 writing talent. A 7 topic and 2 timing can make up for the
gap with a writing talent of 8.

End ramble.

------
cagenut
The article is from 2015 but the actual story/experience is from 2010. FWIW,
the onion has changed hands at least twice and the entire industry has
cratered since then (hence them being owned by a PE firm now). The TV show
mentioned is of course long canceled.

I know this is kinda dragging a tangential thing in here, but it really can't
be overstated how much Facebook hollowed out the sector. We're talking
rockefeller rolling up oil refineries, except instead of cutting them in zuck
just middle-manned their entire distribution chain and squeezed them to death.

~~~
ghaff
I don't know how much of it is Facebook specifically. The decline of revenue
coming into ad-supported sites generally has been happening for a very long
time. Facebook is part of the reason but it's not the only one.

~~~
cagenut
It was a one-two-three punch. First it was Craiglist, then it was Google, now
its Facebook. The main difference between google and facebook is that search
optimizes for sending you on your way, so the destination sites could still do
something with their audience. Facebook is extremely optimized to keep you on
facebook, so in a raw attention-economy eyeball-minutes sense FB hurt much
more than google.

And yes, if you're looking for full spectrum technicalities here amazon and
microsoft and yahoo all shaved a few % each themselves too.

But the high order bit, in 2020, is unequivocally FB.

------
dkdk8283
The onion from 2010-ish is the onion the world needs today. The onion now is
neutered and just not what it was.

Babylon Bee is fantastic, I absolutely love it. They are as close as you will
get to a 10 year old onion.

~~~
Finnucane
I don't know if neutered is the right word, but perhaps diluted, with a lot of
effort going into many projects. Also, moving from New York to Chicago c. 2012
caused a lot of staff changes. I was a little surprised they were able to
remain pretty consistent after moving from Madison to New York.

------
Abishek_Muthian
What's impressive to me as a non-westerner about the satire media in US/Canada
is the wonderful exhibition of free speech at a time when reporting factual
news can get a journalist into extreme trouble, even in countries wearing
'democracy' banner.

I highly recommend Onion's new podcast - The Topical[1][2] as a detox for real
news by the EOD; Ironically some times Onion's news contain more truth than
real(air quotes) news!

[1] Google Podcast -
[https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGh...](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vdGhldG9waWNhbA)

[2] Apple Podcast - [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-
topical/id14946007...](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-
topical/id1494600747)

~~~
castratikron
IMO a great example of this freedom is the Stephen Colbert character roasting
Bush in person at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner. This was when
9/11, Iraq war, Guantanamo Bay, Katrina, etc. were on peoples' minds at the
time.

[https://youtu.be/6ZnuYKKtpxg](https://youtu.be/6ZnuYKKtpxg)

~~~
ric2b
All that's special about it (and not that special) is that the president is
there in person, there are lots of countries where comedians can roast the
government all day long.

~~~
ShamelessC
>All that's special about it (and not that special) is that the president is
there in person

I cannot fathom how you think this is "not that special". Of _course_ it's a
bigger deal to be allowed to roast the president to his face and an audience
consisting of his strongest supporters than to be critical of the government
to a (probably smaller audience) of people who already agree with you.

If this happened in the current administration it would be met with a severe
character assassination by the president, Fox News, OAN, etc. His ego is
simply too fragile to handle any sort of criticism.

Of course the only way it could happen in the first place would be to trick
them into thinking it wasn't going to be a roast in the first place.

------
notkaiho
I feel almost ashamed to say that I don't think I've ever read past the
headline on an Onion article.

They just absolutely nail the satire in that one-liner, time after time after
time.

~~~
TulliusCicero
You're missing out then. What you're describing is true much of the time, but
in others the content is just amazing: [https://www.theonion.com/planned-
parenthood-opens-8-billion-...](https://www.theonion.com/planned-parenthood-
opens-8-billion-abortionplex-1819572640)

> "Although we've traditionally dedicated 97 percent of our resources to other
> important services such as contraception distribution, cancer screening, and
> STD testing, this new complex allows us to devote our full attention to what
> has always been our true passion: abortion," said Richards, standing under a
> banner emblazoned with Planned Parenthood's new slogan, "No Life Is Sacred."

~~~
willturman
Agreed. They absolutely nail the headlines, but the content is top-notch as
well. I'm regularly reminded of this one from 2013:
[https://www.theonion.com/jesus-this-
week-1819574831](https://www.theonion.com/jesus-this-week-1819574831)

> "WASHINGTON—Calling the last four days of American life just…I mean, talk
> about a goddamned punch in the gut, citizens across the nation confirmed
> today that, Jesus, this week.

This fucking week, sources added.

Christ."

~~~
nonce42
The Onion headline I think about regularly is from January 2001: "Bush: 'Our
Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'".

It was supposed to be a joke, but was prescient, promising a "Gulf War-level
armed conflict in the next four years" and a deep recession.

[https://politics.theonion.com/bush-our-long-national-
nightma...](https://politics.theonion.com/bush-our-long-national-nightmare-of-
peace-and-prosperi-1819565882)

------
hatmatrix
This American Life had an episode, Tough Room, in which Act One [1] was
chronicling how jokes get whittled down. This was from 2008 - don't know how
freelancers' jokes fit in but here the writers' jokes weren't submitted over
email but read out loud, one after the other, in a room where your coworkers
unemotionally approve or ask you to move on. It's worth a listen.

[1] [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/348/tough-room/act-
one](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/348/tough-room/act-one)

------
user982
I can't imagine how much harder it must be now for Onion writers who have to
compete with real-world headlines.

~~~
082349872349872
So instead of being comedy writers pretending to be a news room, they've
become a news room pretending to be comedy writers? Now they just need to work
on their embargo dates, because they've been clearly running their stories
before the events.

~~~
user982
Yes, they accidentally posted this one a month early:
[https://local.theonion.com/man-just-buying-one-of-every-
clea...](https://local.theonion.com/man-just-buying-one-of-every-cleaning-
product-in-case-t-1842493766)

------
maverickJ
Interesting. Writing and creativity is indeed a muscle. The author should not
disqualify themselves from being funny from just 4 week experience. Creating
funny content for the onion at that time required that you be in the 95th
percentile. The author could have been in 90th percentile for funny people in
America.

I just started writing my newsletter at
[https://leveragethoughts.substack.com/](https://leveragethoughts.substack.com/)
and I am currently building my writing muscle.

------
rwmj
A bit OT: Back in the 70s/80s there was a national weekly radio show called
Week Ending where anyone could turn up off the street in the writers' room and
contribute. The results were a bit mixed, rather tame by today's standards,
but it nurtured a lot of people who would go on to do great radio and TV
comedy in the UK.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week_Ending](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week_Ending)

------
typon
Two reactions to this blog:

1\. What does it feel like to work a job that's pretty morally unambiguously
doing good? (Making people laugh)

2\. Their interview process sounds a bit like tech take home assignment. If
they reject the interviewee, do they get to keep all their ideas? At least
they don't make them do improv in front of an interviewer in real time...
(equivalent of a white board leet code interview?)

~~~
bryanrasmussen
> Their interview process sounds a bit like tech take home assignment

the worst are the Fermi Comedy questions;

How many mimes slip on bananas in Paris

If you fill the Empire State Building with helium how many people in New York
will sound like dorks?

stuff like that, awful.

------
smitty1e
Conversely, as a BabylonBee subscriber, they let you pitch headlines.

And see the other submissions.

Heart goes out to whoever is wading through that mess.

------
thom
The video embed wasn't working for me, but if I'm reading the article right,
the sketch the author got produced is the first segment here:

[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6sw420](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6sw420)

(It is indeed funny, and still relevant).

~~~
dylan604
Why the image flip?

~~~
jakub_g

        document.querySelector('video').style.transform = "scaleX(-1)"

------
anonytrary
I think an AMA on Reddit from someone who wrote/worked for the Onion would be
really cool. The Onion is one of those companies that is just really good at
what it does and has found an incredible fit in a niche market. I always love
organizations like that who choose art over profit.

------
secondcoming
I love the Onion. There's also an old BBC comedy called Brass Eye that was
quite similar.

For example:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IEwBrJzhlg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IEwBrJzhlg)

~~~
jjgreen
Morris is a genius, if you like his stuff, do check out _Blue Jam_ , very
strange indeed

------
deadmik3
The "Jobs page" that's linked to in the article just goes to a page of all the
onion articles that are about "jobs". Is that the joke?

~~~
pchander
Article was from 2005. New link is here:
[https://www.theonion.com/careers](https://www.theonion.com/careers)

------
logicNSci
Given how many people shared Onion stories without knowing it's "satire" and
the article mentioning "It was always some kind of dry, subtle joke"-

I think The Onion is bad for society.

It spawned numerous knockoff websites that would mislead people "because it's
funny!".

If you are scrolling through a website, do you click on every article? Read
every detail? And research the root website?

Or do you skim, read mostly headlines and occasionally deep dive?

How many "satire" website headlines do you subconsciously believe?

All for "humor", which is rarely found tbh.

~~~
finnthehuman
The Onion is Baby's First Satire. I want it exposed to as many people as
possible so when they fail to get the joke we can relentlessly mock them and
know who to exclude from serious conversations.

Imagine someone who can't even handle the Onion trying to process challenging
satire. The kind that might get you to change your mind, rather than the
Onion/Daily Show brand of pats on the head for agreeing with established
orthodoxy.

~~~
bitwize
> The Onion is Baby's First Satire.

ITYM MAD Magazine, at least after the 80s.

It was hilarious when I was 12; these days, not so much.

