In the short list of reasons to go on living, I include the cartoons in the New Yorker. In recent years, there has been a contest on the last page in which readers are invited to submit their own captions for cartoon drawings. I don't know what the prize is other than being able to say you wrote for the New Yorker, but for most New Yorker readers, that would be enough.
So if you're interested in reading how one man did it, go to http://www.slate.com/ today to read "How To Win the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest: A champion reveals the recipe for victory," by Patrick House. An excerpt here:
"Today I can finally update my résumé to include "Writer, The New Yorker." Yes, I won The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, and I'm going to tell you how I did it. These observations have been culled from months of research and are guaranteed to help you win, too. (Note from Slate's lawyers: Observations not guaranteed to help you win.)
"Most people who look at the winners of the caption contest say, "I could've done better than that." You're right. You could have. But that doesn't mean you could've won the caption contest—it just means you could've done better. And if your goal is not to win the caption contest, why bother entering? There is one mantra to take from this article, worth its own line break:
"You are not trying to submit the funniest caption; you are trying to win The New Yorker's caption contest."
Well, I thought House's caption was pretty damn funny.
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