Check out my first post here to read more about the namesake of this newsletter and make a copy of the input/output tracking sheet if you so desire.
Some weeks, you get the good content. Some weeks, you get a glimpse of how much your “writerly googles” are messing up your algorithm and getting you put on the FBI watch list (but really, can you jump off a NYC building in a wingsuit and land on the street unharmed?). And yet, some of these stranger articles and links I’ve stumbled upon have really inspired me. Next week’s newsletter is on how to be a “magpie” for real life details that can inform your writing, and I think pulling details from news stories can also help create that specific feeling in your work.
Below are some of my more out-there inputs from recent weeks. Share yours in comments!
Weekend Inputs for the Deranged
This $6 million Las Vegas bunker is still looking for a buyer. It's 26 feet underground, decorated like the 1970s, and owned by a foundation that wants to freeze humans for science. (yes, this is the title of the piece. I saw an article on a bunker like this years ago and was so titillated/upset by it that I WROTE IT INTO MY NOVEL)
Whenever I, as a nervous flyer, need to lightly self-harm, I head to my favorite Medium page: Admiral Cloudberg. Whoever the Admiral is, she sure spends A LOT of time breaking down the causes of major airline disasters, and I salute her for her labor. Sometimes you just need to unwind from the work day by crying over what happened at Tenerife in 1977, am I right?
This Reddit thread from my beloved r/namenerds talking about how politics, location, and class influence name spelling, using the example of the name…Caitlin.
“Chaos, Comedy, and ‘Crying Rooms’: Inside Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’”. All I’m gonna say here is 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
I would love to interview this gentleman about his training routine: “Coast Guard arrests a man trying to run a giant hamster wheel across the Atlantic.” This is his FOURTH TIME trying it! An icon of gumption and dedication!
We need a rom-com set in this world, stat: “Competitors get down and dirty at Britain’s bog snorkeling championships”
I know a lot of people (myself included) who would fare quite well in a competition like this! “Montenegrins vie for record in lying down contest”
Connor O’Malley is one of the strangest and funniest comedians out there. I have no idea what this video is going to be about, but based on the very upsetting thumbnail I’m certainly going to watch it.
And three other recent videos my YouTube algorithm recommended, please psychoanalyze me accordingly:
Share some of your more deranged inputs with us! Drop links in comments.
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ABOUT ME: My name is Caitlin Kunkel and I’m a comedy writer, long-time teacher, and creator of The Second City’s Online Satire Writing Program. I currently teach classes and consult on gift book proposals, modern adaptation, satire, and comedic literature. I co-founded The Belladonna Comedy and the Satire and Humor Festival, and I co-wrote the satirical gift book New Erotica for Feminists: Satirical Fantasies of Love, Lust, and Equal Pay, named one of the Top 10 Comedy Books of 2018 by Vulture.
I love advice columns, and separately I love their sensational headlines which are clearly written by somebody else. Some of my favorites (all from Slate, memorialized in one of my earlier newsletters):
- I Know The Truth About My Husband’s “Secret” Time in the Garage
- My Husband Returned To His Sexual Wrestling Account When I Lost My Libido
- Help! A Photo of My Butt Went Viral
Perfect email subject line!!! My current deranged input is real estate in Providence, RI. I cannot stop trawling Zillow! It's a sickness!