Current events are funny

Need a jumping off point? Rose Valenta says look no farther than the morning news.
 
Do you often suffer from writer’s block? You need a quiet place to write and some inspiration. If you happen to live in a household with teenagers and grumpy old folks with no available quiet space, not even in the basement, there is a solution. You can go to your local sporting goods store and purchase a pair of earmuffs designed to protect you from ear damage caused by rapid machine gun fire (Xbox) or transient impact noise.
 
You should only wear them while writing for an hour or two, so you won’t miss the kids trying to kill each other in the next room.
 
Now, about the inspiration: I always check the news sites. There is nothing funnier than reading about a politician trying to get himself out of a jam or someone getting detained by a TSA agent at the airport. You can brain dump about what you are reading and before you know it, you’ll have a humorous column. You can see one of mine on my blog after I read about the 2012 Obama campaign.