Caption Contest Winner (and tips on how to win) (Patreon)

This past weekend I did a caption contest on my Instagram page. The first image is the winning entry by Paul Pantea. I like it because it's funny and relatable, especially at this time of year when a lot of people talk about making big life changes. I've included three other entries that were pretty close to winning. Part of the judging process is putting the top entries into the cartoon to see how each joke holds up. 

For those who like to enter these contests, here are three things I look for in a winning caption (aside from being funny, of course):

Brevity: I like captions that are 25 words or fewer. As I'm looking through the captions, if I see one that's a long paragraph, I don't even read it. 

The caption fits the character's expression: if the character's mouth isn't wide open and doesn't appear to be yelling, then an entry that has a lot of exclamation points won't work. 

No political commentary: If it contains any kind of political message, it won't be considered. 

Hopefully these tips will help if you choose to enter a future contest.