Constraints
It struck me while I was reading Lisa Goldstein’s Walking the Labyrinth this weekend that I could look at being stuck in Cleveland with a house and no job as an opportunity to be creative within constraints, like writing a sonnet or a sestina. And then, poof, yesterday this quote from The Freelance Writer’s Bible:
“...it only stands to reason that writers will be most creative when no constraints or restrictions are placed on their writing. Right? Wrong. Constraints cultivate creativity. What is disagreeable to the artist is intrusion from the inner critic, but outside parameters are just the challenge the right brain relishes. Restrictions are inspiring.”
“...it only stands to reason that writers will be most creative when no constraints or restrictions are placed on their writing. Right? Wrong. Constraints cultivate creativity. What is disagreeable to the artist is intrusion from the inner critic, but outside parameters are just the challenge the right brain relishes. Restrictions are inspiring.”
posted by Christine Borne at 10:13 AM
2 Comments:
This is absolutely true. I am the most creative when someone tells me I have to do something. And not just to get out of it. But with writing prompts and such.
Writers are nasty little things that should be kept in cages when not being useful.
Maybe that is why my sister tried so hard to get my parents to keep me in a cage.
I got so much joy out of working at Facts on File because the project manager would say, OK, here's 50 images. Write captions for them. Don't go over 250 words. And it wasn't easy, either! You'd be amazed how much research goes into putting together a decent 250-word description of the Parthenon frieze.
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