I love these posts on creativity. A couple of years ago during the height of the pandemic I wrote an article entitled, "What Do innovation and sandwiches have in common?" It's based on an activity I do with teams where I have them imagining themselves standing with their head in the refrigerator trying to make a sandwich out of less than ideal makings. This gets them energetically into the "constraints" frame of mind you described and on to their own set of challenges.
This is great, Amy! Cooking is all about working within constraints, isn't it. And as in other kinds of creative endeavors, it's the limits we have to work within that push us to come up with solutions we wouldn't otherwise have thought of.
Thanks for this Annie - did you see that Jason Kottke highlighted a great example of art made in the "notes" app as a great example of creativity within constraints? https://kottke.org/23/03/notes-art When I manage I often work with people to lay out constraints (or guardrails) that can help identify where there is freedom to innovate. Love reading your writing!
Hi Courtney! Thank you so much for pointing me to that post by Jason Kottke. It's so amazing what people are able to create within even extreme constraints. Reminds me of hearing about people who write an entire novel on their iPhone . . .
I love this Annie. Reminds me that one of my most powerful creative undertakings happened as a result of someone telling me I could not or must not do something -- something I needed to remember today!
That is awesome, Alexa. A good reminder that "constraints" can take the form of dictates from other people! Being creative within those is the best revenge.
Absolutely, yes, and thanks for continuing this series on creativity, Annie. It took me 50-odd years to get comfortable with some version of 'discipline' that I could digest for myself. Speaking as a man, perhaps in particular for men, self-discipline as in creative constraints often gets confused with discipline imposed by the judgement of other men. I wrote a piece not long ago about my process of reframing discipline for myself:
First, thank you for your posts on creativity. I design professional learning for adults and find that beginning with the end in mind helps the flow, and keeps me on target. After talking to the client, I set up preliminary learning targets to share back with them. Next comes the development of success criteria. As I design, these two items provide structure and also important constraints that keep me from wondering away from the main point or adding "just one more thing!"
I heard an interview yesterday on NPR with an Irish author (didn’t note his name) who decided to write his book with each chapter no longer than 500 words. Also, no shorter than 500 words. Talk about constraints!
Thanks for pointing me to this, Joy! Here's the author you mention, Donal Ryan, in conversation with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly:
RYAN: Each chapter is actually exactly 500 words - no more, no less.
KELLY: Literally each chapter is exactly 500 words.
RYAN: Yeah, yeah. And I know it sounds arbitrary, but it started to make sense because the first few vignettes I wrote worked out at around 500, and I thought, just for tidiness here, I'll clip these back to exactly 500 so I can keep a very, very close eye on the construction of it. If I used a very strict modular approach, I thought, I won't veer off track. I won't digress too much, and I can keep a real control on the pacing of it. And it really worked."
Really enjoyed this. I write fiction and poetry, and find it absolutely necessary to impose constraints. I like your perspective of thinking of these as tools--when you are facing the barren wasteland of the unwritten page, do you really want to go in with no provisions or help whatsoever? I don't!
That's a wonderful way to think about it, Alexandra! Like your constraints are a backpack full of tools to help you find your way through unmarked terrain . . .
Excellent! Contstraints are essential to my writing. There are a list of rules written in my pocket notebook for every essay I write. They remind me to limit my usage of the word "I". To avoid 'thought verbs' - think, believe, love, hope, hate, etc. They tell me to explain the actions that demonstrate the thoughts instead. My rules don't allow for adverbs, especially not ones that end in -ly. They tell me to incorporate repetition, rhymes, and recurring lines. They tell me not to make thesis statements, to allow the reader room to choose for themsleves what to conclude. My rules tell me not to take myself too seriously, to add in sarcasm, humor, or self-depricating commentary. Maybe if i wasn't such a self-rightesous prick, that last one wouldn't have to be a rule. That's why it's called a creative "practice", I suppose.
Interesting! You know what honestly came to mind first? Financial constraints. When I think about some of the artists I admire a lot of their stories start “ I didn’t have access to x so I had to use x”. And that thing that they used instead makes their art absolutely unique. Very interesting thought for my perfectionist mind to ruminate on lol
This article makes me think of one aspect of pedagogy in my World Language classroom which centers around having middle schoolers master, use and apply a limited, yet targeted, list of 500 words. This list of words is built from the most frequently used words to communicate, which is important because every word on the list has a specific and concrete use.
Loved this post! Thank you Annie. Constraints are the pillars of Creativity in VUCA world. Dealing with constraints is healthy and constructive because they are real, where there is no point of reference they give us a certain place to start.
Hi Annie, great post. I'm very much in favour of constraints. In fact, I am a fan of the Oulipo movement, which you may have heard of. They use constraints like omitting a particular letter (lipogram) from a piece of writing. I've written more here if you're interested. Or even if you're not I suppose! https://terryfreedman.substack.com/s/oulipo
Hi Annie,
I love these posts on creativity. A couple of years ago during the height of the pandemic I wrote an article entitled, "What Do innovation and sandwiches have in common?" It's based on an activity I do with teams where I have them imagining themselves standing with their head in the refrigerator trying to make a sandwich out of less than ideal makings. This gets them energetically into the "constraints" frame of mind you described and on to their own set of challenges.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-do-innovation-sandwiches-have-common-amy-avergun
This is great, Amy! Cooking is all about working within constraints, isn't it. And as in other kinds of creative endeavors, it's the limits we have to work within that push us to come up with solutions we wouldn't otherwise have thought of.
Thanks for this Annie - did you see that Jason Kottke highlighted a great example of art made in the "notes" app as a great example of creativity within constraints? https://kottke.org/23/03/notes-art When I manage I often work with people to lay out constraints (or guardrails) that can help identify where there is freedom to innovate. Love reading your writing!
Hi Courtney! Thank you so much for pointing me to that post by Jason Kottke. It's so amazing what people are able to create within even extreme constraints. Reminds me of hearing about people who write an entire novel on their iPhone . . .
Wonderful Annie!
Thanks so much, Rufus! Hope all is well with you. I have been loving the Next Big Idea Club podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-big-idea/id1482067226
I love this Annie. Reminds me that one of my most powerful creative undertakings happened as a result of someone telling me I could not or must not do something -- something I needed to remember today!
That is awesome, Alexa. A good reminder that "constraints" can take the form of dictates from other people! Being creative within those is the best revenge.
Another good example of constraints supporting creativity is Keith Jarrett's Cologne concert: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Köln_Concert
I love this, Dylan! I had not heard about this. What a wonderful story.
Absolutely, yes, and thanks for continuing this series on creativity, Annie. It took me 50-odd years to get comfortable with some version of 'discipline' that I could digest for myself. Speaking as a man, perhaps in particular for men, self-discipline as in creative constraints often gets confused with discipline imposed by the judgement of other men. I wrote a piece not long ago about my process of reframing discipline for myself:
https://bowendwelle.substack.com/p/someone-elses-discipline-is-just
This blog post is really beautiful, Bowen. So interesting to think that "discipline," understood correctly, can actually bring us freedom.
First, thank you for your posts on creativity. I design professional learning for adults and find that beginning with the end in mind helps the flow, and keeps me on target. After talking to the client, I set up preliminary learning targets to share back with them. Next comes the development of success criteria. As I design, these two items provide structure and also important constraints that keep me from wondering away from the main point or adding "just one more thing!"
You are welcome, Cathy! So smart to begin with the end in mind—instead of waiting until the last stages of a project to introduce limits and judgment.
I heard an interview yesterday on NPR with an Irish author (didn’t note his name) who decided to write his book with each chapter no longer than 500 words. Also, no shorter than 500 words. Talk about constraints!
Thanks for pointing me to this, Joy! Here's the author you mention, Donal Ryan, in conversation with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly:
RYAN: Each chapter is actually exactly 500 words - no more, no less.
KELLY: Literally each chapter is exactly 500 words.
RYAN: Yeah, yeah. And I know it sounds arbitrary, but it started to make sense because the first few vignettes I wrote worked out at around 500, and I thought, just for tidiness here, I'll clip these back to exactly 500 so I can keep a very, very close eye on the construction of it. If I used a very strict modular approach, I thought, I won't veer off track. I won't digress too much, and I can keep a real control on the pacing of it. And it really worked."
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1161444681/growing-up-in-a-kitchen-full-of-women-inspired-donal-ryans-new-book
Really enjoyed this. I write fiction and poetry, and find it absolutely necessary to impose constraints. I like your perspective of thinking of these as tools--when you are facing the barren wasteland of the unwritten page, do you really want to go in with no provisions or help whatsoever? I don't!
That's a wonderful way to think about it, Alexandra! Like your constraints are a backpack full of tools to help you find your way through unmarked terrain . . .
Thanks for the post, Annie! I especially liked the idea about exclusionary and focusing constraints.
Excellent! Contstraints are essential to my writing. There are a list of rules written in my pocket notebook for every essay I write. They remind me to limit my usage of the word "I". To avoid 'thought verbs' - think, believe, love, hope, hate, etc. They tell me to explain the actions that demonstrate the thoughts instead. My rules don't allow for adverbs, especially not ones that end in -ly. They tell me to incorporate repetition, rhymes, and recurring lines. They tell me not to make thesis statements, to allow the reader room to choose for themsleves what to conclude. My rules tell me not to take myself too seriously, to add in sarcasm, humor, or self-depricating commentary. Maybe if i wasn't such a self-rightesous prick, that last one wouldn't have to be a rule. That's why it's called a creative "practice", I suppose.
Thanks for such a great post!
Here I have attempted to collect quotes from many that recognize the importance of some sort of "Tension" in the creative process: https://walterhpierce.substack.com/p/v2-the-need-for-tension
Interesting! You know what honestly came to mind first? Financial constraints. When I think about some of the artists I admire a lot of their stories start “ I didn’t have access to x so I had to use x”. And that thing that they used instead makes their art absolutely unique. Very interesting thought for my perfectionist mind to ruminate on lol
This article makes me think of one aspect of pedagogy in my World Language classroom which centers around having middle schoolers master, use and apply a limited, yet targeted, list of 500 words. This list of words is built from the most frequently used words to communicate, which is important because every word on the list has a specific and concrete use.
Loved this post! Thank you Annie. Constraints are the pillars of Creativity in VUCA world. Dealing with constraints is healthy and constructive because they are real, where there is no point of reference they give us a certain place to start.
Hi Annie, great post. I'm very much in favour of constraints. In fact, I am a fan of the Oulipo movement, which you may have heard of. They use constraints like omitting a particular letter (lipogram) from a piece of writing. I've written more here if you're interested. Or even if you're not I suppose! https://terryfreedman.substack.com/s/oulipo