Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
”What’s 43 Folders?”
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.
Creative Constraints: Going to Jail to Get Free
Merlin Mann | Mar 24 2008
A Brief Message: No Resistance Is Futile Paul Ford has been posting six-word Twitter updates for a few weeks, and now he's also created the magnum opus of six-word criticism: sexological reviews of the 763 mp3s in this year's SxSW torrent. Writing on (the 200-words-or-less site) A Brief Message, Paul talks about how the constraint changed his approach and his thinking:
Yes. Constraints. As Paul shows, constraints get you thinking about the creative process in a whole new way. Me? I ♥ constraints. 30 seconds. 5 things. Less than 140 characters. In fact: Twitter's making me a stronger writer. I think harder about how to say more using fewer and shorter words. Nothing beats hitting the Twoosh. (140 chars) Let's close with a favorite quote on creative constraint from Anne Lamott's wonderful Bird by Bird. She explains that she keeps a one-inch-square picture frame on her desk to remind her of "short assignments:"
Well put. (And only 17 characters north of the Twoosh.) The Question to YouGot a good example of a creative constraint at work? 23 Comments
POSTED IN:
The idea of external constraints works in all aspects of life.Submitted by DanielGenser on March 24, 2008 - 12:56pm.
Constraints on your physical surroundings works wonders also. I once moved from Seattle to Aberdeen, Washington (a depressed logging town on the Washington coast) for this exact reason. I needed to clear some headspace, so I moved to Aberdeen without a vehicle (almost unheard of - this is logger country) and rented a basement apartment. Other events in my life at the time made it not such a good decision, but creatively the results were astounding. I felt so much more free - to write, create, everything. Everything felt new in that new context. I found Seattle (and other cities with large amounts of creative people) creatively stifling. Since the Aberdeen days, I moved back to Seattle and got married. After a year in the city, my wife and I escaped again - this time to Vashon Island - a little island a 20 minute ferry ride from Seattle and Tacoma in the Puget Sound. Having the physical constraints of a ferry schedule have been great for me. My money, time and attention are now more focused, without all the glittery distraction-filled lights of the city. It's helped me focus inward and on my marriage and goals. So the idea of constraints can be used in my contexts. » POSTED IN:
|
|
EXPLORE 43Folders | THE GOOD STUFF |