ON CREATIVE CONSTRAINTS
Most creative advice is empty, feel-good shit.
"Follow your dreams! Express yourself! Create without limits!"
Unlimited creative freedom sounds cute in theory, but it's horrible in practice.
Give someone a blank page and ask them to write a story — they'll freeze. Tell them to write 200 words about their last breakup in 30 minutes, and they'll make something worth reading.
Creatives romanticize the blank canvas and its "infinite potential." The problem is that when anything is possible, nothing gets done.
Freedom isn't liberating. It's paralyzing.
Constraints aren’t prisons. They’re catalysts.
The Proof
Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a complete story in six words.
The result?
For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.
In just six words, Hemingway turns a curious moment into a full-blown tragedy.
Shakespeare and Dante used the sonnet's rigid 14-line structure and revolutionized literature.
Twitter’s initial 140-character limit was instrumental in its success.
Constraints don't limit creativity. They unlock it.
Constraints That Actually Help
Format Constraints: Write a story without using the letter "a"
Time Constraints: Tighten your deadlines.
Resource Constraints: Make a film in your home using your phone
Tool Constraints: Use three colors and one font
Audience Constraints: Write to your haters
Constraints work because they force you to adapt and find solutions you never knew existed.
When Constraints Kill
Not all limits help. Some will suffocate you:
Constraints without purpose
Constraints that contradict your values
Constraints imposed by people who don't understand the work
Learn the difference between constraints that help you and constraints that hurt you.
Your Homework
Pick a project you're stuck on. Add two constraints:
One time constraint
One resource constraint
Work within these limits and let your brain surprise you.
Remember:
Freedom is the enemy of creativity. You need a box before you can think outside of it.
SNATCHED FROM THE DOPEST PLAYLIST
Kendrick Lamar’s verse on “Chains & Whips” was the inspiration for today’s newsletter. I’d honestly be shocked if anyone can guess why 👇
Got a song on repeat?
Send it my way.
If I feature it, you get some love in a future issue.
You fucking legend.
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I thought last week’s newsletter was going to piss people off, but it was so well-received I’m plugging it again in case you missed it.
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Love,