How creative limits help you write better
Have you ever become completely stuck when standing in the supermarket deciding what to have for dinner?
With no limits or restrictions, you could have anything and yet you can’t settle on just one dish you want to cook.
Something similar might happen when you sit down to write a blog or LinkedIn post. The endless choice and possibilities of what you could write leave you unable to start anything. You get frustrated, thinking: “Come on. You can write anything! Literally anything! Why can’t you think of one thing to write?!”
But it’s the ‘anything’ that’s the problem. A study called the Green Eggs and Ham Hypothesis (10/10 to author Catrinel Haught-Tromp for that name, btw) found that participants given limitations when writing poems produced more creative results. So if I asked you to write a poem about whatever you like, chances are you’d struggle. But if I asked you to write a poem about dolphins eating sandwiches, you might fare a bit better creatively.
Haught-Tromp says that by reducing the number of choices available, we’re encouraged to explore more paths and think outside the box more.
And it turns out, it’s a thing. Artists in every medium love the limitations on creativity and the work it produces. Look at Haiku poet Matsuo Bashō who worked within a limited structure, painter Piet Mondrian who used limited colours and shapes, and musician Brian Eno who used a deck of cards with limitations to guide his creative process.
Frozen by choice
Our world of ever-increasing choice could spell trouble for our creativity and decision-making. Endless people to swipe on dating apps, endless food delivery options to choose from, 40 pages of black dresses on an online retailer’s website. We’re in limbo, unable to make any kind of choice or commitment, whether it’s Szechuan or Thai, fitted or floaty, Billy or Dave.
There’s something so calming about buying from a shop that has two options: you choose the best one, you leave. Job done. And it says something for the environment as well. Producing fewer, producing better.
Where you’ll see restrictions in my creative process
In getting off the starting block
Other than bad feedback, there’s little a writer fears more than the blank page. So I find myself building restrictions into my process when writing for clients. It might be a time restriction, a word count, or a particular point of view or perspective. If I’m writing something more creative, a strapline or headline, for example, working within certain rules or parameters helps shake the ideas free. (Dan Nelken has a ton of good ideas for this in his course Writing Under Pressure (affiliate: I earn a little bit of money if you choose to follow this link to do the course. If you’d rather I didn’t, you can find the course here).
🔎 Related: Why you get writer's block - and what you can do about it
In bringing projects to a close
I also limit the number of rounds of edits I offer to clients. Having one round helps everyone focus and get the most out of the project first time, instead of half-arsing a couple of rounds knowing we’ve got another one to fall back on. Again, restrictions sharpening focus and outcome.
In discovering the workings of a business
The goal of a tone of voice workshop is to explore the inner workings of a business to guide them towards their brand voice. If we walked into the workshop and just chatted for two hours, it’s unlikely anything productive would take place. It’s within the restrictions of different exercises and lines of exploration that ideas are set free and given the air to breathe.
In helping clients express themselves
So many times, clients come to me and what they want most from their tone of voice guide is consistency. What they often need is limitations, some parameters on what not to do as much as what to do. And within those barriers, they find the freedom to be more creative because they have the safety net of the guidelines.
How to use restrictions to write better for your business
When writing for your business, use the power of restrictions to save time, boost creativity and produce better work:
Set a timer for 15 minutes. See if you can write the whole week’s social posts in that time. Don’t worry about producing anything polished, just get the ideas down and edit them later.
Instead of committing to post about every topic vaguely related to your niche, decide on three or four content pillars, key themes you’ll stick to talking about. You should find it a lot easier to fill that content planner if you go deep on fewer topics.
Use restrictions to focus your sales funnel. Package up your services, limit enrolment on your course to specific time periods, have a minimum project size.
Struggling to write your ‘About’ page? Challenge yourself to write it in poem form or in the style of a rap. I’m not saying you have to publish the finished piece but the new way of looking at things might shake a few useful ideas loose.
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