Play involves risk. Creativity embraces gambles.
When we engage in the work of writing, we sometimes forget the fun of it, the way it can be a bit of recreation.
The Surprising Joy of Constraint
After my husband’s recent birthday supper celebration, our local grandchildren amused themselves in the living room. It’s a newly created nook with an area rug, two swivel chairs near the window, and two comfy chairs on either side of my Granny’s wardrobe. As light streamed in through tall windows, the grandchildren gathered a few toys. Normally, the den’s the place they spread out. But that night, moving from the dining area into the living area flowed naturally. Innovation happened in this new space. Creativity showed up afresh as parameters offered opportunities to engage differently with familiar items.
“You have about fifteen minutes before we need to head home,” their dad commented. A time limit existed. No time to linger. Time to get going!
Rather than the den’s long rectangular area, great for stretching the wooden train tracks out in multiple directions, the living room area consisted of a small square. Because of various chairs, adults, and a baby added to the mix, my grandson and granddaughter noticed they couldn’t use their normal configuration for the train. So, a shift occurred; instead of the bridge going from Point A to Point F, it needed to exist within a tighter space.
“Derailment, ahead!” one grandchild declared.
Rather than an elaborate set-up that might have involved inner and outer loops of tracks with several trains simultaneously running, instead of the long, slow approach onto and off the bridge, a cliff and a careening end created a new drama. Laughter echoed as busy hands flew. Faster than the approaching sunset, train pieces materialized and dramatized a new scene. Limits created a new way to play.
Rethinking Constraints as Creative Tools
When I think of constraints, I hold onto a negative mindset. Constrictions feel onerous. Restrictions may dampen my enthusiasm. Yet for my grandchildren, the opposite occurred. Constraints became part of playfulness.
So, how might playfulness and creativity show up in fresh ways when we purposely create constraints for our writing work? How might messing about in new manners change the trajectory of the project, either short term or for the longer haul?
Here are some ways to experiment with this idea of constraints and playfulness.
Ten Ways to Insert Playfulness in Your Writing Rhythms
#1 – Create various parameters. Use only crayons. Write only on index cards or sticky notes. Set the timer for five minutes. Set the number of words per sentence to only five words.
#2 – Occupy a new physical space. Always write at your desk or in the coffee shop? Write on a picnic blanket by the lake. Write at a playground. Write on your front steps.
#3 – Sketch a map of where the blog, book, or poem travels to in your imagination. Then create a travel brochure for the journey.
#4 – Amuse yourself by writing in three different genres or styles. Create a poem, a screenplay, or a song rather than your usual nonfiction self-help essays. Write a mystery short story or a how-to manual.
#5 – Give yourself a pen name, then dress up in that persona. Portraying a new person, write from their personality and perspective.
#6 – Write as if you are a sports commentator at the world finals of your essay or novel’s event.
#7 – Create a crossword puzzle from clues within your essay or short story.
#8 – Constrain yourself to a limited set of vowels. Then change it and use a different set of vowels.
#9 – Write as if you were an inanimate object: a rock, a tree, a basket. Now change that to write as if you were an animal that might occupy that particular object.
#10 – Write only using sensory words about hearing. Now, only about touch. Now, only about taste.
Bonus: Create a weather report about what it was like to engage with each of the ten items above.
Reflect on Your Creative Play Experience
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- What happened to your creativity levels?
- Where did jest turn into a deeper way to engage?
- What happened to your curiosity meter?
- How did your imagination expand?
- What felt freer even within the constraints you experienced?
- How did your perspective shift if you breached a boundary or widened a safe place?
- What occurred when you simplified?
- What occurred when you complicated things by asking questions that led to a rabbit trail or went deeper to the heart of an idea?
- What’s one playful way you might tease out new words for your reader and your heart as a playful writer?
Play moves us beyond the ruts and out of the routines. It provides building blocks of joy, wonder, experimentation, and delight in new measures.
The ABCs of Play
Give this resource I created a try. May it prompt you to get busy messing about with words, finding ways to flip the normal into the upside-down of wonder. Play. Create. Enjoy!
