The following is an excerpt from a blog of yore. This post was all about constrained writing so grab a pencil and paper and get those creative juices flowing.
We all have constraints. Time, Resources. Rules. But that just means that sometimes we have to be more creative in how we do things. Life throws real roadblocks and obstacles at us every day, but if we practice dealing with constraints in creative ways, we will be better equipped to handle those bumps in the road.
We all have constraints. Time, Resources. Rules. But that just means that sometimes we have to be more creative in how we do things. Life throws real roadblocks and obstacles at us every day, but if we practice dealing with constraints in creative ways, we will be better equipped to handle those bumps in the road.
So why not explore some type of constrained writing and let me know how it goes. Here are some suggested forms to try:
Six-Word Memoirs
Over a million stories have been shared at Six-Word Memoir®. What is the essence of your message. Can you say it in six?
Twiction
Twitter plus fiction = twiction. Need a few more words, or at least characters, maybe twiction is more your speed. Limited to 140 characters, cause Twitter. Can you tell a short, short story?
Haiku
One of my personal go to constraints. Who knows, maybe it will become one of yours too. Try some poetry instead of prose. Just a reminder, haiku is 3 lines containing 5-7-5 syllables, respectively. That's kind of an oversimplification; read more about it here.
Lipogram
Instead of being limited by length or structure, maybe you want to try ditching a particular letter of the alphabet. One of my favorite examples of this is Mark Dunn's book Ella Minnow Pea in which certain letters suddenly get bounced from use. A really good read.
Reverse-lipograms
Yep, it is just what it sounds like. Each word much contain a particular letter you select.
Anagrams
You might have been taught not to play with your food but no one said you shouldn't mix up your letters. Pick a word, phrase, or sentence; dump the letters into a pile and see what you can rearrange them into.
Chaterism (Snowball)
Wow, this is where art and science really play together. Each succeeding word in a poem must increase or decrease in a uniform way, such as one character at a time. It grows like a snowball rolling down a hill. So I might say
Six-Word Memoirs
Over a million stories have been shared at Six-Word Memoir®. What is the essence of your message. Can you say it in six?
Twiction
Twitter plus fiction = twiction. Need a few more words, or at least characters, maybe twiction is more your speed. Limited to 140 characters, cause Twitter. Can you tell a short, short story?
Haiku
One of my personal go to constraints. Who knows, maybe it will become one of yours too. Try some poetry instead of prose. Just a reminder, haiku is 3 lines containing 5-7-5 syllables, respectively. That's kind of an oversimplification; read more about it here.
Lipogram
Instead of being limited by length or structure, maybe you want to try ditching a particular letter of the alphabet. One of my favorite examples of this is Mark Dunn's book Ella Minnow Pea in which certain letters suddenly get bounced from use. A really good read.
Reverse-lipograms
Yep, it is just what it sounds like. Each word much contain a particular letter you select.
Anagrams
You might have been taught not to play with your food but no one said you shouldn't mix up your letters. Pick a word, phrase, or sentence; dump the letters into a pile and see what you can rearrange them into.
Chaterism (Snowball)
Wow, this is where art and science really play together. Each succeeding word in a poem must increase or decrease in a uniform way, such as one character at a time. It grows like a snowball rolling down a hill. So I might say
I
am
the
only
woman
trying
solving
snowball
chaterism
puzzlement
the
only
woman
trying
solving
snowball
chaterism
puzzlement
except I know that is not true. Also, for the techno-geeky among us you may also want to check out what Paul Thompson is doing with his computer code to generate snowballs.
So what did you come up with? Can I get a peek?