{"id":13470,"date":"2015-09-07T01:00:30","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T08:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=13470"},"modified":"2015-09-06T17:44:17","modified_gmt":"2015-09-07T00:44:17","slug":"leveraging-limitations-for-greater-creativity-and-productivity-by-brian-james-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/07\/leveraging-limitations-for-greater-creativity-and-productivity-by-brian-james-lane\/","title":{"rendered":"Leveraging Limitations for Greater Creativity and Productivity by Brian James Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WriteInBox\"Today we welcome a new guest writer to Writer\u2019s Fun Zone, Brian James Lane who is stopping by to chat with us today about \u201cLeveraging Limitations for Greater Creativity and Productivity.\u201d \u00a0Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Often times, you may hear that to be successful in your creative endeavors you need to \u201cthink outside the box\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is sound advice. There is nothing more infinite than what is outside the conventional.\u00a0 There is also nothing more boundless than the blank page.\u00a0 Sometimes, creativity may need to be reined in so as not to be overwhelmed.\u00a0 What better place than a box to give your inspiration some form? A small box.<\/p>\n

This is not to say you would be limiting yourself.\u00a0 Far from it.\u00a0 The purpose of constraints is to stretch those mental muscles.\u00a0 Force them to be creative in your self-imposed confines.\u00a0 You are not thinking of what cannot be done in a story, rather what can be accomplished under the circumstances.<\/p>\n

This can also help to get you \u201cunstuck\u201d.<\/strong> You can employ the same techniques to kick-start your writing. If you have lost interest or cannot figure out how to continue, limitations can help.<\/p>\n

For example, let\u2019s say we have an idea for a novel.\u00a0 We want to write a murder mystery.\u00a0 We want the protagonist to be a female and your antagonist to be someone she knows who can therefore be one step ahead of her.\u00a0 Not too original, but let\u2019s put our vague concept through some limitations.<\/p>\n

What if we took some of the elements of story-writing and placed constraints on some aspects?\u00a0<\/strong> Let\u2019s say that in our original concept, the murders were occurring in a small coastal town (so as to limit potential suspects).\u00a0 The first murder victim was connected to our amateur detective because they went to college together.\u00a0 The conflict is woman verses murderer, obviously, and the point of view is third-person focused on the protagonist.<\/p>\n

Again, we are not breaking any new ground here.\u00a0 Let\u2019s change that. We can confine the plot to specific parameters.\u00a0 Instead of a coastal town, how about a cannery as our setting?\u00a0 All the murders and all of the suspects surround a small cannery business.\u00a0 Now, we have a framework which can prompt creativity.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take our murder mystery example and run it through some other elements:<\/strong><\/p>\n