Defined by negatives - Austin Kleon

Are these limitations helping you be more creative?

— Exactly. It’s the most critical part. With any kind of creative work you start disabling as much as possible and narrow it down only to the necessary tools you need, and from there start making the work. That’s what I believe makes you super creative.

The key is knowing what parts of your work should be constrained.

Temporary Rules Much of the artistic process involves ignoring rules, letting go of rules, undermining rules, and rooting out rules that we didn’t know we were following. There is also a place for imposing rules. For using rules as a tool to define a given project.

A little imprisonment—if it’s of your own making—can set you free.