Bounty vs Limits

It's a fallacy to believe that to be creative, there should be little to no restrictions. To believe that the creative flow should be free to run where it will produces creative chaos and anarchy--or, worse, no creation at all.

That's not to say there isn't a place for No Restrictions in the creative process. But to produce a strong creative piece, boundaries must be set.

When water flows freely, there is no form to it, but give it a boundary or form to fill and it fills it thickly and with purpose.

Twyla Tharp said it best in her book "The Creative Habit" (which I strongly suggest any creative person to read). She said, "Limits are a secret blessing, and bounty can be a curse."

I have been struggling with my final project. I want a strong project but I have been floundering on how to approach it. It wasn't until yesterday when I learned what my limits were that my creativity, my thought processes, began to kick in and take off.

What limits do for me is to cut out all the extras, the jibberish, the nonessential elements and thus leaves me with the pieces that I can work with.

I am an Editor at heart--an archetypal Editor. I do best taking what exists and editing it so that it's beautiful or purposeful or dynamite. Coming up with ideas is NOT my forte (pronounced, FORT as a friend of mine corrects me when I pronounce it Fort-ay). But once the ideas are in place and the elements are there, I can piece them together to get a final outcome that is exceptional.

Now that I have my limits, now that I have a focus and a direction, now that I have the elements, I can move on the project and...

...now I'm excited.