Constrained Writing
Limits Birth Chaos
I'm all for being against rules and limitations.
But, I'm more a supporter of breaking rules. And to break a rule, there has to be a rule there to begin with.
That's why I love the idea of constrained writing so much.
Constrained writing gives a framework for channeling creativity. Then, in the same breath, creates a second avenue of creativity in the breaking of the same rules that let the thing exist in the first place.
Beautiful chaos.
Or, in a word, art.
Next
This, right here, is a form of constrained writing. Forcing myself to write something, anything, is a constraint that gives function to my creativity.
But now I'm gonna break the rules in order to add an extra dimension to my creativity.
I'm going to break the rules by breaking the rule of breaking the rules, and, instead, add more constraints.
(I'm not gonna stop writing every day)
Bet you didn't see that one coming.
Or you did. Because, being 'unpredictable' and 'unconventional' is probably the most reliable thing I do.
Regardless, back to topic, I want to add a new constraint to my daily writing.
I won't use this tool every day, but I definitely want to use it.
I've become interested in haiku and want to start writing something similar.
Haiku themselves are weird, though.
There are simultaneously too many, and not enough rules.
More specifically, the rules are too wishy-washy to be useful. Se say they're this, some say they're that.
So, I'm just gonna make up my own rules, and call it my own thing.
My 'new' form of haiku, is simply anything contained in three lines.
That's it, that's the only rule.
Three lines.
Another rule is to end with a '∴' to signify the end. However, this is optional, because anyone with basic counting skills will be able to know when a three line thing is supposed to end. But, I still find it useful as a way to denote that, yes, that was a specific and intentional thing that I just read instead of a bad haiku.
I probably should have led with the name instead of saving it for last...
Oh, well.
This simplified haiku I am going to call a 'Triad'.
Triad
Triads have three lines.
That's it.
And sometimes a title. And sometimes three dots.
∴
I forgot to add that titles are optional features as well.
So yeah.
I started today (actually yesterday) thinking that I was going to use this post to announce that I would start learning to write haiku.
I didn't think I'd instead invent (or reinvent) a new artistic framework...
Oh, well. 🤷♂️
I'm just flowing with the River.
God Bless.
[Note from the future: Not much came of the Triad stuff. Most are now deleted. They ended up being kinda lame. This post is preserved to save the idea of Triads, as well as the general discussion of writing constraints.]