ABSTRACT

Freedom Within Form invites creatives to craft “constraints” or “rules” to free their intuitive voices. This exercise can become a practice that strengthens creativity, generates new and surprising ideas, and helps creatives to develop a playful relationship to the inevitable constraints of time, resources, space, etc. Constraints or “rules” are always a factor in the creative practices. The sonnet, destina, limerick, and haiku are all examples of traditional constraint-based writing practices. In this exercise, constraints are actively created in order to bypass inner critics and habits of expression to arrive at fresh and surprising material. Freedom Within Form can be used as a warm-up for any sort of class or workshop and helps participants focus energy and generate text. Freedom Within Form is fluid in that the constraint choices are endless and can be shaped to work specifically with content that challenges or interests the individual.