Connections, Constraints and Creativity

A while back I introduced a creativity warm-up exercise called The Dictionary Game, making the point that it's really useful when you're preparing yourself to be conscious of connections. This and other creativity exercises also offer the benefit of imposing some specific constraints. Because, as Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein write in their Psychology Today blog Imagine That:

the creative imagination works best when faced with explicitly understood constraints. 

Over at my other blog, Two Red Threads, I'm posting my first reader challenge based on a suggestion from Daryl Lancaster in a comment on the Dictionary Game post here at Compost And Creativity. You may be wondering, why not host the challenge here? Or maybe you're not wondering, but I've given this a lot of thought and my husband has heard this multiple times so you're up.

Last November, I took an online class through my local technical college called Web 2.0: Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts. Best $89 I've spent in a while, and you know I like to get my money's worth. As I worked on one of the first assignments -- to plan a blog and think about what kind of content it would include -- it became clear to me that I could maintain a stronger focus by splitting one idea into two separate but connected blogs. And I think it's working. There have been times when I've asked myself, does this belong at TRT or C&C, and an idea could go either way. But for the most part, self-imposed constraints have made it easier for me to get the job done.

So along with the Gimp Learn-Along, which starts tomorrow, I'm posting the Captcha Challenge over at Two Red Threads. Here at Compost And Creativity, I want to spend some time exploring ideas about the creative process, get some incubation exercises posted, introduce culinary challenges, and share some information on learning styles and teaching techniques. I hope you'll stay tuned here, and join in over at Two Red Threads.

But the question is, how does this work for you? Hit that comment button. I'm listening.