The blank page is the creative person’s nemesis.
You’d think a creative would thrive without boundaries. That having the freedom to do anything would invite an explosion of ingenious ideas. Surely the mythical muse prefers to inspire without any pesky parameters spoiling the fun.
But limits don’t stifle creative work. Guidelines can actually catalyze our creativity. It feels counterintuitive, but guardrails are a gift to the creative mind.
As a graphic designer, having no direction and a blank artboard is debilitating. When I’ve preached, not having any guidelines for where to start my sermon prep is daunting. When I write, the hardest part for me is the blinking cursor on a blank page.
Constraints help creativity because they reduce the number of decisions you have to make. Too many possibilities can paralyze creatives. It’s true that few creative people love being micromanaged, but, for the most part, a few parameters can be helpful along the way.
Constraints don’t tell you exactly what to create, but they can provide a bit of direction and vision to help kickstart creativity.