How to Think Outside of the Box by Staying Inside the Box

The Misconception of Creativity

So obviously, as is redundant from my first 2 posts, I’m trying to create more. Daily episodes aren’t that difficult, as I’ve started to just braindump ideas in a notebook for things to talk about and I’ll either choose to discuss something that’s fresh on my mind or fall back on a topic from the dump. The weekly podcast is a nice way of digging deeper into any topics that are already floating around in my head, and Yasin drops absolute BANGERS to shake the foundation of what I thought I knew. I’m still getting a feel for how to act on a podcast, but that’ll come with time. As Yasin pointed out to me, Joe Rogan is on Episode 1527, at least as of his episode with David Blaine, so this man has had YEARS of experience to hone the craft. So I’m not too worried.

When it comes to creation, a huge aspect of this venture is the expectation of originality. We all strive to be as unique in our fields as possible, rightfully so. We’re institutionally berated when we fail to cite our sources or copy-paste someone’s exact work. So at this age of our lives, it’s natural to be hesitant in pulling from other’s ideas. Trust, I’m not about to argue that it’s okay to copy people’s work. But the point is that we’re pretty accustomed to falling in the mindset of hyper-analyzing an idea we have before bringing it into fruition, because we fear that it’s too close to something that already exists, or we fear being labeled as a poser. And if we can’t come up with something ourselves, that is completely independent from things that already exist, it’s easy to put ourselves down and just accept that we’re not visionaries in our own crafts. Creativity, in our view, is a gift you’re given, rather than a skill that can be sharpened. We label specific people in society or our circles as being ‘creatives’ (If you’re an Instagram Influencer, relax). Whether it’s through photography or cinematography, writing or spoken word, design or aesthetic. We all have a frame of reference for who is considered creative and who is not. But what if creativity was actually a skill? Something that, with enough time and practice, can be built up and strengthened? In a future post, I plan on discussing the ‘Artists of our generation’, and how our perception of creative geniuses have shifted. But for now, let’s talk about one way we can foster creativity.

What is The Box?

I don’t label myself as a creative, that’s not the point of this post. Before you get here, you’re probably already going to question who let this egocentric Gen Z kid from the subcontinent put himself on a pedestal. Don’t worry, I’m simply sharing some things I picked up this past week, so RELAX.

A couple of weeks prior to starting the blog, I began a course from Emily Gould on Skillshare, which was called the 10 Day Journaling Challenge. The essential goal of this was to bring a framework for Daily Creative Writing, for non-writers. Well, it wasn’t framed for non-writers, but myself, as a non-writer, found it to be a pretty friction-less learning curve and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

A simple google search tells us that Creative Writing is defined as ‘writing, typically fiction or poetry, which displays imagination or invention, often contrasted with academic or journalistic writing.’ Essentially, you’re working on a piece with ideas that haven’t been said before, at least in the way you’re choosing to portray them. It was never tangibly shown or existing to you, but you chose to pull it from the recesses of your mind and bring it to fruition. The way I like to view it is that you’re writing from the perspective of your subconscious. Enough of the abstract. Creative Writing is at the barebones, fictional writing that displays a sense of ‘imagination or innovation’.

Just like any other daily writing exercise, Emily Gould asks you to spend a small amount of time everyday to sit down and give a shot at some Creative Writing. I’ll usually start with 5 minutes and if I feel like continuing I’ll just keep going. Now, the catch is that you have to start every sentence with “Today I Noticed…”. Yeah, this is very similar to writing prompts that give you a topic to go off on, but it was interesting to see how something as simple as this made an impact on what I wrote about. I found myself exaggerating the small details about my day, whether I noticed my tea bag as it was steeping in hot water, or a light breeze that passed over me. I quickly noticed how my brain attempted to make links to past experiences, distant memories that I wouldn’t have conjured up had I not decided to talk about such a minor, passable detail. Emily pushes you to start noticing the smaller details in our days, observing the things that would normally go unnoticed. Mindfulness is a huge part of this activity, a unique feature that will be discussed another time. The important part to note here is how using this simple restriction on how you start each sentence puts you in a position to bring about ideas that would have been foreign to you, had you chosen to simply ‘brainstorm’.

What I’ve defined as ‘The Box’ is the constraint that you place on an activity in order for you to guide your work. The Box acts as a supplement, forcing you to stay within bounds of a certain framework, but that in and of itself pushes your mind to convolute already present ideas in a way that can fit inside without ‘drawing over the lines’. There’s a lot of words here, but the essential idea is that you create a restriction, whether it be in the form of a strict starting point in a writing prompt, or a set of guidelines to follow for a video competition. This restriction then pushes you to two things. First, it makes the task a lot easier to approach. Suddenly, there’s less friction in pursuing it, because you’ve created an outline and your mind doesn’t have to wander to every single possibility that’s out there, leading to a subconscious panic. You’ve created a ‘safe zone’ for you to work. Secondly, and more importantly, a mediocre set of ideas that you might have had before suddenly has the potential of being revolutionary. You might have to take a previously general topic and constrain it to the specificity of your self imposed restrictions. You’re essentially ‘boxing in’ your general range of experiences to fit the narrative you outlined for yourself.

Creating The Box

In theory, all of this sounds fine and dandy. But how is this going to help me? It’s more obvious to see how this applies to ‘creative’ ventures. I already talked about how in writing, prompts or guides can spark this ideation. What about other crafts or activities? The idea is simple: choose a single technique, subject, method, or framework to work within, and work on your art. Within fine arts, it may be choosing a single brush stroke or medium. Within photography, it may be choosing a specific focal length or subject. For the mundane activities we’re more familiar with, such as a brainstorming session or assignment, the following constraints are some examples of how to create an environment for creativity, varying the material you construct your ‘Box’ with.

  • Time

Utilizing a time constraint can be very effective for incentivizing progress towards innovation. This can come in the form of a minimum time goal that you want to work on a task for, forcing yourself to braindump ideas, without attaching a quality filter on it. This can also come about in a maximum amount of time set for a specific task. Within a brainstorming session this week, I found it was extremely beneficial for my team to cap a session to 10 minutes, which set in a sense of urgency to the ideation process. Mimicking the feeling of pressure we often feed off of through procrastination, this forced us to drop any subconscious filters for what’s deemed as a good idea, and let us just flow into conversations. Maybe this is why my procrastinated essays are so garbage.

  • Materials

This obviously doesn’t apply to every activity. For the fine arts, this may come about in choosing a set amount of materials that you’re allowed to use. Placing a cap on the quality and quantity of items you bring in to your craft can spark novel ideas, using limited supplies to do something that is usually brushed over because we have access to ‘better’ things. Something as simple as writing my ideas down in a notebook as opposed to on my laptop has the subtle effect of bringing out more concise notes. Because of my inherent laziness and consistent finger cramps, I’ll consciously select the words to write down, sometimes wording things in ways I wouldn’t have if I just clicked away at a keyboard. This can work both ways, as I’ll describe in the next point, but the key is to experiment with different restrictions until you find one that suits you and your needs.

  • Writing

Okay this isn’t necessarily a constraint on your specific activity, but this can be a tool to bring about something new to your own craft. In my opinion, writing is the easiest ‘art’ to get into. All you need is a medium (pen/paper, laptop, phone) and 5 minutes. Even if you aren’t a writer like myself, doing this on a daily basis will bring out insights you would have never thought of, had you just brainstormed. The common cliché of writing without editing is extremely relevant here. It’s important to not ‘try’ to bring about new ideas, but write about something completely irrelevant that can be used as inspiration in your own craft. Use a writing constraint like the ‘Today I noticed…”. The benefit of this is it forces you to be more observant in your day to day activities, to focus on the minor details, that you can then exaggerate in your writings. The exaggeration, in turn, can bring about something unique.

Takeaway

I HIGHLY recommend anybody, no matter what it is that you do, to give this ‘Boxed-in’ writing a chance. Just take out 5 minutes a day to tackle it and see what comes about. It’s super beneficial in terms of sparking ideas, and it’s also oddly therapeutic. Since most of us have been brought up in this hustle culture, it’s easy to lose our appreciation for the simple things. I digress, this is a topic for another time, but give writing a chance, and I’d love to hear how this works out for you. Hit my line, let me know, I’d love to have a conversation about this.

Until next week. Deuces.

Bonus

Inspired by Julian and his Monthly Media Consumption Posts, I think I’ll include a brief overview of how my week went. Again, ExPeRiMeNtAl, so don’t EXPECT it.

Me starting this blog

Creation

Consumption

  • Season 3 of Peaky Blinders