Contract Worker - Freelancing Experiences

Limits Exercise Your Creative Muscle

by Rico on December 16th, 2006

Freelancers should embrace the limits the usually work with, because while staying within the boundaries may present a significant challenge, coming up with the answers exercises the creative muscle.

Limitations provide creativity with a framework where it can thrive. There’s no problem letting the imagination run wild from time-to-time, but this won’t produce results while a deadline’s looming. Without a challenge, why should the mind come up with something new, when the usual options will do?

Limits also force the mind to explore new avenues. If the standard solutions don’t work, it’s time for something different. That is the irony of creativity: the more restrictions a passionately-creative person has to work with, the more creative he has to be to get the job done.

In other words, a freelancer writer working without deadlines will probably stick to the same old routine, while a writer required to write everyday will reach—perhaps surpass—the limits of his ability just to fulfill his commitment. And as we all know, any sort of muscle, whether physical, mental, or creative, only improves when it is pushed to the limit.

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POSTED IN: Freelance Writing, Great Advice, Ways to Work Faster