Why limits make you more creative

How constraints fuel our creativity

Hi there writing friends, Chris here

There’s a myth that creativity flourishes when we remove all constraints - that the best ideas come when we give ourselves total freedom. But if you’ve ever sat down to write with endless time and no direction, you’ll know that too much freedom can be paralysing. Creativity thrives within limits. It’s a paradox, but one worth exploring, because knowing how to set the right boundaries can make all the difference.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately - how setting constraints doesn’t hinder creativity but actually sharpens it. And I’m not alone in this. Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, writes extensively about this in his book from a few years back Creativity, Inc. He shares how Pixar balances creative freedom with the need to produce actual films - on time, on budget and at the highest possible quality. And what they’ve found is that too much freedom can lead to creative rabbit holes that derail progress.

When creativity turns into obsession

At Pixar, it’s easy for artists to obsess over tiny details. Catmull tells the story of The Incredibles, where a director became fixated on the flickering reflection in a fish tank. He poured thousands of hours - and probably millions of dollars - into perfecting this tiny moment, which barely registered in the final film. It was a classic case of losing sight of the bigger picture.

Writers do this too. We can get stuck rewriting the same sentence, reworking a single paragraph, or researching some obscure fact that doesn’t even make it into the final draft. The work feels productive, but it’s often just a way of avoiding the harder, messier parts of creativity.

Pixar found a solution: limits.

The lolly stick system

To prevent creative projects from spiralling, Pixar came up with a simple but effective system. Before production begins, each character in a film is assigned a certain number of lolly sticks - each stick representing a set amount of time spent designing and refining that character. The sticks are displayed on a board, and as time is used, the sticks are removed. If someone wants to spend more time on one character, they have to take a stick away from another.

This forces difficult but essential decisions. Instead of indulging in endless tinkering, artists focus on what truly matters. And, crucially, it pushes them to be more creative within the limits.

Creativity loves constraints

Research backs this up. Studies show that constraints fuel creativity in every field:

• Musicians who are given a limited set of chords write more inventive songs.

• Artists who can only use certain colours think more laterally about composition.

• Writers who set word count limits find sharper, more concise ways to tell their stories.

NaNoWriMo works for a similar reason - knowing you have just 30 days to write a novel forces you to silence your inner critic and just write. Less overthinking, more momentum.

Try it yourself

Want to see how limits can boost your creativity? Try one of these:

• Set a timer for your next writing session - 15-30 minutes, no stopping, no rereading.

• Cut your daily word count in half and tell the same story in fewer words.

• Use the Pomodoro Technique to give yourself shorter bursts of writing time.

• Take a piece you’ve written and rewrite it with a hard word limit - say, 250 words instead of 500.

It might feel restrictive at first, but you’ll quickly see how limits push you to think in new ways. Instead of stifling creativity, the right constraints give it shape.

So, what limits will you set today?

Keep writing,

Chris