Writing In Shackles

Writing is a serious occupation which like other occupations or professions demands constant learning, innovation and practice to make it better, more effective and impressive. Creative Writing or writing as a medium of artistic and poetic expression requires more than just a good thought/idea or a good story. It entails mastering the use of language, its twists and turns, its vocabulary, its sounds and rythms and so on. To grow and mature as a writer, one needs to challenge oneself with different styles of writing. Some of these involve writing under specific conditions and restrains, in other words a writer can definitely sharpen her skills through the use of certain restrictive writing challenges. Constrained Writing is a really useful literary technique that enables a writer to challenge herself, acting as a catalyst for greater range and a more flexible style. Under this technique the author is bound by a particular condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. 

It involves writing within a restrictive framework for example writing devoid of a particular vowel(mostly e) or with a particular number of syllables or words that begin with a particular letter only. The restrictive format forces the writer to think out of the box, use uncommon words, employ greater creativity and innovate. It is an extremely effective technique which jolts the writer out of her comfort zone.

Some of the most popular forms of constrained writing are:

Lipograms- A particular letter is outlawed, mostly vowels, e.g. e
Haiku - Japanese poem which allows 3 lines having fixed no. of syllables
Palindrome - Word should read the same forward or backward eg radar.
Alliterative - Every word must start with same letter.

Aleatory - Writing must include a word given at random by the reader.

An aspiring writer must practice the various forms of Constrained Writing to exercise greater control, economy and creativity in her writings. Indeed several writers have made a name for themselves by publishing interesting and sometimes quirky literary works-. A few examples include 'Gadsby' by Earnest Vincent Wright which is a 50,000 word novel completely devoid of the letter 'e',  Le Train de Nulle Part (‘The Train From Nowhere’) by Michel Thaler is a 233 page novel that doesn't contain a single verb, and Never Again by Doug Nufer that does not repeat a single word. These are only a few examples in a long list of works that have used techniques of constrained writing. But, they prove that creativity can overcome all constraints. 

To conclude, it must be said that a writer can sharpen her skills even while working under limitations or even when bound by shackles. Such boundaries demand greater creativity and economy of style both of which are fodder for the writer.