Thinking INSIDE the box (plus: early registration is open!)

Jan. 29-Feb. 3, 2012
Wallace Falls Lodge
Gold Bar, WA

Early bird discount good through Jan. 3, 2012 or until workshop is full, whichever comes first.

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Articles ranging from the nuts & bolts of writing craft to essays about inspiration and imagination

Thinking INSIDE the Box

We've all heard it--that exhortation to "think outside the box." This metaphor-become-cliché is based on an old topographical puzzle called the nine-dots puzzle.

I hate this puzzle.

I'm not sure if it's because every time I've seen it presented, the presenter looks way too smug and seems delighted by those of us who can't figure out the solution, or if it's because I know there are multiple solutions and everybody presents the same one over and over (with the same conclusion, of course: "Think outside the box, people!")--or because I can never solve the puzzle.

The nine-dot puzzle:
Connect all 9 dots using four straight lines or fewer, without lifting the pen and without tracing the same line more than once.

I'm smart. I'm creative. I believe with almost religious fervor that there is always, always more than one right answer, but I can't even remember the solution to this problem, even though I've seen it dozens of times. The only way I can show you the most common solution to the nine-point puzzle is by copying the diagram from Wikipedia:

Nine-dot puzzle solution

Not being able to solve this problem makes me cranky. Besides, I have to work inside the box--many boxes, in fact.

There's the box of my budget. The box of my project's goals and objectives. The box of the message I want to convey. The box of deadlines. The box of my knowledge, experience, and skill, and the box of what I can learn.

So today, I'd like to make a radical proposal:

Instead of thinking outside the box,

make the box smaller.

Stand inside it and make it so small that you can barely blink. So small that it makes your first apartment look like the Taj Mahal. So small that you're certain you'll run out of air before the end of this sentence.

Now move it around. Push it into a different shape. Make its lines thicker or thinner, randomly jagged or precisely, geometrically sinuous. Bend the corners.

Move the dots. Pick one and ignore the rest. Exclude one or part of one.

Make it three-dimensional. Spin it around. Change its color. Fill it with music. Change the key, the time signature, the voice. Add puppets. Use water.

Borrow somebody else's box. Steal it if you have to (but promise to give it back). String a bunch of them together and clack them like castanets. Daisychain them and string them across your window like popcorn on a Christmas tree.

Does the box make it hard to create our stories?

Does making the box smaller make it harder still to create?

Yes--and no.

Mostly no.

Here's why: The box--the restrictions and constrictions that feel like obstacles to our creativity--forces us to think about our project in new and different ways.

When we're pushing against constraints, we're forced to examine the box from directions we've rarely, perhaps never, considered before. That often leads to surprising solutions and amazing creative breakthroughs.

Making the box smaller forces us to distill the story to its essence--its most compelling message, the most precise and telling details--without overwhelming our reader.

When the box is too small for story-as-usual, we discover fresh answers: limericks, haiku, sonnets, comic books. Dialogue. Surprising points of view (including ones that aren't human). Languages of image and movement and wordless sound.

And our enhanced creativity extends beyond just this particular project and this particular box. There's even new research supporting this idea. (See the column and blog post by Jonah Lehrer and study abstract.)

What at first seems to circumscribe our options actually helps us define, refine, and expand them. The box doesn't restrict our creativity--it enhances it.

Inside the box, we're more creative.

Judy

Questions? Comments?

Let us know! email or call 888/886-9289 (toll-free)

The

Interpretive Writing Intensive

is coming to the Seattle, WA area

in January, 2012--
Early Bird Registration is now open!

Register by January 3, 2012 and save $150

Combine your early bird discount with the group discount--register two more more friends at the same time and save $200 per person!

Check our web site for details and to register, or contact me by email or phone (toll-free: 888/886-9289).

More details about the workshop below, too.

Don't wait--register today!

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The

Interpretive Writing Intensive

is coming to the Seattle, WA area
in January, 2012!

Wallace Falls Lodge

January 29-February 3, 2012

Early bird registration

has just opened!

$150 per person discount

($200 per person discount for groups)

Discount is available until the workshop fills OR

January 3, 2012, whichever comes first.

Join us January 29 to February 3, 2012 (Sunday night through Friday morning) at Wallace Falls Lodge, Gold Bar, Washington. This beautiful and secluded lodge is next door to Wallace Falls State Park and Wallace Lake. It's only an hour's drive from Sea-Tac Airport, about 45-minutes from Everett, Redmond, and Bellevue, and within a half-day's drive from parts of Oregon, Canada, and almost anywhere in Washington.

Grab your spot now!

Workshop size is limited to 14 people, and Wallace Falls Lodge has only so many single rooms--so if you want the best room in the lodge, sign up now! Workshop and lodging space are first come, first served. Registrants will be assigned to single rooms as long as single rooms are available; once all single rooms are full, remaining registrants will be assigned to shared rooms. All rooms are nonsmoking and have private baths.

And did we mention that by registering now, you'll save big bucks? (And you can save even more if you register with two or more friends or colleagues.)

Early bird registration saves you $150

and is open through January 3, 2012 (assuming space is available).

Sign up with friends and colleagues:

Register yourself and two or more friends (even if you're not from the same site) and save an additional fifty bucks each.

Don't wait--register today!

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Make it a great year with great writing!

Interpretive Writing Intensive

January 29-February 3, 2012

Wallace Falls Lodge, Gold Bar, WA

Freeman Tilden said interpretive writing should be

"concise, focused, inspirational, and engaging."

Lofty goals for any writer!

But not to worry--during the Interpretive Writing Intensive, we'll guide you through the challenges. You'll learn:

What makes interpretive writing interpretive;

How to create writing that connects with the reader;

Techniques for strengthening language, including pacing, language use, and word choice;

Strategies for organizing;

How to write for any length or space;

How to write for different media, different audiences, and different uses;

How to write for maximum impact;

How to write even if you think you can't;

How to take your writing "off-site";

Humble punctuation;

Accessing--and improving--creativity (or, the Muse will visit if chocolate is involved);

Dealing with writer's block (or, how to get the Muse to visit if you're out of chocolate);

and MORE.

Make it a great year with great writing. Join us at the Interpretive Writing Intensive, January 29-February 3, 2012 at Wallace Falls Lodge, Gold Bar, Washington (about an hour from Seattle, WA).

Early Bird Registration Now Open
Register today and save!

Register today and take $150.00 off the regular registration! Register three or more people at the same time and save another $50 per person!

Early bird registration prices effective through midnight, January 3, 2012 or until workshop is full, whichever happens first.

To ensure a quality experience with plenty of individual attention, workshop size is limited to 14 people. Registration is first-come, first-served.

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we help you tell the story

Wallace Falls Lodge photograph courtesy Wallace Falls Lodge. Nine-dot puzzle images from Wikipedia. All other photographs and content copyright © Judy Fort Brenneman. Request reprint permission through Greenfire Creative, LLC.