No Rules

I know you want to understand how creativity works. You want answers. You want something definitive. I’m sorry. There are no rules.

Of course there are frameworks and guidelines involved in any genre of writing, art, music. Still, there are no rules.

There’s a problem with rules in regard to creativity. They never work. If you tell me I must write the verse to a song in a certain way, then all verses to all the songs will become the same. Can you say pop music? If you say I must frame a photo like this or like that, then photos all become stock photos. They lose something. They’re no longer interesting.

If an online post has a checklist of things it must include, then it’s just another cookie-cutter blog post. If a book has to follow a formula. It becomes a bestseller at a cost. Creativity goes out the window.

It’s taken me 50 years to come to this realization. It’s not easy. I want to say, “but, but… there has to be rules.” But the truth is that there are no rules. And as soon as you start making rules you are limiting your potential as a creator.

This is why I restart again and again. This is why I don’t really know exactly what this website is about. This is why. There are no rules. Creativity is never constant, it’s ever-changing. If you think you’ve got it down. Think again. Creativity leads you, you don’t lead creativity.

Remember. There are no rules. – dse

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Author: Dan Steven Erickson

Dan Steven Erickson is a great undiscovered American songwriter.