Oulipo flyer screenshot, by Terry Freedman
In a couple of weeks’ time I shall be teaching a course called Creative Writing Using Constraints, at the City Lit in London. I felt that the blurb on the City Lit’s website was a bit mundane. It read:
Does your writing need a boost of inspiration? While it may seem counter-intuitive, setting creative constraints can be a way to free your imagination. Learn about the ideas of the French Oulipo movement and see what happens when you experiment with interesting – and challenging – limitations.
I posted it to Claude.AI, instructing it to improve the blurb, making sure to include the phrases creative writing for the adventurous (which was coined by my wife), and Leave the safety net at home (which was coined by Claude on a previous occasion. Here’s what it came up with:
Creative writing for the adventurous. Leave the safety net at home!
What if the secret to unleashing your imagination was working against it? Discover the radical ideas of the French Oulipo movement, where creative constraints become a springboard for surprising, inventive writing. Experiment with challenging limitations — and find out what you're really capable of.
I really liked that, and sent it to my head of department. He included the new blurb — but minus the bits about adventurous and safety net, which I thought were the best bits. Oh well, you can’t win them all I suppose.
If you’re interested in doing the course, click the button below in order to download the course outline (pdf).