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. So I got AI to write a better one.
Read MoreOulipo
Shoreditch in black and white, by Terry Freedman
Imposing limits on yourself in order to enhance your creativity
in Creative Writing, Events, Oulipo
The standard advice for writers who are feeling uninspired or blocked is to allow your mind to wander where it will or to just start writing aimlessly to see what happens. Therefore to suggest the opposite approach, that of imposing some constraints on your thinking, seems completely counterintuitive.
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Think outside the box, by Terry Freedman
Constraints are good for you!
in Oulipo, Short form
When it comes to communication, being restricted is definitely better, ie more conducive to effectiveness, than having no limits at all.
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stop look listen, by Terry Freedman
No safety net
in Creative Writing, Events, Oulipo
Did you know that Raymond Queneau produced a single sonnet that could be read 100 trillion ways?
Read Morestop look listen, by Terry Freedman
What if the rules were the point? An advert for a creative writing course
in Creative Writing, Events, Oulipo
Lipograms, N+7, the snowball, and other techniques
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"Hugues Merle (French, 1823-1881), 'Hamlet and Ophelia'" by sofi01 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Speech balloons added by Terry Freedman using Phrase it.
Alternative versions of Hamlet
In recent years I’ve become interested in a branch of writing called Oulipo, and have discovered that it’s not only people associated with the theatre or film who have put their individual stamp on Hamlet. Writers too have got in on the act.
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Creative writing using constraints
in Creative Writing, Events, Oulipo
That’s the name of a one-day course I will be teaching at the City Lit on 13 June 2026. It’s already half full.
Read MoreHIJKLMNO: A Poem
A poem written within the parameters of a constraint of sorts.
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Click the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: Exercises in Style Updated
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
Anyone interested in the craft of writing should read this book. It’s not a primer, or dictionary, or anything of that nature. But it does exactly what it says on the tin.
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Oulipo word cloud
An upcoming creative writing course
in Oulipo, Events, Creative Writing
Can creative writing be automated (without using A|).
Read MoreImaginary libraries
in Creative Writing, Oulipo, Events
How many ways can you organise a library?
Read MoreI have been...
Have you ever thought about all the jobs you’ve had, whether paid for or as a volunteer?
Read MorePointless data
An article I wrote for a client is characterised by 24 pieces of data. More correctly: metadata. So what?
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Shoredticth in black and white, by Terry Freedman
Applying constraints to enhance creativity
in Creative Writing, EiS, Events, Oulipo
The standard advice for writers who are feeling uninspired or blocked is to allow your mind to wander where it will or to just start writing aimlessly to see what happens. Therefore to suggest the opposite approach, that of imposing some constraints on your thinking, seems completely counterintuitive.
Read More
Creative writing using constraints: a course
What is writing with constraints? In a nutshell, it means writing according to specific and tight rules. The “official” name for this is Oulipo, which is a French acronym for Ouvroir de littérature potentielle.
Read MoreA literature course I'd like to take if it were available: an Oulipian puzzle
My writing-related filing cabinets, by Terry Freedman
Creative writing using constraints: a bit of a post-mortem
I think evaluations are very odd devices to be honest. Someone once “marked me down” on her evaluation of a one day course I was running on the grounds that the traffic was terrible.
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More about the creative writing course I'll be teaching: books
In London on June 8th I’ll be teaching a course called Creative Writing Using Constraints, an introduction to the world of the Oulipo. This is a round-up of some of the books I’ll be referring to and talking about.
Read MoreCreative writing using constraints (a forthcoming course)
in Oulipo
This course will look at examples of constraints created by some of the Oulipo’s main proponents, with work including the Hundred Thousand Billion Sonnets, the Metro Poem, and others. Course participants will have the opportunity to try out several techniques, and invent one or two of their own.
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Labyrinth
by Ideogram
Escapism: the answer
in Oulipo
In Escapism: a 50 word prose poem I presented readers with a prose poem constructed in accordance with a constraint, and invited them to suggest what that constraint might be. Here’s the poem again, followed by the solution.
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