As I went around interviewing creators, I found that the vast majority of them enjoyed these constraints. Chefs enjoy the science behind recipes. Musicians relish the challenge of writing a song no longer than three minutes. Structures, formulas, patterns, recipes, norms, and so forth aren’t a burden at all; in fact, they’re widely considered tools of the craft. Later I’ll explore in more detail why creators enjoy them, but first, let me raise a more fundamental question.
