Emerge From Your Constraints
By 1957, Dr. Seuss had already become a bestselling author of children’s books.
His publisher challenged him to write a story that first-graders can’t put down. The catch: write the story using a vocabulary of just 225 specific words. That’s it.
Though responding at first as victim, Dr. Seuss decided to take up the challenge of working with shoestrings. What he created transformed children’s books and the nature of primary education: The Cat in the Hat.
Later, another publisher bet that Dr. Seuss couldn’t write a book using just 50 words. Dr. Seuss responded with Green Eggs and Ham, which used just 49 words.
Do not be defined by your initial attitude toward constraints. Exploit them and emerge from them.
