Home > Constrained writing
Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form.
The most common constrained forms of writing are strict restrictions in vocabulary, e.g. Basic English, E-Prime, defining vocabulary for dictionaries, and other limited vocabularies for teaching English as a Second Language or to children. This is not generally what is meant by 'constrained writing' in the literary sense, which is motivated by more aesthetic concerns. For example:
- A letter (commonly e or o) is outlawed, making a lipogram;
- Palindromes, such as the word " radar," read the same both ways;
- Alliteratives, in which every word must start with the same letter (or subset of letters; see Alphabetical Africa)
- Acrostics;
- Reverse-lipogram s (each word must contain a particular letter);
- Ander-Saxon;
- AnagramAn anagram ( Greek ana "back", and graphein "to write") is the result of permuting the letters of a word or words in such a manner as to produce other words that possess linguistic meaning. The meaning of the new word so created is seen in the context ofs;
- AleatoryAleatory (or aleatoric) means "pertaining to luck". Aleatoric art is that which exploits the principle of randomness. One of the most ambitious aleatory projects in poetry is Raymond Queneau's Cent Mille Milliards de Poemes ( Hundred Thousand Billion Poem (where the reader supplies a random input);
The OulipoOulipo stands for Ou vroir de li tterature po tentielle", which translates roughly as "workshop of potential literature". It is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians, and seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques group is a gathering of writers who use such techniques.
The OutrapoOutrapo stands for Ou vroir de tra gicomedie po tentielle", which translates roughly as " workshop of potential tragicomedy", it was founded in London, in 1991, and search potentialities passed, present or future, new or preexistent constraints, of stage group use theatrical constraintsTheatrical constraints are various rules, either of taste or of law, that govern the production, staging, and content of stage plays in the theater. Whether imposed externally, by virtue of monopoly franchises or censorship laws, or whether imposed volunt.
In 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co, a new marvel from FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents.: a novelA novel is a long or extended work of fiction written in prose, usually in the form of a story. It is longer and more complex than a short story or novella (ie. 40,000+ words), and it is not bound by the restrictions of plays and poetry. The word "novel", entirely without verbs: Le Train de Nulle Part ("The Train from Nowhere") by Michel Thaler . [1]
One famous constrained writing in the Chinese language is the Lion Eating Poet in the Stone Den which consists of 92 characters, all with the sound shi.
