The Box is a Lie
I’m sure that many of you are familiar with the phrase “think outside the box”. The intended meaning, as far as I know, is that you come up with a new idea that is in some way unconventional. The point is that you do not limit yourself to “the box” of convention.
The problem I have with this phrase is this: by limiting yourself to non-conventional ideas, you have given yourself a limit. When you don’t allow yourself to use what’s “inside the box,” you create a sort of inverted box, so to speak, where you must only think outside these certain lines.
I think that true innovation comes from combining something from convention with something that is completely unconventional. In writing, this is where speculative fiction blossoms. Yes, there are dragons and magic and what have you, but these characters and forces still follow the same conventional means of storytelling – there’s a protagonist with one goal and an antagonist with an opposing goal and they fight it out until somebody achieves something (whether what they achieve is the goal they started with or not is another matter).
So, I would like to propose a new phrase: “The box is a lie.” Demolish the lines between conventional and unconventional. Allow yourself to play with all of the ideas that are out there, no matter where they came from or where they’re going. There is no box.
“The box is a lie” I like that. I may have to steal it…. or not. I would feel bad.
It’s okay if you want to use the phrase. I’m sure someone else has come up with it independently too. But if someone happens to ask you where you heard it, would you mind telling them about that awesome writer’s blog where you saw it? (winkwink)