The Odd Strategy Dr. Seuss Used to Create His Best-selling Work

Gluppity-Glup, obzk, lerkim. Like Shakespeare before him, Dr. Seuss became a world-renowned author by completely freeing himself of the shackles of the English language. He regularly invented completely new words, like the three that open this essay, leaving children all over the word spellbound.

But despite his blatant disregard for grammatical restrictions, Dr. Seuss acknowledged the power of constraints to enhance creativity. He made a $50 bet with Bennett Cerf, the founder of Random House publishing, that he could write a book with only 50 words. Spoiler alert, he won.

The resulting book, Green Eggs and Ham, went on to become Dr. Seuss' best selling work, and one of the most popular children's books of all time. Cerf may have lost the bet, but he ended up laughing all the way to the bank. It's counterintuitive, but by limiting our options, constraints free us to be more creative.

When was the last time you visited a restaurant with a ton of options on the menu. Did the overabundance of choices leave you feel overwhelmed? You're not alone. This phenomenon is the same thing that happens to creators when they sit behind the blank page, except we give it a different name - writer's block. So next time you're stuck on what to write, consider this - Sometimes, less is more.