The Creative Fight: Create Your Best Work and Live the Life You Imagine

Chapter Thirty-Nine. The Freedom of Constraint

Dr. Seuss’s big break came when he was challenged with the idea of writing a book for young readers in an era when children’s books were predictable and dull. This was his chance to steer the ship. But rather than give Dr. Seuss free rein, the publisher gave him a constraint—he could only use vocabulary from a list of 350 words. The first two words on the list were “cat” and “hat.” This sparked an idea. Using only 225 words, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat and his reputation as the definitive children’s book author and illustrator was set. Dr. Seuss took a year to compose what seems like a simple ...