Rules of the Self focuses on the internal patterns that shape how we create. Instead of following an external instruction, this rule asks you to pay attention to your own instincts, habits, and tendencies as you work. What choices do you make automatically? What do you avoid? What feels “right” without explanation? These decisions often happen without thinking, but they form a kind of personal rule system that guides the entire process. By noticing these patterns in real time, the act of making becomes more reflective.
The goal isn't to fix or change anything, but to recognize how much of the work is influenced by something internal and often invisible. Rules of the Self turns the focus inward, treating the creative process as a way of observing not just what you make, but how you make it.