Replace a Part. Change Everything.

INKTOBER DAY 18: FLIGHTLESS

What if an airplane couldnt fly?

Not because it had a broken engine.

Not because it had lost its wings.

But because its wings had been replaced by arms.

Here we have an airplane at an airport, trying to flap its arms.

But it doesnt move an inch.

Thats what happens when we push an impossibility far enough.

We dont just show a problem.

We show a problem that has no chance of being solved.

Theres another trick at work here: substitution.

We take an important part of the original subject and replace it with something completely unexpected.

In this case, we replace the airplanes wings with human arms.

And something changes.

The airplane is no longer just a machine.

It becomes a character.

It has a body.

It seems to be trying. And somehow, we can almost feel its frustration.

Todays tip:

Try replacing an essential part of something with something absurd.

Then ask yourself: What can this new version do? And what can it no longer do?