Exactly one year ago on this day, I officially started my "A Doooodle A Day" project, drew my first doodle and wrote the first paragraph about the story behind it. At that time, I didn't know how long I was going to do this, so I put a note on the sketchbook cover "try it for a month". Time flies. Here I am, today is my one year anniversary for my fun doodle project.
I have more than 365 doodles under my belt (I did more than one a day when I was prolific). Whatbin more proud, is that I have close to 60K words in writing. I can't even imagine that I would have written so much (and in English! Not even my native language). My topics vary from stories in my life, to thoughts in design, products and technologies, to Chinese culture. I even touched the US Primaries once, haha. I can definitely see the improvements in my writing, speaking and the way I think.
After doing it for such a long time, other than appreciating all the efforts I put into all the doodling and writing, I also realized that in order to do something with perseverance, it is very important for one to find the best way to keep motivating herself and carry on.
For example, the original motive to do this was to improve my storytelling skills. Well, I didn't know how. It was sort of related to writing and speaking, I guessed. I tried writing a paragraph a day, and gave up on the third day, because I can't find a way to stay motivated. After a few months, then idea of doodling + writing struck me, and I immediately took action. It turned out it was one of the best ideas I've had in my life and it got me into this incredible journey. If you're looking for doing something fun in your spare time, explore your options and you may find a great path as well.
I'm going to continue this fun project, as it has become an indispensable part of my life. I'm looking forward to many more happy days with doodling and writing.