We’ve all heard people talk about the importance of sitting down to draw or write at the same time everyday.
Those same people have probably also mentioned the importance of having a set place to do your creative work in, preferable on that’s use for that purpose only.
But what if you don’t have a fixed schedule or a set place where you can draw?
Maybe your life lacks routines, and your working hours vary from day-to-day, and perhaps also location to location.
In this article we’re going to look at some ideas to get you doodling everyday, regardless of your situation or whatever else might pop up in life.
Here’s what we’re going to cover:
Keep a notepad handy
Lightning doodles
Cartoon over coffee
Don’t break the chain
Keep a notepad handy
Even though we may not a routine that makes time for drawing, we can take the ability to draw with use wherever we go by making sure to have a notepad and pen to hand at all times.
I don’t know about you, but I have an annoying habit of mislaying my notepad just when I need it. I’ve gotten around this by keeping several notepads around.
To ensure that you always have a notepad to hand, buy a bunch of cheap ones, and leave them in places where you can easily find them, such as:
In your coat pocket
In your jacket pocket
In your bag
In a drawer at work
By the coffee machine
Etc.
Simply having a notepad on you, acts as a prompt to try drawing something. Even better if you can the notepads in bright colours so that they stand out and catch your eye. If you keep carrying around notepads for long enough, you’ll start to associate notepad = cartooning.
Lightning doodles
Sometimes the thing that stops us from starting to draw is the thought that we have to draw something complete or good. It’s better to consistently doodle any old thing - and doodle it quickly - than to wait around for the ‘perfect’ idea to appear and risk not drawing anything at all.
But what if I can’t think of anything to draw?
Don’t let that stop you from drawing. Preempt this by adding a topic at the top of each page in your notebooks. Some suggestions could be:
Cats
Dogs
Smiling faces
Coffee
Shopping
Etc.
When you see the prompt, don’t pause to think about it - just start doodling and see what happens.
Cartoon over coffee
Regardless of how unpredictable or busy your day might be, there are still a number of activities you have to do everyday despite the uncertainty. One such activity is stopping to have a drink. So when you have chance for a coffee or other drink, use this as a prompt to get out a notepad, one of which you will have nearby you as a result of the previous suggestion.
If you do this a few times, then you’ll start to make the connection coffee=cartooning.
Don’t break the chain
The comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a simple process when it comes to writing jokes: write something everyday. He doesn’t set out everyday to write something clever or good or even funny, it just has to be a joke. After he write the day’s joke, he applies a big red ‘X’ to a calendar.
Try doodling a simple cartoon everyday and then write your own big red X on your calendar. Before long you’ll have a growing chain of Xs - a visual reminder of the consistent work you’ve put it.
After that it’s simply a case of then applying Seinfeld’s golden rule:
Don’t break the chain
Here’s what we covered:
Keep a notepad handy
Lightning doodles
Cartoon over coffee
Don’t break the chain
I hope that was useful for you. I’m going to leave you with someone who would very much like the break the chain...
