Lessons from 334 Consecutive Days of Drawing

This isn't how I thought it would turn out.

At the outset of 2023 I decided I would draw one thing a day for the entire year. I'm not sure I've improved as much as I expected to. But I've learned more than I could have imagined about creativity, myself, and the human mind.

"“Most people are a bit bothered by the notion that creativity is so dependent on chance.” - Frans Johansson, in The Medici Effect

I enjoy drawing. I have not always enjoyed the demands of coming up with something to draw every day and trying to render it to a reasonable quality. Art is something I want to work at when I feel good, and occasionally when I'm frustrated. But when I'm tired after a long day and want to veg out to Seinfeld, it's a chore. My commitment to a drawing a day has significantly cut into reading -- one of my great loves -- and to a lesser degree, my sleep.

Inspiration is an unfaithful and mercurial mistress

But as it turns out, that's the point. Inspiration is fickle. Creativity happens randomly. Valuable ideas can elude you even when you're feeling upbeat and rested.

335 days into 2023, I would say that I've made about 100 drawings I'm pretty satisfied with. I had no creative inspiration when I sat down to draw about 70 of those. I was maniacally committed to maintaining a streak, so I drew when I really wanted to be doing something else and created things I likely couldn't have come up if I were extrinsically motivated.

I know my drawings aren't masterpieces and few are professional quality. The quest for extrinsic rewards, including attention and praise, stifles creativity. This is another thing I've come to appreciate more deeply.

When quantity matters more than quality

In The Medici Effect, a wonderful book about innovation, author Frans Johansson writes, “Most people are a bit bothered by the notion that creativity is so dependent on chance.”

If you aren't coming up with a lot of stupid ideas, you aren't coming up with enough ideas.

If you want to encourage creativity or innovation, whether as a personal endeavor or as a cultural value, you must value quantity over quality. Creativity is a habit more than a gift. And if you aren't coming up with a lot of stupid ideas, you aren't coming up with enough ideas.

Ideas are not lovers. Quantity matters more than quality.

Micro-lesson: On boredom

When you commit to doing something Every Single F&%$ing Day, trying to keep boredom at bay becomes an art in itself. I have gained proficiency at artistic media and subjects that would have taken me months to learn if I had approached them with intentionality, simply because I couldn't stand the idea of doing the thing I had done the day before.

Are you a perfectionist? Does chronic over-planning get in the way of actually doing things? Doing something every day makes screwups unavoidable. Maybe that's the cure for you.

The most important thing you may ever learn about creativity:

I'm posting this one month before the new year for a reason. If you're cynical about new years resolutions, consider tackling one with rage and not resignation. One of Clayton Christensen's great pieces of wisdom is that 100 percent is easier than 98 percent.

Just as you will love well if you treat love as a verb (something you do) rather than only a noun (an emotion you may experience differently day to day), your creativity will flourish when you think of it more as a habit than a gift.?