Doodle: An aimless scrawl made by a person while his mind is more or less otherwise applied.
Usage: 1956 H. Gardner Limits Lit. Crit. ii. 34 When a writer’s first drafts, scraps of memoranda, and ‘doodles’ have been preserved, we may possibly have a limited success in tracing the workings of the creative imagination.
Oxford English Dictionary
Many people think doodling is an act of silliness, not to be taken seriously.
I’m not one of those people.
I think doodling an act of creative play, one that takes place at earliest stage of idea formation, then gives it physical substance. It’s a snapshot of a proto-idea, perhaps even a representation of the subconscious domain. It’s a delicate process, and one I believe best done with pencil and paper. (Of note, it’s also a process that has been studied in the context of mental health and cognitive function. Two examples: COVID-19 Limitations on Doodling as a Measure of Burnout and The “thinking” benefits of doodling.)
And here we get to the crux of the matter. In today’s digital world, we have ample ability to capture ideas on our devices. We have note-taking apps for our iPhones, mind-mapping software for our iPads, and voice capture for all of our digital devices. All good and well, but I believe with the engagement of these devices we lose that subtle interaction between mind, hand, and paper, that little extra touch of creative freedom.
With that in mind, I think it’s time to find my pencil and paper and do some more doodling.