Growing up, I spent my time after school, doing a variety of different things. I didn’t feel creatively challenged in school. I didn’t like going to school even though I was a good student.
I had so much creative energy, and I needed to channel it one way or the other. As a kid, I learned the art of magic tricks. I was mesmerized by magic tricks, and by the people who performed these tricks, magicians. Their ability to make an audience feel like awe is admirable. So my goal was to build my first magic show from the ground up.
I spent weekends, vacations, and many late nights working tirelessly on my routines. Every single detail had to be perfect. Sleight of hand was something I had to work on a lot. My routines were smart, challenging, and not something so common for a 13 years old boy to perform. Storytelling was key.
After months of working on my show, I invited friends and family to perform in front of them. The show went great, and after that night I started to get invited to parties, weddings, among other places and get paid to perform.
Meanwhile, I became obsessed with cameras and photographs. My mother was always telling me that I have an eye for photography. Aside from that, I love the fact that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Photography was and still is a way to express myself. It is a way for me to be creative, step outside of my comfort zone, and do something different. Something that I’m not so comfortable doing like street photography.
Like Julie Zhuo says:
Side projects work best when they live at the interaction of “Things you enjoy” and “Things that help you practice a marketable skill.”
As I look back, this is precisely what I wanted to achieve with these projects even though I didn’t realize it (consciously) back then. On the one hand, I wanted to do something that I enjoy, and to feel creatively challenged by it. On the other hand, I wanted to practice a marketable skill.
In both of the projects, I practiced storytelling in a variety of different forms. Being in front of a crowd presenting a routine is a form of storytelling. Portraits and street photography is another form of storytelling.
These projects set the foundation for how I’m going to experience and share storytelling with the world.
Fast forward a couple of years, I kicked off another side project. I created a fast-paced game with colors and sounds called SoundMemory Rush. The purpose of that side project was to learn how to develop, design, and market my iOS app.
As you can see so far, every one of my side projects had its purpose. As a general rule of thumb, I always think of my intention behind any of my side projects. Most of the time, having fun is part of the story but not the whole story.
Starting something on the side primarily to have fun is ok, but it’s not a side project. Setting the expectations right will help you with what you should expect during the time you work on the project and after you finish it.
As of more recently, I try to work on things outside of my day to day work. It helps me to learn, unwind, practice a different set of skills, and take a break from coding.
The post that you read right now is part of a side project of mine. I participated in NaNoWriMo this year. I set the goal to write ten posts throughout November. It was an excellent way for me to practice writing and editing daily. I dealt with feelings like “not good enough” and a state of mind like writer’s block. I became more comfortable with words and telling my own stories.
I want to encourage everyone to try new things out and start a side project. Setting aside a couple of hours for my personal development has been a highlight of my career thus far. I kicked off my career as a software engineer after I published SoundMemory Rush, but that’s a story for another time.