Jazzmyn, I hope that hint proves helpful to you.
I don't know the zen rules, lol, but I am sure I will see them as I do the quilt police and not let them in my house. After I finish my original doodle, I am not hesitant to add to it or modify it as my artistic instinct tells me as the design progresses. I also look at the doodle from all 4 directions before I decide which end is up.
I am sure this violates some rule but it's my design so I don't care. This is why I work in pencil at first rather than ink. Well, that and with my fibro, sometimes I get muscle spasms that make my hand jerk or shake and then I get extra random marks.. lol.
It's such fun to just let my creativity flow and not hinder it with anything. If I'm not happy, I erase... it's as simple as that. My inclination to make something rather than just random designs is natural to me it seems, and I don't fight it. Maybe I should, lol, cuz right now I have a doodle that says Turtle to me... but it says "turtle humping a rock" and that is not something I want to go with.
Many zen artists work directly in ink and that is the true zendoodling I think. They often use note paper or index cards without lines to limit the size of their work. Some work on tiles.