Portable Writing…On Your Phone

Despite being in my early (mid) thirties, I still love a video game. I doubt I’ll ever grow out of it. When I’ve come to a crossroad, such as having kids, or my wife not wanting to be in separate rooms during the precious few evening hours, I’ve just evolved. 

My main way of getting a gaming fix is from a handheld. As of writing this post, the Nintendo Switch is my jam. 

When I hit a similar issue with writing, I knew I had to adapt to that as well. 

In the end, it was the exact same solution. 

Portable gaming? Portable writing!

I started this post on my iPhone, for example. Using something like iCloud (which I have found better than OneDrive) syncing content between devices is easy – even for an Apple nerd like me who writes across a Mac, iPad and iPhone, sometimes in the same day.

When sitting at a desk or sofa aren’t available, I can always get a few words in.

As any article on writing will tell you, a daily habit is required. If you only have one space and limited time to write, that habit will elude you.

My advice is to harness those screens we all surround ourselves with. Write when you can, where you can and on whatever you can.

Let’s not sugar coat this – your standards won’t be as good. Personally, I took the positive from that. If you’ve ever read any writing tips from Hugh Howey he advocates ‘writing rough’ and I agree. The most important thing, especially the early days of a new work, is to get ideas onto the page.

Portable writing is the perfect way to do that.

I’ve gotten paragraphs out while my kid slept in my arms, I’ve worked on chapter order sitting on a train, I may even have jotted an idea or two down while on the loo…and you can too.

I wouldn’t recommend editing anything on your phone though. I see it as a champion device at the ideation stage. It is easier to carry than a notebook and you alway have it with you. Never miss a moment of inspiration again.

The proliferation of screens has completely democratised my writing process, and I hope it could do the same for you too.