I Have Been Writing On My Phone [On Writing]

I have been busy since I got my new job back in October. I have also been seeing friends, traveling, and going out to do other art projects. 

I haven’t had the most time to just sit down and write like I used to. I do miss it. I have talked in the past about the ritual of writing. I enjoyed setting aside that time to slam away at the keys. I miss sitting on the balcony as the rain hits on the roof with a million taps from the sky.

Having a job disrupted a lot of those daily rituals. I am working my way to getting back into those habits while incorporating work back into my life. I knew that writing had to be one of the first things I had to reintegration into that daily routine.

Initially, the thought of doing all of this on my phone sounded like a nightmare. The medium I write through is an important part of the writing ritual. Having my tablet was like having a small, portable typewriter I could use wherever I went. 

On the surface, Writing long pieces of writing on a phone seems counterintuitive. Typing in portrait mode can be cramped and the writing landscape can seem clunky. Both modes reduce the reading view, making the entire experience even more cramped.

I have always liked the idea of writing on my phone. Childish Gambino famously wrote many of his songs on an iPhone. I know many Gen Z individuals who have written entire school papers on their phones.

Still, I didn’t really try it myself until recently when I started taking full advantage of my phone’s stylus. I have had a Samsung Galaxy Note S20 for about 1 year. At the time, I found the S-pen to be a fun novelty but little else. I went most of my phone’s ownership forgetting that it existed. 

Then, my job asked me to spend the day editing a short video.

“I don’t have my editing computer with me.”

“Can’t you just do it on your phone?”

My boss was right of course. Why couldn’t I just do it on my phone? I downloaded a free video editor app and went to work. That was when I found that simple utility of the S-Pen, especially for people with fat, grubby fingers like me. The needlepoint accuracy of the tip allows me to click around documents with ease. I was no longer blindly tapping and dragging cursors several times.

When I am typing, I tend to keep the pen between my index and middle finger, then pull it out when I need to click or highlight words.

Other notes when I write on my phone:

• I use Google Docs as my primary word processor. It’s great as it makes it easy to jump from my phone to my other devices.
• I use Times New Roman at 15pt font. This is optimal for viewing on my phone in portrait mode.
• I use a single space, then enter twice for each paragraph. It is similar to how these docs would be viewed on WordPress.
• Sometimes, I turn on “Print Layout” to simulate how it might look on a desktop.

With this format, I would say the most interesting change in my writing style is that I tend to write shorter sentences and paragraphs. This is already a style that I had been considering trying for a while (my ADHD makes it hard to go through longer segments). So far, I like this change.

I have also found that this new ritual leaves me hungry to write more rather than burned out. I complete small segments at a time, usually a paragraph or two, and nothing more. It leaves me time to reflect on my recent additions and explore the next immediate steps in getting works one step closer to completion. This incremental style of writing feels like a good pace for me.

I was surprised by how much I have been enjoying this new change in my writing habit. It’s different and I do miss those longer, more involved sessions but this new ritual is more accessible. Rather than set up my tablet or desktop, I just pull out my phone and go at it. It’s a nice alternative to just blindly scrolling on my phone. I have found that if I catch myself doom scrolling this for too long, I open up a doc and just write for a while.

It makes me excited for this newer generation of smartphones coming out with foldable and rollout screens. The extra screen real estate is going to open. So many doors for what creative people can do with the convenience of their pocket computers. I have no interest in upgrading now but when the time comes, I know that I will be keeping an eye on Samsung’s Z Fold line.