Morning Notes Writing

Novelist Roxana Robinson wrote a great piece for The New Yorker called "On Writing in the Morning," in which she thoughtfully describes the steps of her morning creative routine --

"I avoid conversation, as my husband knows. I am not yet in the world, and there is a certain risk involved in talking: the night spins a fine membrane, like the film inside an eggshell. It seals you off from the world, but it’s fragile, easily pierced."

I know what she means. I often have story ideas when I wake up in the morning, straight from my powerful dreams or inspired by wispy threads leftover from my dream state.

I used to jot my ideas onto notepads on my bedside table, but I recently discovered a new method that has allowed my morning creativity to flower unlike ever before --

I use the Notes app on my iPhone.


It sounds ridiculous, but it totally works for me and I love it!

I've always written my fiction longhand in journals because the lag time between my thoughts and my writing hand forces me to slow down my rapid fire idea stream and settle into a creative groove.

I've realized that typing on my Notes app does that for me too. Tapping at those tiny touchscreen buttons forces me to concentrate and flow with my natural creative pace. Plus, I can start working through ideas while they're still fresh before I even get out of bed.

I've beaten out whole feature film outlines and pilot script summaries on my Notes app in the last month. I've been more prolific with new ideas than ever! Once an idea feels complete, I email myself the text and paste it right into Final Draft to take it to the next step.

Staying in bed and getting good writing done - can there be more of a win win?