Yes, You CAN Write Books On A Phone.

I'm a social media introvert. I lurk. I scroll, like and share things, and very rarely comment (mostly because I feel like I'm crashing a party I wasn't invited to when I pop in to the comments). But sometimes, I come across a post that sparks something in my little writer brain and I can't sit quietly with it.

And last Monday was no different.

A video from author Abby Jimenez popped up in my Threads feed (which I'm unfortunately unable to embed directly into this post so here's a link). In the clip, she addresses a comment criticizing the fact that she wrote the first drafts of her books on her phone. The username is blacked out and the comment reads, "Don't write books on a PHONE. The literary quality will not be good."

Mind you, Jimenez is an incredibly successful, award-winning author. But even if she weren't, the methods she chooses to write her books wouldn't impact the quality of her writing. It's the words themselves that matter, not the way they're written.

While there's no snappy counterargument to be made here, something about this all has taken root in the back of my mind—meaning it's time for another rambling thought-dump blog post from yours truly (no Abby Jimenez pun intended). And like all rambling thought-dump blog posts I've ever written, there's no real organization here. I just have thoughts and I can't squeeze them into a concise social media post.

I've written in the past about the image that tends to be conjured up when we think of an author. Brooding and reclusive, glasses, a mug of coffee that's gone cold, tweed jackets with patches on the elbows, so on and so forth. But that post, On Looking Like A Writer (And Why You Don't Need To), was less about fitting yourself into the "traditional" writer aesthetic and remembering that there is no mould writers must fit into. That post came at a time where I was struggling with my identity as a writer. Even though I've been writing since my teen years, I was having doubts because I didn't fit within that image (apart from the glasses and abundant coffee). It was a reminder to myself and other writers still finding their way that there isn't a specific look you need to achieve to be a writer.

And that included tech.

In recent years especially, we've seen all sorts of new writing gadgets come out. The Freewrite is perhaps the most well-known of these, but you can also find things like the still-in-development BYOK. Or if you're looking for a nostalgia hit, Alphasmart NEOs are experiencing a renaissance among writers (and I absolutely adore mine for so many reasons). But let's face it, they're not inexpensive. At the time of writing, the Freewrite runs upwards of $500 depending on the model, so it's not going to be an option that every writer out there can afford; for context, my NEO2 was about $90 on eBay and purchased for me as a birthday present so while a fraction of the Freewrite pricetag, it's still going to be a splurge for some.

Social media can seem like you're not a real writer until you've got one of these devices or an aesthetically pleasing setup, or that these will be your ticket to becoming a successful author. But while cool to have if you're able, they're only word processors. And they need YOUR words to process (trust me, manifest it as I might, having a NEO2 doesn't mean my books write themselves).

Meanwhile, chances are you've got a phone in your pocket. You may even be using it to read this very post. It's not a new gadget you have to go out and get or remember to take with you if you're writing on the go—which, let's not forget, I and so many other writers have to do because we're balancing our writing aspirations with day jobs and other obligations like childcare, as many in the comments of Jimenez's video pointed out. It's so much easier to whip out your phone on the bus or the waiting room at a doctor's office than it is to crack open a laptop.

Additionally, your phone can be a convenient way to jot down any unexpected inspiration when it strikes, whether that's while you're in line at the grocery store, waking up in the middle of the night, or even in the shower. Because as any writer knows, inspiration doesn't maintain a schedule or ask if it's a good time before it pounces on you. It just shows up and demands your attention. Few things are more devastating to a writer than having a brilliant idea only to forget it!

Jimenez also mentions relying on Google Docs, which allows writers to work on multiple devices and sync their writing no matter where they write. For those os us who don't have a single writing spot, this can be a lifesaver!

Phones can also offer accessibility to writers who find it difficult to type on a computer due to various conditions like learning disabilities or neurological disorders. While this is not my lived experience and not something I can speak to, the plethora of apps out there offer solutions like text-to-speech capabilities, which allow you to dictate your writing. This can also be helpful for writers who have their hands full.

But of course, Jimenez is far from the only writer writing their books on a phone. Before we begin to wrap up, I'd like to highlight some of my favorite comments left by fellow writers on her post.

"I write 90% of my first drafts on my phone! My home office is used for the day job and I gotta disconnect somehow!!!" - samanthaeatonwrites

"This video is amazing! I write on my phone all the time. I've got small kids. I have to use that time when I'm waiting in the car to pick up the kids. We get the words down. What does it matter how? 😂" - sasha_lace_author

"I’ve written some of the best scenes on my phone while in the bathroom. I don’t make the rules here, my brain takes over and I am merely a puppet. 😅" - ofelia.writes

"*Looks up from typing her second book on her phone.* Hell yeah."

- authorsammwilde

Discussions like this always have me thinking of my teenage self, who wrote the first draft of her very first effort at a romance novel by hand in a beaten-up-to-hell-and-back three-ring binder. Would you tell her she wasn't a real writer because she didn't have a laptop of her own until the week before she left for college or even a smartphone* with Google Docs or MS Word until later in high school, or that her writing was of lower quality because of that? She did what she had to do. She made do with what she had. The literary quality of that WIP would be the same no matter if I were working with a quill and papyrus or the latest MacBook available on the market. To this day, I prefer handwritten first drafts wherever possible, and though that much hasn't changed, I know I've grown significantly as a writer over the past fifteen-ish years—all the more proof that it's not the technology that determines the quality of one's writing.

*tbh I do miss that one phone I had around sophomore year that had the slide-out QWERTY keyboard but I digress...

The words are in YOU. Not the device you use.

I'll admit that writing on my phone isn't my favorite method. Between my big thumbs and the usual length of my nails making it less efficient, it doesn't work for me unless I'm using a Bluetooth keyboard with it. And that's okay. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't work for others.

But more importanly, it is absolutely not grounds to crap on someone else.

The quality of your books is not diminished by the way you write them. What matters is that you have a way of writing. That you make the effort to show up and get the words down and give yourself permission to learn.

And, hey, if the literary quality of what you write on your phone is trash, you can always fix it in editing.

As Abby Jimenez said, "There are no rules. Just write the book however you are comfortable writing the book."