How to write your own motivational lines

Write about something smaller than your life

Grand lines are easy to write and easy to ignore. “Every day is a chance to become your best self” is an invented example of the type. It's about nothing, and on a bad morning you can't do anything with it.

The fix is to go smaller. Think of one thing you do badly at one time of day, and write about that. All the examples on this page were written for this guide to show the method, and they're yours to borrow or improve.

• Grand: “Greatness is waiting on the other side of today.”
• Specific: “Kit on, ten minutes, then you can decide.”
• Grand: “You are in control of your money.”
• Specific: “This payment is small. It still went the right way.”

Name the moment first

Before you write a word of the line, write a note about when you'll read it. Be exact: “Tuesday night, 10pm, laptop open, and I've promised myself I'd stop.” Now write to that person. You'll find you don't need adjectives, because you already know what they're up against.

Lines written this way often sound a bit odd to everyone else. “You can answer her email tomorrow” would mean nothing to a stranger reading over your shoulder, which is a nice side effect on a Lock Screen.

Keep it to about 62 characters

Quill keeps its Lock Screen lines to 62 characters or fewer, because the rectangular widget has room for about three rows. Spaces count. That limit is helpful, since cutting forces you to decide what the line is saying.

Count the words you can lose. “I think that it would probably be better if I went” becomes “Go anyway.” You also get a shorter line for the inline widget above the clock, where you have one row. Longer lines are still fine on the Home Screen, so you can keep the full version there.

Read it in a bad mood

This is the real test, and most lines fail it. Save your draft, wait for an irritable, tired evening and read it again. If it makes you roll your eyes, it would have done the same on the morning you needed it.

A few things tend to fail:

• Orders you'd resent from a colleague
• Promises about the future that you don't believe
• Shame dressed up as toughness
• Anything you'd be embarrassed to have someone read on your phone

Keep the tone you'd use with a friend

People tend to write to themselves more harshly than they'd ever speak to someone they like. If a friend told you they missed the gym this week, you wouldn't call them weak. Try writing the line you'd send them. On the harder things, such as grief or a low patch, leave instructions out altogether. A line can keep you company without telling you what to do.

How My Lines and Make it a line help

My Lines is where these go in Quill. Your first 3 lines are free and Pro makes it unlimited. You type a line in, and you can put it on a widget like any other. Your lines stay on your phone.

If you can describe the moment but can't get it short enough, Make it a line can help on an Apple Intelligence device. You type a rough thought, and Apple Foundation Models on your iPhone offer a few lines in your words. Treat them as drafts and run them through the bad-mood test as well. Journaling Suggestions works in a similar way: pick a workout or a mood and turn it into a line, and only the moment you choose is seen.