From Shower Thought to Blog Draft: Writing Posts with Claude Code Mobile

I had a perfect blog post idea in the shower this morning. Something about data migrations and the difference between staging and production failures. By the time I got to my desk, grabbed coffee, and opened my editor, all I could remember was “production… something… important.”

This happened at least twice a week. Shower ideas. Commute epiphanies. 3 AM realizations. All gone by morning because my phone’s Notes app is where ideas go to die.

Then I discovered I could write actual blog drafts on my phone using Claude Code Mobile. Not outlines. Not bullet points. Complete first drafts, ready to polish.

Table of contents

The Problem with “I’ll Write It Later”

Every productivity system tells you to capture ideas immediately. So I did:

Notes app:
- Blog idea: migrations thing
- That pattern with the checkpoints
- Remember the story about the 1M row table
- Production vs staging???

Cool. Now what?

The gap between “captured idea” and “publishable blog post” was still massive. I’d sit down later, stare at my cryptic notes, and spend 30 minutes trying to reconstruct what made the idea exciting in the first place.

Half the time I’d give up and move on to something else.

The Breakthrough: Draft on the Device

Last week I was waiting for a flight when I had a complete blog post idea about my house hunting scoring system. Instead of jotting down notes, I opened Claude on my phone and typed:

I want to write a blog post about using Claude to score
houses when we were house hunting. The key insight was
combining objective metrics (price, age, lot size) with
subjective "feel factor" questions. My wife and I turned
house hunting into a team sport instead of fighting about
spreadsheets vs feelings.

Write this as a blog post in my style. Start with a
specific story about standing in a driveway watching my
scoring system fail. Keep it conversational. Include the
actual prompt structure I used.

Twenty minutes later, I had a 1,200-word draft. On my phone. At gate B17.

The Workflow That Actually Works

Here’s what I do now when a blog idea hits:

Step 1: Brain Dump While It’s Fresh

Open Claude Mobile and just talk to it like I’m explaining the idea to a friend:

I just realized something about data migrations. Everyone
focuses on the migration script, but 90% of the work should
be in analysis. Like, I spent 9 hours analyzing my last
migration and 1 hour running it, and it was perfect.

Turn this into a blog post about the 90/10 rule for
migrations. Use the Lincoln quote about sharpening the axe.
Include my story about the 1M row table that had 0.003%
malformed JSON from a 3-year-old bug.

The key: I’m not trying to write the post myself. I’m dumping what’s in my head while it’s still vivid.

Step 2: Let Claude Structure It

Claude takes my rambling brain dump and creates actual structure:

• Attention-grabbing opening story
• Clear problem statement
• My solution/approach
• Real code examples
• “What I’m Still Figuring Out” section (it learned this from reading my other posts)
• Call to action

It even matches my writing patterns. The conversational tone. The honest admissions of failure. The “here’s what actually works” approach.

Step 3: Edit on Desktop (or Don’t)

Sometimes I do polish the draft on my desktop later. Fix technical details, add better code examples, verify the story timeline.

But honestly? A lot of my recent posts started as phone drafts that needed minimal editing. The house hunting post? 90% phone draft. The Makefiles post? Same.

What Makes This Different from “Just Dictating Notes”

I tried voice memos. I tried dictating into Notes. The problem was always the same: I’d still have to sit down and write the actual blog post later.

With Claude Mobile, I’m not capturing notes. I’m generating the draft itself.

The difference:

Old way:

1. Have idea
2. Capture notes
3. Later: stare at notes, try to remember context
4. Write post (1-2 hours)
5. Edit and publish

New way:

1. Have idea
2. Brain dump to Claude on phone (10 minutes)
3. Get back full draft
4. Light editing (20 minutes)
5. Publish

That’s not a small optimization. That’s collapsing a 2-hour process into 30 minutes.

The Prompts That Work Best

After writing 5-6 posts this way, I’ve found the prompts that consistently work:

The Opening Hook Prompt

Write an opening paragraph that starts with a specific
moment of failure or frustration. Use concrete details -
what I was looking at, what I thought would work, what
actually happened. Don't start with theory or background.

Claude’s default is to start with context and buildup. My style is to drop you into a specific moment. This prompt fixes that.

The Voice Matcher

I'm writing a technical blog post in a conversational style.
Think between serious technical documentation and casual
Twitter thread. Use "I" statements. Admit uncertainty.
Include what didn't work, not just what did. Write like
I'm explaining this to a friend over coffee.

The Structure Template

Follow this structure:
1. Opening story (specific failure/problem)
2. What I tried that didn't work
3. The solution that actually works
4. Real code examples or screenshots
5. "What I'm Still Figuring Out" section
6. Email CTA: hello@ashishacharya.com

Having this structure memorized means I can pump it into Claude from my phone in 30 seconds.

Real Example: This Post

I’m writing this post using this exact workflow. Right now I’m on my phone, sitting on my couch, typing this prompt:

Write a blog post about my workflow for writing blog posts
on my phone using Claude Mobile.

Key points:
- I used to lose blog ideas between having them and getting
  to my desk
- Notes apps just capture ideas, they don't write the post
- Now I brain dump the full idea to Claude on my phone and
  get back a complete draft
- Show my actual prompts and workflow
- Include this meta example of writing this post on my phone
- End with the honest challenges - sometimes the draft
  misses nuance, phone editing is still awkward

Make it feel like my other blog posts - start with a
failure story, keep it conversational, include practical
examples.

Will I edit this on desktop later? Probably. But the foundation—the stories, the structure, the key insights—all came from my phone while the idea was fresh.

The Limitations (Because There Always Are)

Phone Editing Is Still Awkward

Scrolling through a 1,500-word draft on a phone to tweak one sentence? Not fun. I usually do a first pass on mobile, then polish on desktop.

Code Examples Need Cleanup

Claude generates code examples, but they often need verification. I’m not running linters on my phone. Technical accuracy still requires desktop review.

It Misses Subtle Nuance Sometimes

The AI-generated draft gets 80% right. That last 20%—the specific turn of phrase that makes a point land, the perfect callback to an earlier story—usually needs my hands on a keyboard.

Voice-to-Text Struggles with Technical Terms

Dictating prompts works, but:

• “pytest parametrize” → “pitest parameter eyes”
• “Django Ninja” → “jangle ninja”
• “Structurizr DSL” → “destructor desal”

I end up typing most prompts anyway.

When This Workflow Shines

Not every post works on mobile. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Perfect for mobile:

• Story-driven posts about workflow/productivity
• Posts based on recent personal experiences
• Reflections on tools and patterns
• “Here’s what I learned” posts

Better on desktop:

• Deep technical tutorials with lots of code
• Posts requiring screenshots and diagrams
• Anything needing extensive research
• Posts with multiple code file examples

The Unexpected Benefit: Writing More Often

Here’s what I didn’t predict: I write more now because the friction is gone.

Before: Blog ideas piled up in Notes. Writing felt like a whole production. Needed the right desk setup, the right mood, a solid chunk of time.

Now: Idea hits, I draft it immediately. On the train. Between meetings. While dinner’s cooking.

I went from publishing 1-2 posts a month to 4-5. Not because I’m working harder. Because I’m capturing ideas when they’re fresh instead of letting them rot in my notes app.

What I’m Still Figuring Out

The editing balance: How much polish does a phone draft need? Sometimes I over-edit and lose the raw energy of the original. Sometimes I under-edit and publish something that needed more work.

Code example quality: Should I skip code examples in phone drafts and add them later? Or is a mediocre code example better than none?

The voice drift problem: If Claude writes 80% of my posts, are they still “mine”? Does my voice slowly become Claude’s voice? I don’t have answers yet.

Image and diagram workflow: I still can’t easily add screenshots or create diagrams on my phone. So image-heavy posts still require desktop time.

Try This Yourself

Next time you have a blog idea, don’t add it to your notes app. Open Claude and type:

I want to write a blog post about [your idea].

The key insight is [the thing you learned/discovered].

Write this as a blog post in a conversational style.
Start with a specific story. Include what didn't work
before I found this solution. Keep it practical.

You’ll have a draft before you reach your destination.

Will it be perfect? No. Will it be 80% of the way there? Absolutely.

And 80% drafted is infinitely better than 0% captured.

Your Turn

Are you using AI for mobile writing workflows? Have you found better ways to capture and develop ideas before they evaporate?

I’m especially curious if anyone has figured out the image/diagram workflow on mobile, or has tips for maintaining authentic voice when AI does most of the drafting.

Drop me a note at hello@ashishacharya.com. I’m collecting mobile writing workflows and might do a follow-up post on the best patterns.