I've watched people sign up for Jottings and feel overwhelmed by blogging platforms in the past. They're thinking about categories, tags, SEO, design—all before they've even written their first word. That's backwards.
Here's the truth: you don't need any of that to start. You need thirty seconds to sign up, thirty seconds to write, and zero seconds worrying about whether it's "good enough."
Let me show you exactly how to do it.
Step 1: Get In (15 seconds)
Go to jottings.me and click "Start Writing."
You have three options:
- Sign up with email (old school, but it works)
- Continue with Google (one click)
- Continue with Apple (one click if you're on Apple)
Pick whichever requires the fewest taps. I won't judge. You'll get a verification email if you use email signup—click the link, done.
That's it. You're in.
No credit card. No choosing a username from a list of availability nightmares. No picking a design from 47 identical templates. You skip all of that and jump straight to what matters: writing.
Step 2: Create Your Site (10 seconds)
You land in the dashboard. There's a big "Create New Site" button. Click it.
You'll name your site. Something like "My Thoughts" or "Design Notes" or "Coffee Log"—whatever reflects what you're about to write. It doesn't have to be clever. I've seen "Site 1" work just fine.
You're done. Your site is live. I mean it. Right now, it exists on the internet at something like yourname.jottings.me. It's live, it's public, and your mom could visit it (though she probably won't find it yet).
Step 3: Write Your First Jot (20 seconds)
Click "New Jot" from your dashboard.
You'll see a text box. Type whatever is on your mind. Seriously, anything:
- A thought you had today
- A link you want to remember
- A photo that made you smile
- A question you've been thinking about
There's no word count minimum. There's no pressure to be comprehensive. One sentence is valid. A paragraph is fine. A rambling essay? Also fine.
Here's what I love: there's no preview, no "are you sure?", no 17-step publishing wizard. You write, you hit publish, you're done.
Step 4: Hit Publish (5 seconds)
Press the publish button.
Your jot is now live. It's on your site. If someone has your site's URL, they can see it. It has a timestamp. It's indexed. It's real.
That took you about 50 seconds total.
What You Actually Get
Now here's where Jottings gets interesting (to me, at least).
Your jots are chronological, not algorithmic. No infinite scroll promising you one more dopamine hit. No likes to chase or metrics to obsess over. Just your thoughts, in order, on your own corner of the internet.
If you write something good, people who care will find it. If you write something silly, that's fine too—it's yours.
You can organize later if you want. Add tags, write an "about" page, customize colors. But you don't have to. I've seen people run successful sites here with zero customization—just jot after jot, raw and honest.
Why This Matters
Most blogging platforms make you sign a commitment in blood before you've written a single word. They want your perfect site name, your professional bio, your category structure. They're asking you to commit to the identity before you've even started.
Jottings flips that. Write first, figure out the rest later if you want to.
I built this because I got tired of having thoughts and nowhere simple to put them. Not a tweet (too restricted), not a full blog post (too heavy), not a private note (nobody can see it). Just... a jot. A thought. Shared with the world if you want, forgotten if you don't.
Your Move
You've got about 50 seconds left on the clock. Go sign up. Create a site. Write something—anything. Hit publish.
Come back tomorrow and do it again. And the day after. That's when the magic happens, honestly. Not in the polish or the perfect tagline, but in the consistency of showing up and sharing what's on your mind.
Your first jot is waiting. The clock is ticking.
Want to see what others are writing? Check out some jottings from the community. Or just start with your own voice—that's what matters most.