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Short love notes for your boyfriend or girlfriend
Most love notes fail by trying too hard. A paragraph about treasuring every moment reads like a greetings card, and a greetings card is the opposite of what a note is for. The notes people keep are short, specific, and sound like the person who wrote them.
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So these are short on purpose, and most are a single line. Treat them as starting points. The version that works is the one where you swap in a real detail: the actual thing they did, the actual place, the actual joke. A note that could have been sent to anyone is not really a note.
They are sorted by the moment they suit, because timing does most of the work. The same six words mean more at seven in the morning before a hard day than they do on an ordinary evening.
Good morning notes
Read before the day has started, so keep them light. Nobody wants a declaration before coffee.
- 1Good morning. I already miss you and you have only been awake a minute.
- 2I hope today is kinder to you than yesterday was.
- 3You were talking in your sleep again. I am keeping what you said.
- 4Coffee is made. So is my day, since you are in it.
- 5Go and be brilliant. I will be here when you get back.
- 6First thought this morning was you. Second was breakfast. You still won.
- 7I like waking up in a world that has you in it.
- 8Have a good one. Text me the worst part and the best part.
- 9You looked very peaceful an hour ago. Sorry about the alarm.
- 10Today will be fine. You have done harder things in worse moods.
- 11Morning. Just a note to say I am on your side today.
- 12Wear the jacket. It is colder than it looks, and I like you warm.
Notes for no reason
The middle of an ordinary day is the best time for one of these, because nothing prompted it.
- 1Nothing to report. I just thought about you and wanted you to know.
- 2You crossed my mind and stayed there.
- 3I saw something that made me think of you. I will tell you tonight.
- 4Still like you. Checking in to confirm.
- 5I am proud of you, for no particular reason and several specific ones.
- 6A dull afternoon just improved, because I remembered you exist.
- 7This is your reminder that someone thinks you are wonderful.
- 8I would rather be doing nothing with you than this.
- 9You are my favourite notification.
- 10Thinking about your laugh. It is a good one.
- 11I love the way you are with people. I noticed again yesterday.
- 12Hi. That is the whole note. Hi.
Notes for a bad day
Do not try to fix anything. The job of these is to say you noticed and that you are there.
- 1Today was rubbish and you got through it. That counts.
- 2You do not have to be fine tonight. Come home and be not fine with me.
- 3I cannot fix it, but I can bring food. Tell me which food.
- 4Whatever happened today, it does not change what I think of you.
- 5You are allowed to be tired. You have been carrying a lot.
- 6I am on your team, including when your team is losing.
- 7Nothing you need to do tonight. I have got it.
- 8It was a bad day, not a bad you.
- 9I think you can handle this, and I am here if you would rather not handle it alone.
- 10Tomorrow gets a fresh go at it. Tonight, rest.
- 11No advice. Just a note to say I love you and that was unfair.
- 12When you are ready to talk, I am ready to listen. No rush.
Thank you notes
The specific ones land hardest. Name the thing they did.
- 1Thank you for doing the washing up without mentioning it.
- 2You remembered. I noticed that you remembered.
- 3Thank you for last night. I needed that more than I said.
- 4You make it easy to be myself, which nobody else has managed.
- 5Thanks for putting up with me this week. I know I was hard work.
- 6I saw what you did for my mum. Thank you.
- 7You listened to the whole story, including the boring middle. Thank you.
- 8Thank you for being the calm one yesterday.
- 9You fixed it and did not make a thing of it. I noticed.
- 10Thank you for laughing at the joke. It was not a good joke.
- 11I do not say it enough: you make my life easier in a hundred small ways.
- 12Thanks for choosing me again this week.
Notes for when you are apart
For long distance, a trip, or a week when your schedules have not overlapped.
- 1The flat is too quiet. Come back and be noisy.
- 2I keep turning to tell you things.
- 3Same moon. Look up.
- 4One day closer to seeing you.
- 5I saved you the good bit of the story. Call me.
- 6Sleep well over there. I am thinking of you over here.
- 7The distance is temporary. This is not.
- 8I made your side of the bed out of habit.
- 9Counting sleeps. It is undignified and I do not care.
- 10Wish you were here. The view is wasted on me alone.
- 11Your jumper still smells like you. I am not giving it back.
- 12Good night from one time zone to another.
Where a note lands best
A note in a lunch bag gets found once. A note on a home screen gets seen every time the phone is picked up, which for most people is a great many times a day.
HeartTap lets you write a few words on a coloured background, or draw the note by hand, and send it to a widget on your partner’s home screen. It stays there until you send the next one.
More ideas
Cute things to draw for your boyfriend or girlfriend
Sixty easy drawings, from thirty-second doodles to inside jokes, that still read at widget size.
Couple widget ideas: what to send to your partner’s home screen
Fifty things to post, sorted by effort, for when the widget has gone quiet.
Worth reading next
Frequently asked questions
What should I write in a short love note?
One specific thing, in your own voice. Name something they did, something you noticed, or something you are looking forward to. A single true sentence beats a paragraph of general affection, because it could only have been written to them.
How long should a love note be?
Short. One line is plenty and three is the upper limit for an everyday note. Save length for anniversaries and apologies. The point of a small note is that it takes ten seconds to read and can be sent often.
How do I write a love note that does not sound cheesy?
Avoid anything you have seen on a card, and avoid words like forever and always unless you would say them out loud. Write the way you actually talk to each other. If you are a couple who tease, tease. A note that sounds like you is never cheesy.
When is the best time to send one?
When it is not expected. Before a hard day, in the middle of an ordinary afternoon, or just after they have done something small that you noticed. Notes that only arrive on anniversaries read as duty.
Put them on your home screen tonight
Free to download on iPhone and Android. Link with your partner in under a minute, then send your first photo, drawing or check-in.