diff --git a/autoload/denote/frontmatter.vim b/autoload/denote/frontmatter.vim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78d7860
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autoload/denote/frontmatter.vim
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+" Functions to create the front matter {{{1
+" Helper function to put string in double quotes, and remove inside double
+" quotes.
+function s:escapeDQ(s)
+	return '"' .. substitute(a:s, '"', '', 'g') .. '"'
+endfunction
+
+" Create front matter (yaml)
+function s:md_new_yaml(id, title, tags)
+	return [
+				\ '---',
+				\ 'title:      '  .. s:escapeDQ(a:title),
+				\ 'date:       '  .. strftime("%FT%T%z"),
+				\ 'tags:       [' .. map(copy(a:tags), {_, t -> s:escapeDQ(t) })->join(', ') .. ']',
+				\ 'identifier: '  .. s:escapeDQ(a:id),
+				\ '---'
+				\ ]
+endfunction
+	
+" Create front matter (toml)
+function s:md_new_toml(id, title, tags)
+	return [
+				\ '+++',
+				\ 'title      '  .. s:escapeDQ(a:title),
+				\ 'date       '  .. strftime("%FT%T%z"),
+				\ 'tags       [' .. map(copy(a:tags), {_, t -> s:escapeDQ(t) })->join(', ') .. ']',
+				\ 'identifier '  .. s:escapeDQ(a:id),
+				\ '+++'
+				\ ]
+endfunction
+
+" Create front matter (plain)
+function s:plain_new(id, title, tags)
+	return [
+				\ 'title:      ' .. a:title,
+				\ 'date:       ' .. strftime("%F"),
+				\ 'tags:       ' .. a:tags->join(' '),
+				\ 'identifier: ' .. a:id,
+				\ '---------------------------',
+				\ ]
+endfunction
+
+" Create front matter (org)
+function s:org_new(id, title, tags)
+	return [
+				\ '#+title:      ' .. a:title,
+				\ '#+date:       [' .. strftime("%F %a %R") .. ']',
+				\ '#+filetags:   :' .. map(copy(a:tags), {_, t -> substitute(t, ':', '', 'g') })->join(':') .. ':',
+				\ '#+identifier: ' .. a:id,
+				\ ]
+endfunction
+
+" Create front matter
+function denote#frontmatter#new(ft, id, title, tags=[])
+	return a:ft == 'org' ? s:org_new(a:id, a:title, a:tags)
+				\ : a:ft == 'plain' ? s:plain_new(a:id, a:title, a:tags)
+				\ : g:denote_fm_md_type == 'toml' ? s:md_new_toml(a:id, a:title, a:tags)
+				\ : s:md_new_yaml(a:id, a:title, a:tags)
+endfunction
diff --git a/autoload/denote/meta.vim b/autoload/denote/meta.vim
index 07a2d7a..41eb41e 100644
--- a/autoload/denote/meta.vim
+++ b/autoload/denote/meta.vim
@@ -32,5 +32,14 @@ endfunction
 " Return the note tags from the filename as a list.
 function denote#meta#noteTagsFromFile(filename)
 	return a:filename->matchstr("__\\zs.\\{-\\}\\ze\\(==\\|@@\\|--\\|\\..\\)")->split("_")
-				\ ?? []
+endfunction
+
+" Identifier creation
+function denote#meta#identifier_generate()
+	if g:denote_identifier_fun
+				return execute "call " .. g:denote_identifier_fun .. "()"
+	endif
+	return exists("*strftime")
+				\ ? strftime("%Y%m%dT%H%M%S")
+				\ : rand()
 endfunction
diff --git a/plugin/denote.vim b/plugin/denote.vim
index bef7d42..ffb1242 100644
--- a/plugin/denote.vim
+++ b/plugin/denote.vim
@@ -10,6 +10,22 @@ if !exists('g:denote_loc_title_columns')
 	let g:denote_loc_title_columns=40
 endif
 
+" Default filetype for newly created denote entries
+if !exists('g:denote_new_ft')
+	let g:denote_new_ft='md'
+endif
+
+" Default front-matter type for markdown notes, may be one of 'yaml' or 'toml'
+if !exists('g:denote_fm_md_type')
+	let g:denote_fm_md_type='yaml'
+endif
+
+" By using the following global variable, the user may specify a custom
+" function for creating identifiers.
+if !exists('g:denote_identifier_fun')
+	let g:denote_identifier_fun=''
+endif
+
 " Local functions {{{1
 " Put all notes of the given tag to the location list. The tag argument is
 " mandatory.
@@ -82,10 +98,24 @@ function s:tagList(ArgLead, cmdLine, CursorPos)
 	return uniq(sort(tags))->join("\n")
 endfunction
 
+" This creates a new denote entry with the given title and of the given
+" filetype. The title may be empty.
+function s:DenoteNew(title, ft=g:denote_new_ft)
+	let identifier=denote#meta#identifier_generate()
+	let fn=identifier .. '--' .. a:title
+				\ ->tolower()
+				\ ->substitute('[^[:fname:]]\|/', '-', 'g')
+				\ ->substitute('-\+', '-', 'g')
+				\ ->trim('-') .. '.' .. a:ft
+	execute "edit " .. fn
+	call setline(1, denote#frontmatter#new(a:ft, identifier, a:title))
+endfunction
+
 " Public commands and key mappings {{{1
 command -nargs=* Denote :call <SID>DenoteNotes(<q-args>)
 command -nargs=1 -complete=custom,<SID>tagList DenoteTag :call <SID>DenoteNotesByTag(<q-args>)
 command -nargs=+ DenoteGrep :call <SID>DenoteGrep(<q-args>)
+command -nargs=1 DenoteNew :call <SID>DenoteNew(<q-args>)
 
 " Useful key mappings
 nnoremap <silent> <Plug>DenoteList :Denote<CR>:lclose<CR>:lopen<CR>:resize 20<CR>