I do a lot of writing (https://philosopher.life/), and I think the Tiddlywiki ecosystem is outstanding.
Best apps for writers
21–30 of 46 posts
Re: Best apps for writers
#22On a tangent: one of the things that's been really difficult is trying to find a writing app that is sync-friendly with a co-writer, as me and a couple of close friends work together on scripts for a comic.
That is to say, I want to do a file sync with Dropbox or any other service/application, and the co-writer or co-writer(s)/artist(s) can also either get it, or be notified there's a new version, and not suffer any accidental overwrites or loss of data.
(Scrivener is an option, and it's apparently Git friendly for that purpose, so we have that going for now. Google Docs and Etherpad Lite are not acceptable/usable replacements either.)
Re: Best apps for writers
#23Shameless plug, I’m developing an iOS keyboard where you receive XP by typing words, and you get stats like words per day. Currently in private beta and looking for beta testers more info at https://erudito.io
Re: Best apps for writers
#24Serious suggestion - semantic HTML5 with the tags in a decent IDE. You may laugh but I am serious. Language has moved on and it has been moving on for as long as there has been recorded history. With HTML5 you get the extra markup for 'section', 'article', 'aside' and there are other semantic elements that already exist - 'em' is not the same as 'i', it infers emphasis rather than making the letters italic. See the e…
I like this idea, but maybe there should be (or maybe there is) a writing-specific subset of XML, like there is with music. The HTML elements come close to encompassing a lot of functionality, but I think there ought to be an expanded set of tags for doing ... stranger? .. things. For example, how would you render "House of Leaves" in HTML? I'm thinking of modern music composition and how it's really pushed music notation, and I think MusicXML handles it... so I imagine a WriteXML can cover traditional forms of writing and adapt to more experimental forms as itt developed.
Re: Best apps for writers
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I created the 5th app in this list (Cold Turkey Blocker). I'm actually surprised they didn't mention my other app called Cold Turkey Writer. It runs full-screen and doesn't let user out of the program until a goal (word count or timer) is reached. I have lots of writers that swear by it: https://getcoldturkey.com/writer/
I used your blocker last week, changing the system clock time (from time and date preferences) made your app useless (doesn't block anymore), so went back to editing /etc/hosts again. If circumventing the block is easier than editing a hosts file I don't see the point. For many, I don't think changing the clock time is an uncommon thing to think about if the desire to procrastinate arises again.
I think the problem isn't the blockers at that point.
Re: Best apps for writers
#26I wonder how many of these see actual real use. As a writer, I can't stand distractions or additional input when I know that all I really need is pen and paper, or Pages / Google Docs if talking computers. I am also struggling to get over the Gutenberg editor that WordPress introduced. I feel like Matt is being an immature brat for not introducing a simple 'writers mode' for the editor. People think it doesn't matter…
Exactly. I don't need an app to write. Pen paper are enough. Everything else is a distraction, nothing else
Re: Best apps for writers
#27iA Writer is so much better than other minimal, writer-focused apps it’s an indictment of this list that it’s not on here. Markdown means you have a forever file format that’s exportable. My only real complaint is that it doesn’t have some more robust manuscript compile features. All in all, one of if not the best app purchase I’ve made in years.
I agree, but the list is focused on free apps. This should have been in the HN title
Re: Best apps for writers
#28Serious suggestion - semantic HTML5 with the tags in a decent IDE. You may laugh but I am serious. Language has moved on and it has been moving on for as long as there has been recorded history. With HTML5 you get the extra markup for 'section', 'article', 'aside' and there are other semantic elements that already exist - 'em' is not the same as 'i', it infers emphasis rather than making the letters italic. See the e…
Well you can't just leave us hanging, what is a good ide for authoring good semantic html5?
Re: Best apps for writers
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I created the 5th app in this list (Cold Turkey Blocker). I'm actually surprised they didn't mention my other app called Cold Turkey Writer. It runs full-screen and doesn't let user out of the program until a goal (word count or timer) is reached. I have lots of writers that swear by it: https://getcoldturkey.com/writer/
I used your blocker last week, changing the system clock time (from time and date preferences) made your app useless (doesn't block anymore), so went back to editing /etc/hosts again. If circumventing the block is easier than editing a hosts file I don't see the point. For many, I don't think changing the clock time is an uncommon thing to think about if the desire to procrastinate arises again.
Maybe you should see a specialist.
Re: Best apps for writers
#30Serious suggestion - semantic HTML5 with the tags in a decent IDE. You may laugh but I am serious. Language has moved on and it has been moving on for as long as there has been recorded history. With HTML5 you get the extra markup for 'section', 'article', 'aside' and there are other semantic elements that already exist - 'em' is not the same as 'i', it infers emphasis rather than making the letters italic. See the e…
I like this idea, but maybe there should be (or maybe there is) a writing-specific subset of XML, like there is with music. The HTML elements come close to encompassing a lot of functionality, but I think there ought to be an expanded set of tags for doing ... stranger? .. things. For example, how would you render "House of Leaves" in HTML? I'm thinking of modern music composition and how it's really pushed music not…
Love the idea! In my teenage youth, I had two interests: writing fan-fics and coding up websites in HTML. Somehow I felt that the only way I can "trust" my writing to look correct is by live-coding it in HTML as I composed it.
Nowadays, I still write, and I use Markdown like you are "supposed to"… But it does never feel quite right.