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Time to talk about my writerdeck

veronicaexplains.net

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Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#101

Post by chungusamongus »

skydhash wrote: post #58
chungusamongus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It just seems like copium to me. The consolation prize is we get to come up with niche lifestyle preferences to cut out the distractions. We can fine tune our lives to increase productivity. More and more optimization until we're just machines. And then people will use that as a way to feel superior to the sheep who continue to scroll tiktok.

Not really. I only watch movies on my TV, play game on my PS4, and read novels on my Kobo. It’s not about productivity. Having a device tied to an activity is nice for attention and mental load.

You sound defensive.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#102

Post by chungusamongus »

jrflowers wrote: post #52
chungusamongus wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not ice cream though. Quite the opposite. It's this notion that puritanical self discipline at the individual level will somehow get us out of this. It won't.

OP mentioned owning more than one computer in the post. They could spend all of their time watching vtubers stream gacha games when they’re not writing for all we know

That's a total non sequitur.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#103

Post by spl757 »

SubiculumCode wrote: post #65
iib wrote: post #56

If anyone wants to try this without the intricate setup, if you have a linux system, you most probably can just press Ctrl+Alt+F3 and drop into a tty console directly. To return, you have to press Ctrl+Alt+F1 or Ctrl+Alt+F2. You also have multiple consoles, up until F12 probably. I used to use this a lot when trying for a less distracting desktop, just like in the original post.

Yes, and if you want it to boot directly into a tty mode run: sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target As an aside: on some of my computers it is Ctrl+Alt+F2 but on others it is Ctrl+Alt+F7 to return to graphical mode.

I'm a proverbial greybeard and Ctrl+Alt+F7 used to just be what you did to get back to your desktop GUI.

FWIW, right now I'm typing this from Ubuntu Studio 24.04 and it's Ctrl+Alt+F2 to get back to the GUI. Ctrl+Alt+F1 shows you the bootup output scroll, +F3 to +F6 will give you a login prompt to drop into a shell. +F7 to +F12 just give me a blinking cursor un the upper right corner of the display.

I'm kinda surprised only +F3 to +F6 give me a shell login. Three isn't that many.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#104

Post by lanyard-textile »

chungusamongus wrote: post #17

The way people are coping with the current hellscape that is 2026 is interesting to me. Somehow, it always seems to be internalization. Like, if only I can lock in using this distraction free method, if only I start buying more physical media, if only I use a dumb phone and an mp3 player for my music, etc. etc., somehow that will resolve the intractable shitstorm happening right now. And none of that is even going to…

Some people merely have the urge to create -- For those people, it has little to do with coping. They would like a distraction free environment regardless.

I'm certainly one of those people :)

It's very meditative to solely focus on the one thing in front of you.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#105

Post by eichin »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #69
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #50

This is an awesome setup. I like it, good job. That said, I do think there's a bit of irony to solving your "paying attention to writing" problem by setting up your OS from scratch, choosing to swap out the default networking stack, installing a novel flavor of your preferred text editor because you're "trying to get to know it a bit more," customizing your battery readouts, tweaking the login sequence, and then, aft…

It it reminds me of a lot of friends who wanted to "start blogging" and their first step was writing a new static site system from scratch.

yeah, part of my current writing push was made more successful by two things:

* I am not allowed to use a blogging system I wrote. (Really, I've written three or four at this point and need to stop, and there are plenty of existing systems that still align with my idiosyncratic constraints.)

* The blog must not have any meta content about blog tooling.

(I cheated a little on the latter by having an extra "site" blog for that - which lets me get the words out but doesn't "count" for the writing goal. A useful outlet, but it meant an extra month or so before "real writing" outnumbered meta writing :-)

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#106

Post by NathanielK »

cortesoft wrote: post #82
obsidianbases1 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pen and paper for writing. Computer for editing.

I hate handwriting with a passion. I have my whole life. I have horrible handwriting and my hand gets sore 5 seconds after I start writing. I am sure it is because I don't hold my pen/pencil correctly, but I think after 43 years I am not going to suddenly fix that.

I am similar. If I physically write a couple times a week, my hand adapts though. It's a skill like any other.

Fountain pens are nice too since you don't need any pressure.

My writing looks a lot better if I just force myself to slow down and be deliberate, but honestly it's a constant battle. I'd definitely benefit from practicing penmanship on it's own.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#107

Post by geerlingguy »

lanyard-textile wrote: post #104
chungusamongus wrote: post #17

The way people are coping with the current hellscape that is 2026 is interesting to me. Somehow, it always seems to be internalization. Like, if only I can lock in using this distraction free method, if only I start buying more physical media, if only I use a dumb phone and an mp3 player for my music, etc. etc., somehow that will resolve the intractable shitstorm happening right now. And none of that is even going to…

Some people merely have the urge to create -- For those people, it has little to do with coping. They would like a distraction free environment regardless. I'm certainly one of those people :) It's very meditative to solely focus on the one thing in front of you.

I bought an iPod again this year, and started buying MP3s instead of streaming songs.

It's so nice to sit in a chair, close my eyes, and listen to a soundtrack or an old album.

I'm getting old.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#108

Post by nine_k »

cgriswald wrote: post #64
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #50

This is an awesome setup. I like it, good job. That said, I do think there's a bit of irony to solving your "paying attention to writing" problem by setting up your OS from scratch, choosing to swap out the default networking stack, installing a novel flavor of your preferred text editor because you're "trying to get to know it a bit more," customizing your battery readouts, tweaking the login sequence, and then, aft…

I went with paper and pen precisely because there was always more I wanted to do with my computer work flow.

When I need to write something, and I have a computer, and something is inconvenient, I can quickly (well, within minutes, maybe 30 of them) alter it to my liking, and return to writing.

When I only have a pen and paper (which I used extensively for writing at school), many things may be inconvenient, but there's no way to fix it. This may turn into a source of a low-key stress, and interfere with my writing much more than tweaking a computer would.

I use Emacs, an ultimate tweaker's tool, for writing every day. Last time I had to tweak something in it was a few weeks ago, and it took maybe 2-3 minutes. It's a small price to pay for a tool that just does what you need, when you need it, with zero mental load, and zero frustration.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#109

Post by akerl_ »

kaashif wrote: post #74

This reads like someone with ADHD took Adderall and accidentally focused hard for a day on the wrong thing. It has happened to me. I guess if this writerdeck works persistently for many projects then fine. But if every 2 projects the writerdeck gets revamped then it seems like a way to get a dopamine hit or distract ones self. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't seem like it's a net benefit in terms of focus.

What a strangely hostile thing to say to somebody's earnest post about their setup.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#110

Post by napkin »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #90
cortesoft wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> focused hard for a day on the wrong thing Entirely depends on what the author wanted to focus on. Who are we to say what is the right or wrong thing to focus on?

I built my whole career on focusing on the wrong thing. In fact, focusing on the right thing makes me slow down, struggle, and get bogged down with frustration. I still learn 10+x faster when focusing on the wrong thing, and after two decades of this, I now know I have to regularly focus on the wrong thing with passion - those are the moments I pick up knowledge and experience that, few months to years later, people…

This is me. I’ve gamified it to the extent that, to control my passion, I play tricks to ensure that the right thing becomes the wrong thing. My brain must believe it is procrastinating.

For example, I often don’t pay my bills (the money isn’t the issue). I have to have sufficient debts that they become convincing boogeymen. Work can’t feel like escape if there’s nothing to escape from.

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