For this problem, I am a little bit irrationally in love with Draftin --- <a href="https://draftin.com" rel="nofollow">https://draftin.com</a>.<p>One problem I have writing is that I've spent ~25 years conditioning myself <i>not</i> to write first drafts, by doing so much writing on BBSs, then Usenet, then mailing lists, then (briefly) blogs and finally on boards (the new Usenet). As a result, I lack the discipline to get my thoughts on a page and then walk away.<p>Draftin solves this for me by making it so easy to collect reviews (by sharing links to drafts with friends or interested people) that I feel compelled to do that every time I write something.<p>I'm also surprised at how little I miss emacs (my normal writing environment) when writing on Draft. I almost prefer Draft's interface.
As it seems many have done, I also made a text editor for first drafts called Typewriter.<p><a href="http://llllll.li/typewriter/" rel="nofollow">http://llllll.li/typewriter/</a><p>It's a little more restrictive since you can't move the caret. However, you can 'delete' mistakes by striking them out. Also, when you save your draft, text you've struck-out is excluded.<p>I turned it into a desktop app for mac since I wanted something which would work offline and save/read files nicely but you can preview the basic writing experience in browser (<a href="http://llllll.li/typewriter/app/" rel="nofollow">http://llllll.li/typewriter/app/</a>). The code is also on Github: <a href="https://github.com/davidmerfield/Typewriter" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/davidmerfield/Typewriter</a>
Like this a lot too.<p>> Earnest shows you the number of words in your text, useful for people who need to hit a particular word-count, but it only re-calculates the number every minute to deter you from constantly keeping an eye on your progress. The word-count should not be a distraction from your writing.<p>I would maybe have the counter be real-time, but require the user to leave the keyboard (or some other significant action) to show it? (ex: on mouseover). I was trying this out and still was looking at the "0 words" and thinking "damn, I wonder how many words there are."
Draft (<a href="http://draftin.com" rel="nofollow">http://draftin.com</a>) has had a similar "Hemingway Mode" feature for a few months now.<p>It's potentially more useful, though, because when you're done "no backspace" writing, you can switch to normal mode and get all the features of a full collaborative piece of software.
I am actively researching something I call "emerging writers". An emerging writer is a person who has finally gone beyond just saying they want to be a writer and is actively working on their first manuscript.<p>It's a lot like learning programming. There is a lot that is unknown, but learning is exciting, and the potential is clear to the budding author. Unfortunately, the available tools and feedback systems for writers are extremely primitive compared to what is available to programmers.<p>In the cases I've observed, emerging writers often can intuit errors in their writing, but lack the skillset to correct said errors. Lacking tools like spelling- and grammar-check then causes anxiety for the user. And in my own personal development as a writer, I know that my spelling skill only improved with the introduction of ubiquitous spelling-correction indicators in browsers. I would often try to correct the spelling mistake on my own so I wouldn't have to grab the mouse to right-click the broken word.<p>So, against my initial judgement that spell-check was a detriment to mean-time-to-first-draft, I eventually came to re-enable spelling check in my own writing tool: <a href="https://www.justwritedammit.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.justwritedammit.com</a>.<p>If you're serious about helping writers be more productive, please consider joining me. JWD is open-source, free software. <a href="https://www.github.com/capnmidnight/JWD" rel="nofollow">https://www.github.com/capnmidnight/JWD</a>.
> Earnest automatically saves you writing every 10 seconds<p>> There's no need to name you text<p>> Earnest will auto-save you work<p>your* writing, your* text, your* work<p>Was the value proposition written in Earnest?<p>I like the concept though.
Would this not work better as a plugin 'editor' for a CMS such as Wordpress?<p>Imagine you log in to Wordpress as 'contributor' and write with the 'Earnest' plugin, no edits possible, but still in the knowledge that you are writing for the blog and surrounded by the WP interface you know well. The autosaved article would only be 'draft'.<p>Then, you log in as 'editor' to do the editing, with the regular WP editor.<p>For me I could see the attraction of such a work flow and it would not be like I was having to learn a new tool, as is the case here.
This is a great idea.<p>I would love an option to have bigger text size for writing. The current editing text is too small for comfort.<p>The text on the info page is also far too small for me. Sorry to sound like I'm whining.<p>I spotted one typo - "Earnest automatically saves you writing every". I gave up reading because my eyesight is so bad and I just couldn't read the smaller text.<p>I do really freaking like the idea though. I will be using it. Is there any way to send you a (small) amount of money?
When I was a callow youth we called this COPY CON<p>You can achieve a remarkably similar effect with<p><pre><code> cat <<EOF >file
</code></pre>
Strictly this allows you to cheat in that you can edit the present line, but as a matter of course, it's pretty fluid.<p>And I actually use it on occasion. Usually for initializing README files, occasionally longer texts.
Interesting how we sometimes prefer restriction to full-fledged freedom. Similarly, many of us find Twitter more pleasant that Facebook, which puts no limitation on post length.<p>I suppose the minuscule details of life are better left in the hands of others (or software, for that matter). When spell checks, word counts and the like are left outside one's realm of thought, it's easier to focus on what's truly meaningful - in this case, the content itself, rather than grammatical intricacies.<p>Premature optimization is an enormous problem in both code and prose. This tool's core purpose is to remove that temptation, I guess, though I'm not fanatic about the concept. If modern word processors are too distracting, and their advantages aren't necessary, I'd prefer to write on physical paper instead. It brings the same "don't look back" mentality.
This makes sense. I don't write a lot, but when I do, I actually use Evernote on my phone or TextEdit on my computer. I find the smaller the space to write in, or the shittier the tool, the better. Basically limitations are actually a good thing. You're not compelled to write anything beautiful, and so there's no pressure, and you just write anything that comes to mind. You can always edit later...
Personally, since i do a lot of typos, i'd find it rather distracting that i can't go back and fix something even though i know it's wrong. I suppose the idea is to let go of all of that and just spew out words without breaking your flow, and i know going back to correct a typo does break flow, but it's something i think i'd have to train myself to do.
When testing a new writing app, I tend to write a stream of consciousness kind of thing. Here's what I wrote to test the app. "This is an experiemnt with Earnets. I'm not quite sure how this works. This is another sentence. The word count is notn being updatineed ... oh I ejust realized the stupid logic of this application. Cool app, bruh."
Good idea, and it looks nice too.<p>Here's a similar, though uglier, idea[0] for the console, the console because less opportunity for hn, facebook, distractionware, etc. Backspace deletes the whole word.<p>[0] <a href="https://github.com/hagna/prolix" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/hagna/prolix</a>
Inspired by this I wrote a minor mode for Emacs called draft-mode. It can be found at <a href="https://github.com/gaudecker/draft-mode" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/gaudecker/draft-mode</a>
This is a super interesting idea. I work with a lot of undergraduate students who struggle with the writing/editing divide, and I will absolutely be recommending that they try this tool.
Nifty. Could take it further and prohibit capitalization and punctuation. (Perhaps, allow one sloppy stand-in punctuation placeholder no matter what you type, like &middot;.)
Interesting experiment to forbid editing. Though the delete key doesn't work, cut-copy-paste does. Forbid that too! ... otherwise I'll be tempted to cheat :)
Combine with <a href="http://www.hemingwayapp.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hemingwayapp.com/</a>? I wonder what that would do to a persons writing?
Great concept, but "not delete" feature? God no! A total deal breaker for me!<p>I like to correct obvious mistakes, such as typos, when i see it. I like to insert a paragraph, or a phrase, on a early section, when i think of it. I like to erase whole paragraphs that a new one I just wrote contradict or substitute.<p>I am starting to write some essays and this would be perfect, except for this write-only. You disrupted too much my process.