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I approach this by separating writing from editing. Just keep writing, ignore the typos, self-censorship or formatting and keep moving. So, I've build myself a

I approach this by separating writing from editing. Just keep writing, ignore the typos, self-censorship or formatting and keep moving. So, I've build myself an app to make that easier. Essentially, it's just a more stupid version of a text box. It's free, it's private, and it's meant to put you in the state of flow. I've been using it every day for the past 3 years or so and I know that some people find it useful too, but even if I was the only user, I'd still be quite happy with it, since I suck at sticking with habits :) Check it out! https://enso.sonnet.io https://enso.sonnet.io

napolux 4y ago
I like it!
edjw 4y ago
Similar idea I made a few years ago. A text editor with no editing allowed and lets you export to Word/MD/HTML for later editing https://first-draft.netlify.app https://first-draft.netlify.app
- rpastuszak 4y ago
  Sweet! If you don't mind sharing, did anyone donate through ko-fi? I think there's still potential in writing tools with decent UX (iA Writer and such) and I know that some people wanted to pay me for Enso, so I'm trying to figure out the best course of action: either charge premium for a premium native app or let the people chip in. Paid products tend to get more valuable feedback.
  - edjw 4y ago
    I just checked and nobody did. I didn't really promote it. Might have helped if I had said what I might do with the money to improve it?
javajosh 4y ago
>I approach this by separating writing from editing. Just keep writing, ignore the typos, self-censorship or formatting and keep moving. You've (re)discovered the old adage: write drunk, edit sober.
- rpastuszak 4y ago
  Close but, no cigar. Code sober, debug drunk! https://sonnet.io/posts/code-sober-debug-drunk/ https://sonnet.io/posts/code-sober-debug-drunk/
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MrGilbert 4y ago
There is a small typo on the start page: "[...] to say istead of how you want to say it." Instead is missing a "n". :)
- rpastuszak 4y ago
  Good timing, I took today off to do some (late) spring cleaning. Fixed, thanks.
ryan-duve 4y ago
I just gave this a whirl and I wanted to let you know it's very fun! For anyone else that wants to give the demo a shot, here's the direct link: https://write.sonnet.io/ https://write.sonnet.io/
MrDunham 4y ago
Here’s my biggest critique of Enso: It’s not very easy to send myself a reminder when I’m back at my computer to use it. Content: i’m currently on my mobile phone and I absolutely adore the idea of Enso (funny enough I’m currently holding & feeding my infant named Enzo). I would like to write with it and try it when I don’t have an infant on my lap but that requires me remembering it and looking it up when back on my laptop and ready to write something. I added my email on the mobile sign-up but frankly I don’t really want a mobile app as 60% of my long-form mobile writing is done via voice to text and edited later. What I’d like is a “remind me via email to give Enso a try” signup that says “hey, this is a reminder to try Enso… The flow focused, low editing app for creative writing” or something like that.
- rpastuszak 4y ago
  > remind me via email to give Enso a try I like this. Thanks! Email notifications nowadays are a bit of a pain to set up, since they need to contain the physical address of the sender in the footer, so this is a piece of work I _always_ keep postponing. I was even considering dropping that form completely. Maybe I could generate a calendar event with a reminder instead? This way I won't have to store any data about the user and I could probably piggy back on the phone UX when it comes to reminders. Just thinking aloud here. > as 60% of my long-form mobile writing is done via voice to text and edited later. Yeah, your description matches my own usage patterns. And, I've reached a similar conclusion. Mobile-first Ensō would probably have two modes: keyboard + dictation.
  - MrDunham 4y ago
    Go get convertkit. It's bloody awesome, cheap, and they even have an address of their own that you can use if you don’t wqnt to share your physical address. The sequenced auto responders that they have boost my open and click rates as much as 300% and allow for some truly powerful/complex programmatic features that anyone who's on HN would love.
    - rpastuszak 4y ago
      >they even have an address of their own that you can use if you don’t wqnt to share your physical address. Cheers, will give it a shot! (or just get the damn PO Box)
__MatrixMan__ 4y ago
I totally agree. My approach is to just turn of the monitor.
- reirob 4y ago
  I made a colorscheme for vim that uses same color for font and background. Use it sometimes when I need to write long confusing thoughts. It's quite a nice experience, the sentences turn out to be similar to the way I would speak, but still with more thought and deepness.
  - __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
    Oh that's awesome, I'm going to try that.

napolux 4y ago

I like it!

edjw 4y ago

Similar idea I made a few years ago. A text editor with no editing allowed and lets you export to Word/MD/HTML for later editing https://first-draft.netlify.app https://first-draft.netlify.app

rpastuszak 4y ago
Sweet! If you don't mind sharing, did anyone donate through ko-fi? I think there's still potential in writing tools with decent UX (iA Writer and such) and I know that some people wanted to pay me for Enso, so I'm trying to figure out the best course of action: either charge premium for a premium native app or let the people chip in. Paid products tend to get more valuable feedback.
- edjw 4y ago
  I just checked and nobody did. I didn't really promote it. Might have helped if I had said what I might do with the money to improve it?

javajosh 4y ago

>I approach this by separating writing from editing. Just keep writing, ignore the typos, self-censorship or formatting and keep moving. You've (re)discovered the old adage: write drunk, edit sober.

rpastuszak 4y ago
Close but, no cigar. Code sober, debug drunk! https://sonnet.io/posts/code-sober-debug-drunk/ https://sonnet.io/posts/code-sober-debug-drunk/
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MrGilbert 4y ago

There is a small typo on the start page: "[...] to say istead of how you want to say it." Instead is missing a "n". :)

rpastuszak 4y ago
Good timing, I took today off to do some (late) spring cleaning. Fixed, thanks.

ryan-duve 4y ago

I just gave this a whirl and I wanted to let you know it's very fun! For anyone else that wants to give the demo a shot, here's the direct link: https://write.sonnet.io/ https://write.sonnet.io/

MrDunham 4y ago

Here’s my biggest critique of Enso: It’s not very easy to send myself a reminder when I’m back at my computer to use it. Content: i’m currently on my mobile phone and I absolutely adore the idea of Enso (funny enough I’m currently holding & feeding my infant named Enzo). I would like to write with it and try it when I don’t have an infant on my lap but that requires me remembering it and looking it up when back on my laptop and ready to write something. I added my email on the mobile sign-up but frankly I don’t really want a mobile app as 60% of my long-form mobile writing is done via voice to text and edited later. What I’d like is a “remind me via email to give Enso a try” signup that says “hey, this is a reminder to try Enso… The flow focused, low editing app for creative writing” or something like that.

rpastuszak 4y ago
> remind me via email to give Enso a try I like this. Thanks! Email notifications nowadays are a bit of a pain to set up, since they need to contain the physical address of the sender in the footer, so this is a piece of work I _always_ keep postponing. I was even considering dropping that form completely. Maybe I could generate a calendar event with a reminder instead? This way I won't have to store any data about the user and I could probably piggy back on the phone UX when it comes to reminders. Just thinking aloud here. > as 60% of my long-form mobile writing is done via voice to text and edited later. Yeah, your description matches my own usage patterns. And, I've reached a similar conclusion. Mobile-first Ensō would probably have two modes: keyboard + dictation.
- MrDunham 4y ago
  Go get convertkit. It's bloody awesome, cheap, and they even have an address of their own that you can use if you don’t wqnt to share your physical address. The sequenced auto responders that they have boost my open and click rates as much as 300% and allow for some truly powerful/complex programmatic features that anyone who's on HN would love.
  - rpastuszak 4y ago
    >they even have an address of their own that you can use if you don’t wqnt to share your physical address. Cheers, will give it a shot! (or just get the damn PO Box)

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago

I totally agree. My approach is to just turn of the monitor.

reirob 4y ago
I made a colorscheme for vim that uses same color for font and background. Use it sometimes when I need to write long confusing thoughts. It's quite a nice experience, the sentences turn out to be similar to the way I would speak, but still with more thought and deepness.
- __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
  Oh that's awesome, I'm going to try that.