4 ms·

The desire/need for focused writing apps has always baffled me, but then again I'm probably not the target audience for such an app. I do some technical writing

by joemi 3y ago

The desire/need for focused writing apps has always baffled me, but then again I'm probably not the target audience for such an app. I do some technical writing and some non-technical blogging, and have never felt impeded by just writing in vim or textedit (or anything else that accepts text input). I'd love to better understand how such apps help people with their writing. I guess I'm kind of skeptical that they actually do help (compared to simply fullscreening any app that you can write in), but since there are so many apps designed for this I accept that they must be helpful to some people. I'd love to hear from people for whom they have helped. (I'm not trying to start a discussion about uselessness. I'd like to hear about _usefulness_. I truly want to understand it better.)

oDot 3y ago
I have built https://FileMonger.app https://FileMonger.app (which keeps a diffable undo history of a file) exactly after becoming skeptical as you are. After a bit of research I've figured that main need for this kind of focus is fear of the document changing too much, to the point where the current idea for an edit will no longer relevant. Apps such as OP try to solve it by hiding the problem, while with FileMonger the writer gets a guarantee that they can revert to any save at any time, if document indeed changes too much (it usually doesn't). If you've mentioned vim and technical writing you're probably writing plain text files and are knowledgeable enough to use manual version control like git when necessary, which is why this baffles you.
Avshalom 3y ago
Some people are just compulsive about some stuff. It's not always a thing you're (or they're) going to understand.
dberst 3y ago
I'm not a professional writer, but as someone with severe ADHD I have battled frequently with my own version of "writer's block". When I'm stuck in this way sometimes small things can make a tremendous difference (positive or negative) in my productivity. I guess what it comes down to is distractibility. This app seems focused on reducing the distraction of perfectionism: the thoughts of possible improvements to the structure of the current paragraph or feelings that a sentence could've come out better. For me, and I expect for some writers, this type of second guessing may take up a significant amount of the time I've allocated to sit down and write. Especially if there's a lot of external pressure for my work to be of a certain quality, correctness, or completeness. So while I don't personally use a tool like this, I can see how reducing distractions could raise productivity. And if it I were my livelihood, then even a 20-30% raise in productivity could be well worth installing and learning to use a dedicated piece of software.
- joemi 3y ago
  Thanks for sharing this. I know different people think differently, but I hadn't even considered ADHD.
spondylosaurus 3y ago
> ...then again I'm probably not the target audience for such an app. I do some technical writing... For technical writing in particular, I feel like being able to see (and manipulate) the entire document at once is actually helpful, if not outright necessary, since the structure of a document is just as important as its content. In that sense, a no-frills text editor might actually be the specific "focus mode" that you need for technical documents. But it's certainly not the same type of focus that people seek when they write fiction. Which I unfortunately can't comment on, because I write fiction the same way I write manuals :P
- joemi 3y ago
  Indeed. This is why I figured I'm probably not the target audience. Reviewing and editing is a huge part of technical writing (along with having a window open for what you're writing about), at least the way I do it.

by joemi 3y ago

oDot 3y ago

I have built https://FileMonger.app https://FileMonger.app (which keeps a diffable undo history of a file) exactly after becoming skeptical as you are. After a bit of research I've figured that main need for this kind of focus is fear of the document changing too much, to the point where the current idea for an edit will no longer relevant. Apps such as OP try to solve it by hiding the problem, while with FileMonger the writer gets a guarantee that they can revert to any save at any time, if document indeed changes too much (it usually doesn't). If you've mentioned vim and technical writing you're probably writing plain text files and are knowledgeable enough to use manual version control like git when necessary, which is why this baffles you.

Avshalom 3y ago

Some people are just compulsive about some stuff. It's not always a thing you're (or they're) going to understand.

dberst 3y ago

I'm not a professional writer, but as someone with severe ADHD I have battled frequently with my own version of "writer's block". When I'm stuck in this way sometimes small things can make a tremendous difference (positive or negative) in my productivity. I guess what it comes down to is distractibility. This app seems focused on reducing the distraction of perfectionism: the thoughts of possible improvements to the structure of the current paragraph or feelings that a sentence could've come out better. For me, and I expect for some writers, this type of second guessing may take up a significant amount of the time I've allocated to sit down and write. Especially if there's a lot of external pressure for my work to be of a certain quality, correctness, or completeness. So while I don't personally use a tool like this, I can see how reducing distractions could raise productivity. And if it I were my livelihood, then even a 20-30% raise in productivity could be well worth installing and learning to use a dedicated piece of software.

joemi 3y ago
Thanks for sharing this. I know different people think differently, but I hadn't even considered ADHD.

spondylosaurus 3y ago

> ...then again I'm probably not the target audience for such an app. I do some technical writing... For technical writing in particular, I feel like being able to see (and manipulate) the entire document at once is actually helpful, if not outright necessary, since the structure of a document is just as important as its content. In that sense, a no-frills text editor might actually be the specific "focus mode" that you need for technical documents. But it's certainly not the same type of focus that people seek when they write fiction. Which I unfortunately can't comment on, because I write fiction the same way I write manuals :P

joemi 3y ago
Indeed. This is why I figured I'm probably not the target audience. Reviewing and editing is a huge part of technical writing (along with having a window open for what you're writing about), at least the way I do it.