A few weeks ago, I talked about my new-to-me laptop.
This week, I want to dive into how I use it, which means exploring my current writing technology stack.
We all know that folks have been writing since people have been people, and you don't need a bunch of software and hardware to produce words on the page.
But isn't there a benefit to writing in a way that isn't just… write with words on a blank screen?
Well, yeah, at least for me.
Here's a snapshot of my writing tools and how I use them.
Bear
Bear is a Markdown-based editor bound to the Apple ecosystem. Each document is a plain page for text, and you don't need to fiddle with content blocks or different modules while you write. For me, Bear is special for five reasons.
Writing in Markdown. Once you learn basic Markdown formatting, it's so much easier to modify text across different platforms. The fewer toolbars I need, the happier I am.
The search functionality works great and makes finding old notes effortless.
Using a tag structure instead of a folder hierarchy makes it easy to organize notes while grouping the same page across multiple buckets.
Internal linking between documents is excellent and allows you to map notes to other notes with almost zero friction.
It is straightforward to copy and send notes from Bear to other places in various formats.
I currently use Bear as my catch-all. Anything I write on a computer or tablet starts in Bear. The tagging system means it's easy to separate and categorize work, blog, research, and D&D notes in a way that keeps them organized and easy to access.
Unlike Notion, these notes live locally but sync through the cloud, so you can access them on any (Apple) device. The long-awaited web app will take this easy access to the next level.
Ulysses
Ulysses is where the more significant work gets done. Pretty much anything that becomes public-facing gets sent through Ulysses. I may write an initial blog draft in Bear, but it always lands in a categorized folder in Ulysses before posting.
This is another Markdown-based editor that works well for organizing longer-form content and writing that may need to be updated sequentially. Honestly, I could do most of this writing in Bear instead. The reason I'm sticking with Ulysses is because of its hierarchal content organization, revision features. The goals and metric tracking are also very motivational.
While other places may hold drafts, outlines, and research, this is where I create the majority of drafts, and most of the editing takes place.
Grammarly
Anything I write is run through Grammarly. Ulysses has some decent language and proofing tools, but in my experience, Grammarly is best-in-class at making sure you sound at least somewhat articulate. In the editing phase, I'll pass a whole draft or chapter through Grammarly to clean up the most egregious mistakes.
Hemingway Editor
I'm a big advocate for writing short and direct, especially for marketing copy. Hemingway Editor helps with just that. Depending on the piece's intent, I don't take every suggestion and edit for gospel, but the app always helps drill to the heart of the matter.
Notion
Before Bear, there was Notion. I love the concept of Notion but found that it's not the place for me to get writing done. It is a great place to store data in tables. My D&D campaign wiki and recaps live here and directly shared with players. I also use Notion for my Editorial Calendar.
I've found that block-based formatting is not conducive for me when writing, and formatting, especially when on the iPad app, is hit or miss. Despite these gripes, I'd likely still be using Notion as a primary tool but for one issue. Syncing. I love that Notion plays nice with Windows, but not having data locally stored is a problem. More than once I've had Notion not load when I was trying to get into a specific page or table. This is especially frustrating when doing things like working from trains or in those spare minutes before doctor appointments.
Day One
Day One is my digiMal journal. This is something that I may move off. But it's where I put anything very personal and family-related. Since I quit Instagram, this has been the place where I record quick memories and photos that I may want to look back on in the future. I'm not certain if the annual cost is worth it at this point, but am committing to it for one more year before considering moving on to something else.
ReMarkable 2
The handwritten digital solution. Bear captures everything that I type, which is rad. But I am an avid bullet journaler and scribbler. For things like Rapid Logging, Monthly Spreads, and Habit Logging, I much prefer handwriting notes. I wish I could store these in a different cloud solution, or better yet, easily file copies into Bear with specific tagging, but as is, most of my written brain lives on this device and the Remarkable servers. I didn't think this would replace my physical notebooks, but it has.
ReMarkable recently moved to a dubious subscription model that gates basic functionality behind an $8 per month paywall, so it's hard to recommend the tablet. However, it still is quite good at what it does.
Drawbacks
These apps and tools work well in tandem with each other. The only drawback for me is how dependent they are on the Apple ecosystem. After moving away from Apple products for a few years, I'm fully sucked back into their product line, except for my personal desktop. This means that I have a big old brick of a home-built PC collecting dust, aside from the occasional foray into video editing or a round of Cities Skylines. I often like to sit at a desk when I write, and it would be nice to have my full writing stack there as well. Currently, I use a single display with the MacBook Air when I need to, but may explore a more permanent solution in the future.
