writing

From IndieWeb

Writing is the act of creating, expanding, editing, and updating primarily text posts such as notes and articles.

The challenges of how to best write and post were discussed at an IndieWebCamp in Cambridge in 2015 in the session Thought Draft Post.

How to

This section documents various techniques that IndieWeb community members use themselves to write better, more often, etc. on their own sites.

Tantek

Tantek Çelik has found the following helps him write better longform posts on tantek.com (both more quickly and of higher quality)

  • Turn off Wi-Fi and use a CMS (he uses Falcon) that works locally offline[1]

Gregor Morrill

gRegor Morrill uses WriteMonkey on a PC to draft longer posts. It has a full-screen, no interruptions mode. Also has optional typewriter sound effects if you're into that.

Tracy Durnell

Tracy Durnell has posted novel writing progress reports on her website as an accountability and tracking tool, as well as during NaNoWriMo

Sara Jakša

Sara Jakša uses a couple of techniques, that get her to write more:

  • Participate in the different events, like the blog carnivals, NaNoWriMo, fanfiction gift exchanges and prompts challenges.
  • Writing in her own version of the Written Kitten that can use any set of pictures, which she hosts on her site. She used to use the Write or Die and it did make her write more, but these days she prefers a more positive motivation.
  • Having the writing environment, that works offline - a lot of her writing is done offline.
  • The 'Don't Like Don't Read' mentality, which poses the responsibility for deciding to read on the reader - so there is no need for any piece of writing to be perfect.
  • The 'potter' mentality (from the making of the pots experiment), where people improve more, if they simply do something more frequently, instead of trying to make it perfect.
  • Writing so much, that writing had become a way of therapy and emotional control

... add yourself ...

Please add the techniques you actually use yourself to write on your site!

Please do not add techniques you recommend but do not use (or use infrequently), or especially do not use on your personal site. There are too many random lists of "recommended" techniques (that the authors either themselves do not follow or do not do so on their own sites - both instances of failing to use what you make).

Additional Links

Posts with people discussing their own writing process

Posts with people discussing reasons for writing/blogging

Posts with people's advice about writing/blogging

Events to participate to write more

IndieWeb Specific

Others

Sessions

IndieWebCamp sessions on writing, how to improve your writing, and how to write more often & quickly.

See Also