↵

I'm starting a blog. I need a writing app. What's the best?

almost 9 years ago from Andy Leverenz, Product Designer

  • Pedro SolaPedro Sola, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

    No you don't.

    If you're starting a blog, you don't need a writing app. You need interesting ideas.

    If your ideas are worth a damn you can write them on a greasy napkin, or any system notepad app.

    29 points
    • Sven LoskillSven Loskill, almost 9 years ago

      Might be technically correct, but, gosh, what a pricky way to be not helpful.

      30 points
    • Ryan MorrisonRyan Morrison, almost 9 years ago

      100% agree. It's like asking what kind of pencil you use to sketch wireframes. So unimportant.

      4 points
    • Antonio PratasAntonio Pratas, almost 9 years ago

      exactly. You don't "need" a writing, you "want" a writing app, just focus on good content and writing anywhere. Lately I've been doing my writing straight in medium's CMS. And sometimes on evernote mobile. and sometimes on a post it.

      1 point
    • Edwin de JonghEdwin de Jongh, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

      Jeez, you must be fun at parties.

      It's like a beginning designer asks you for the best software tools for design and you tell him: 'No, you don't need design software. You need interesting ideas.'. Well sure, but at the end of the day you can hardly present your designs to the client or developer on a napkin.

      The tools we use help us express our 'interesting ideas'. No need to be a dick about it.

      14 points
    • Andy LeverenzAndy Leverenz, almost 9 years ago

      No shit Pedro! I want a writing app because it's more about organization and allowing my ideas to be flowing rather than worrying about formatting or the latter. Who said I didn't have any ideas worth a damn in the first place?

      8 points
    • Cameron MollCameron Moll, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

      While I agree to a (very) small extent, I find Medium's authoring tools to be incredibly powerful for writing, even beyond Medium. (I'm doing that right now, in fact, for an article that will be published on 24 ways, not Medium.) I enjoy writing with Medium more than any other app I've tried, native or web.

      And not to derail the original topic, but Medium's greatest business asset is not its content nor its community, but its authoring tools. I'll be first in line if/when they license these tools to other publishing platforms.

      2 points
      • Greg Storey, almost 9 years ago

        Interesting, I would never have considered using Medium as only a writing tool (as opposed to writing and publishing). Many of the tools Medium provides relate to formatting, how does that carry over to other application?

        0 points
        • Cameron MollCameron Moll, almost 9 years ago

          Cumbersomely, sadly. But it's the act of writing with Medium that I enjoy best. I totally get the argument that writing, at its core, should be devoid of styling and formatting. But I don't totally buy it, either.

          There's something to be said of the clarity that comes to one's writing when one can see italicizing, headlines, text formatted as links instead of bulky URLs printed in the open, and so forth.

          1 point