Writing Assistant Tool Idea

This is a snippet I wrote back in Jan 2020, an idea for a writing assistant tool. Since then, conversational agents have come a long way. I think a modernized version of this idea would probably be writing while simultaneously chatting with an AI assistant helping your brainstorm and stay on task.

The original idea is still interesting to consider though, 1) because it's simple and doesn't require AI, and 2) because it informs what the conversational agent could do to be most effective (for me at least).

The high-level core of the idea is that 1) you're writing and brainstorming simultaneously, 2) an external force is using timers and prompts to keep you on track.

The details are important too. Accountability-buddies make for great external forces, but they aren't generally patient and supportive enough to listen to intermittent brainstorming punctuated by many minutes of quiet writing.

The implementation that I suggest in the post ensures you can both write and make changes without losing old versions.

It allows for low-friction brainstorming during writing, and makes sure ideas don't get lost.

Or at least that's the intent. I tried (a low-tech version of) it out at the time and there's definitely room for improvement.

I guess this snippet was from before I wrote Go Note Go, so I reference shh shell (my older headless writing system), not Go Note Go. It's weird to me; GNG feels like its been with me forever but it hasn't even been two years yet. My whole apartment is arranged around GNGs already!

Anyway... 2-year old idea that I'm sharing now, but like many of my old snippets that I've revisited 2 years later, I'm still intrigued by the idea and topic, and glad I wrote it down when I did.