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Comment by netule | Hacker News Reader

I used to try and optimize my distraction-free writing setup, until I realized that by doing so I was distracting myself from writing. I’ve come to realize that if you want to write, then just write. It sounds oversimplified, but that’s the crux of it. Once you get over the initial hill and form the habit of writing, tools no longer matter.

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There are a lot of hobbies like that. More than half of woodworking discussions are not about woodworking, but how to setup a great shop and what tools to put into it. Musicians often talk about and trade guitars more than play. Sewing is often more about collecting fabric than doing something with it. That is just a short random example, there are plenty of more.

None of the above are bad things. There is nothing wrong with the above so long as you are honest about it, but it starts to consume time that you think you are spending on something else. Woodworkers need a place to work - while must great things are made in a kitchen that not an ideal location (OTHO I have a nice shop but still work in the kitchen because it is faster to get there). Likewise, your guitar is a part of your sound and so you really should try others from time to time; sewers should have some fabric to work with. Many "woodworkers" changed their goal is restoring old tools as well, which again is fine but not what the hobby it about.

So back to the question: what is the goal? If the goal is to write, then you need to write most of your time. Once in a while it is fine to ask "would a better keyboard be worth it", but if you are not spending the majority of your time on writing tasks (which is mostly editing) you are not a writer.

there was a great passage in jerome k jerome's "three men on the bummel" about how riding bicycles and tinkering with bicycles were both great passions, but any given person could do only one of them.

There was a point in university when I was trying to find the "best" note taking system to be organized and as efficient as possible. Tried some tablets, did latex live during lectures, markdown, you name it. Each time I wanted to do something I'd get blocked on deciding where to write.

Then I realized that I spend more time about thinking about how to organize my notes than actually taking the notes, or even more importantly focus on the content.

That was a freeing realization that got me unblocked. Now I do not have a "system". My thoughts go wherever is most convenient at that moment, I have papers lying around, docs, Apple notes. If they turn out to be important, they'll naturally become structured.

That being said, whenever I see some tool like this, I still have a passing thought - ah, that's a great system I should have it, it will enable me to be more productive :)

5mm (cheap) A4 Pad on my desk and a pen - nothing important/with duration longer than a day or two goes in there (but I write the date at the top right of each page and keep them on a two month sliding date window), I tried taking a photo of each page but realised I never looked back more than a couple of months so just stopped bothering.

Everything else I just throw around on the filesystem wherever makes sense for the thing I'm doing.

I agree with this. I would add that the important part of the practice of writing is not the tools, but once you are writing you can try tools that help you continue. For my creative writing (that I do mostly as a hobby) I have a nice notebook with a nice pen that I use to write short stories and world building excercises, and characters, etc. I don't need the nice notebook, I did not get it before starting, but it does feel nice to come home having thought of what to write and have a pleasant notebook and pen.

My job includes writing technical documents but I use latex and emacs because that's what I have always used.

But practice > tools!

I thought about it when I read Charlie Stross getting one last year [0]. Then thought, what is essential about it? And decided to try something related, even if it was likely to be just another distraction:

  (defun full-screen ()
    (interactive)
    (shell-command "wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -btoggle,fullscreen")
    (menu-bar-mode 0))

  (defun just-write ()
    "Convert into a big, clean, centered window."
    (interactive)
    (full-screen) (olivetti-mode) (text-scale-adjust 2) (scroll-bar-mode -1)
    (end-of-buffer) (recenter-top-bottom 0))

This is the simple "just-write" function I wrote in emacs, and it also needs the olivetti package and the wmctrl program.

To my surprise, it actually did the trick. I've written more and more pleasantly since then. I feel it's better than if I had gotten a Writer Deck or similar. So I thought I'd share in case it does the trick for anyone else.

(I also use a font and a color scheme that pleases me, but that's minor.)

[0] https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/09/zen-and...

Seems similar to people who keep buying tools, say for woodworking, and never really start a project. Like a kind of procrastination. Although there are people that are aware of that, but they have just pleasure with it. I guess is ok.

Pad plus paper works best for me. Although truth be told I did fall down the fountain pen/ink/fine paper rabbit hole, so honestly there is no escaping it.

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