Hemingway App now available | Hacker News Reader

Hemingway App now available

hemingwayapp.com

137 pointsents74 comments

Some initial feedback:

1 - My first CC was rejected

2 - The spelling hint (the red line) is bad. Just type "Hollowness" and, for me at least, it underlines "Hollownes" and doesn't pick up the last "s" until I move on to the next word (and then some)

3 - Themes / font / spacing and fullscreen would be nice

4 - Tried to save a file: Uncaught node.js Error

Error: EACCES, open '/x.txt' (and now I can't go back, and I lost what I was writing)

5 - On startup, it now flashes the intro text, but then goes into write mode. Feels unpolished.

6 - Personally, I'd like something that helps me organize my writing a little bit. For now, I just use a folder with project view in sublime, which works great. Not sure I'm willing to give that up.

This would be a really useful plugin for Microsoft Outlook. I would shell out the $4.99 for that. However, if I have to fire up a separate app to use this I might as well just use the free web app.

The marketing copy is puzzling to me. Two things it highlights are what I would consider standard and required features for any text editor; the ability to work offline and the ability to save and edit text files.

If your text editor can't save and edit text files (!?!) and can only be used online, it's hardly even worth calling a text editor. That Hemingway can do what's required is necessary, but why draw attention to those things instead of actual, you know, features?

Edit: by the replies, I see these features make sense in comparison to Hemingway the web app. However, if this page is also intended for people not familiar with the web app, I stand by my points.

Most likely because the original app works in your browser and does pretty much the same as the desktop version: http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

Because: http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

This was a free web-only app that was featured on HackerNews front page before.

"can only be used online" doesn't make something not a text editor.

The other point is "Save and open" not "save and edit." This is explained in the next paragraph. It's in contrast to the workflow in the online Hemingway app.

Just for giggles, I ran the Satya Nadella letter[1] through here, and this is what I got:

39 of 186 sentences are hard to read. 35 of 186 sentences are very hard to read. 35 adverbs. Aim for 17 or fewer. 26 words or phrases can be simpler. 15 uses of passive voice. Aim for 37 or fewer.

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/ceo/index.html

Ha, good idea. That still seems too good a score. Maybe it should also flag lazy CEO words like harmonize, energizing, innovation, dialogue, synthesize, ubiquitous, ambient intelligence, digitize, maximize, empower, enable, ... etc.

(Unless used for their original meaning, of course.)

Any one is no big deal, but at one per sentence... oof.

After reading the comments, I now understand why the marketing copy touts saving and open text files as a feature. Given that there is no mention of the web app (AFAICT) on this page and that I had never heard of Hemingway App before, I initially was very confused as to why, for a text editor, saving/opening files and editing text offline would even be worth mentioning. I'm not saying the copy is poorly written (in fact I think it's written quite well), I just think that perhaps not enough of it is directed at people like me. Maybe a simple link back to the web app and some text explaining it would suffice.

Also, a minor nitpick: I think the usage of "Hemingway App" and "Hemingway Editor" is a bit confusing. I take it the web app is Hemingway App, and the desktop client is Hemingway Editor? Why, then, is the page title "Hemingway App for Mac OSX"? (side note, no love for Windows in the title?)

Not sure why I chose this comment to be my very first comment on HN.

Hemingway is an app which makes terrible, and largely trivial stylistic advice.

Fortunately, the real Hemingway had no truck with following such terrible "rules":

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=10416

As with all tools, it depends on how you use it.

If a writer lets software dictate his style, then he's hopeless. But I think this can be a good tool for helping you introduce more variety to your writing.

It can help open up stylistic choices as opposed to auto-pilot writing. We've all written something with nary a thought, and usually it stinks. You don't have to follow its recommendations, but it can make you stop and re-evaluate what you've written, and that makes it more useful than one might imagine.

As a first-line editing tool, I think it's clever, don't you?

Could someone create a gmail plugin to filter my outgoing emails through this. Maybe it would help to make my emails clearer and more persuasive.

No, because instead of discerning if you're a dullard by the quality of your writing at a glance, I'll instead have to stumble through mechanically de-voiced inanity. At least without Hemmingway your stream-of-consciousness as committed to typed form can be examined and admired as a unique reflection of your particular damage.

I wrote them and suggested they have some type of liquor icon for "Write" and a coffee cup icon for "Edit" (a play on "Write drunk, edit sober," which he never said but everyone wrong attributes it to him).

Sad it didn't make it in. Guess I'll keep writing sober.

This app is absolutely terrible. It's broken, but worse, it's wrong all the time.

If your app truly is remarkable and provides a ton of value, please charge more than $5.

Looks good! Two points from a Windows user.

1) I'm put off by the lack of Windows screenshots. I want to see what the interface is like before I commit to buying.

2) I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I'd like to see this as a Modern app. I like the distraction-free framing of the Modern interface on my notebook - I think it's especially constructive to writing. Modern apps also install and sync transparently across all my Windows devices. And honestly, the Windows store is lacking a decent editor like this.

Another question: can you provide more details on the HTML export? Does it just generate a static page? Does it create some kind of site?

Serious question: could they be sued by Hemingway's family for using his name on their product? I mean, if I made an app called "Tolkien" I might realistically run into trouble with his estate.

Looks like they acquired proper licensing. The footer of the webpage states: "Hemingway™ is a trademark of Hemingway Ltd., used under exclusive license through Fashion Licensing of America, Inc., New York, NY 10001"

Fashion Licensing of America's site states that the company is the exclusive licensing agent for Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Is the laptop on the front page a hackintosh? Or does the app default to OSX style windows on startup?

Someone bite the bullet and tell me.

It's just a screenshot of the Mac app, placed on a placeit stage: https://placeit.net/#!/stages/laptop-restaurant-wooden-table

the most likely scenario is that the screen is simulated.

I can't wait to copy-paste one of Hemingway's novels into here and see how many issues it has with his writing.

Please do! I'm interested. Theoretically, Hemingway should score perfect. Since it's his editor and all. And Faulkner would likely score near the bottom. Gertrude Stein would likely result in a stack level too deep error.

"In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. We edited text every day. Carlos played the piano while we worked. The text editor was a good one, built like text editors should be built, solid and able to hold words well even when you hit the enter key in the irregular rhythm Carlos liked to use."

Would be happy to pay the $5 to be able to use this as an addon in Sublime Text (or Atom/vim/emacs/whatever you like) instead of having to use your editor app. I don't like having to switch to a new editor for writing. Any plans for this?

Windows or Mac? No Linux support? sigh

I feel like this app would benefit massively from the touch of an actual designer rather than using default bootstrap. When you are trying to write, you want a minimal, elegant, and non-distracting interface, and those tacky and jarring glossy buttons really throw me off.

I love the app though! If you can afford a couple hours of a designer's time (it's a simple interface, wouldn't take too much), I feel like the benefits would be huge. If you want my help with this, feel free to reach out, but I'm sure any designer would be glad to do it : )

Guiding towards short and simple writing forms the mind towards only being able to express short and simple thoughts. Whereas in reality, long, nuanced, and complex solutions are required to accommodate the many actors in many situations.

Say I wanted to start writing an e-book, would this be an acceptable editor? Does it output to PDF,.mobi formats? or should I go with something like LaTeX?

FYI, LaTeX is not an editor. Although it does produce good PDF's, given all of the LaTeX-to-HTML things I've seen, I would be sceptical of producing .mobi with it.

Also good to know. Do you have any recommendations of text editors (online or native) that are markdown oriented and support those formats?

I'd use it for writing, but then copy over the text to something like Scrivener.

Thanks for the recommendation. Scrivener looks powerful.

I tried Writer Pro a while back and was pretty disappointed... it was expensive for what I felt was delivered. I might give this one a shot.

I found the web app very useful I can't wait to actually use it in my daily work flow :)

A single screenshot of the Windows version would've been nice ...

The program is a windows frame wrapped around their web app. It looks almost exactly the same.

The web app doesn't handle markdown, does it?

I'd like to be able to change the font size in the edit window.

+1 for a Vim plugin...

Are there other languages supported apart from english?

+1, but looks like it doesn't have.

I wish this were a LibreOffice plugin...

[EDIT] I would pay for it too.

Doesn’t open on Yosemite beta 4.

Sad days. Hopefully soon.

Ironic that an app calling itself "Hemingway" would recommend against the word "Utilize". As a key example of "things to avoid" no less.

Utilized in one of the more memorable exchanges in The Sun Also Rises:

"Let us rejoice in our blessings. Let us utilize the fowls of the air. Let us utilize the product of the vine. Will you utilize a little, brother?"

... and so on for nearly ten pages, utilizing wine, pubs, etc.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fAcAd5gFdB0C&lpg=PP1&dq=h...

I bet if you apply this tool to more of his writing, you'd find it neutered it completely, removing much of the magic that makes it so great.

>Ironic that an app calling itself "Hemingway" would recommend against the word "Utilize".

>Utilized in one of the more memorable exchanges in The Sun Also Rises:

>"Let us rejoice in our blessings. Let us utilize the fowls of the air. Let us utilize the product of the vine. Will you utilize a little, brother?"

First of all, that's a character speaking, not Hemingway narrating. In the same book, Hemingway also writes in the voice of a Spanish laborer and other characters with patterns of speech that we would not ascribe to him.

Second, in that passage, Jake is playing off the French verb "utiliser". In essence, he's being ironic -- a favored pastime of the lost generation. So this is all dialogue, not Hemingway narrating.

You'd be hard pressed to find the word "utilize" in Hemingway's narration. (awaiting someone with a counterexample...3..2..1)

"Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use"

I'm guessing the app is called Hemingway because it promotes simpler writing in general (a good thing, I think), not because it will make you write /exactly/ like Hemingway!

Hemingway App is a tool useful is you're not a great writer. If you want to write something original, or magic, you better not use it.

I understand that you might not be criticizing the app directly, but as you are the top comment, I thought it would be useful as a reminder.

I do think that attempts to create something original can be helped by this, but only if it's used carefully. After I've reworked something many times, the parts I've fiddled with the most are often too complicated and obscure.

I've gotten a bit of use out of this, but only by throwing it at things which are already written and edited, and then ignoring most of it's suggestions. I end up treating it as a list of things to check, not a list of problems to fix.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I think you can use it to quickly identify passages that may need more work. As with all suggestions, take them with a grain of salt, but so far even with highly edited work, I find it can be useful.

So you're one of those people who like to use "utilize." I've always thought the word is used willy-nilly by people with feeble minds in order to "sound fancy," but you seem like an alright guy.

Could you tell me why you'd want to use "utilize" instead of "use"? Do you intend a different meaning e.g. make-use-of-in-unexpeded-way, or do you see them as synonyms?

To me, it sounds horrible---a buzzword and a French-isism (The French verb to use is utiliser).

So you're one of those people who like to use "utilize."

Far from it. Looks like this is the first time I've ever typed it:

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=jasonkester+utilize#!/all/forever/...

Hemingway is, though. A quick google search shows that he also has written "helpfully" a few times in his novels, which is another forbidden word in the app we're discussing.

That's what we're doing, by the way: discussing a piece of software. Try not to get too worked up.

I think "helpfully" -- in a helpful manner -- is a fine word, nevermind the grammar marms. I suspect Hemingway did as well.

However, he tried to avoid words like "utilize" that he could easily replace with shorter, more powerful words without losing any expressiveness.

> Try not to get too worked up.

No personal slights, please.

The software calls out "helpfully" because it's an adverb, a part of speech that's good in small doses (according to the creators of the software).

"That's what we're doing, by the way: discussing a piece of software. Try not to get too worked up."

I see what you're doing. Good words.

I don't know whether Hemingway liked using 'utilize' or not. But I expect he used different rules in writing dialogue than in writing narrative. Word usage in dialogue can be used to give us cues about the character speaking. E.g., that he's the sort of person who pontificates by using words like 'utilize'. (Word usage in narrative can even be used to give us cues about the narrator.) I don't know enough to tell whether that's what Hemingway was doing in the quoted dialogue. But good writers often violate usage rules when writing fiction that they'd normally apply to themselves, e.g., when writing an essay.

I'll bite. I get really mad when people do this.

  people - old french / latin
  feeble - old french
  mind - old english, but roots in germanic
  synonym - greek / latin
  expede - I think this doesn't mean what you think it means, but latin.
  horrible - old french

The list goes on. http://etymonline.com/index.php

To me, "utilize" means to use properly. It has a positive connotation that "use" does not.

edit: dictionary.com seems to agree. "to put to use; turn to profitable account"

Utilize is "use" but focusing on the thing being used rather than what it's used for.

I utilized my calculus textbook to prop up my monitor. I used my calculus textbook to prop up my monitor.

In the first, I'm looking for a use for the book and that's what I could do with it. In the second, I need to raise my monitor, and the calculus book was handy.

I also consider it to mean proper use of something. But figured it was just me ascribing extra meaning.

For instance, (assuming no context is provided) if someone said they utilized a fire extinguisher I would assume they meant to put out a fire. If they said they used a fire extinguisher, I would be wondering what they used it for (to propel an office chair , kill a mouse, cool their beer). Context of course almost always exists.

The first definiton of "use" (as a verb with an object) is very similar:

"1. to employ for some purpose; put into service; make use of: to use a knife."

Hemingway didn't write very Hemingwayish. That is, he didn't write the way many people caricaturize him. He has a big vocabulary and can, in fact, create more than a 5-word sentence.

That being said, "utilize" is one of my peeves, too. "Utilize" rather than "use" and "gift" as a verb. We hates them, we does.

This is the key point. He tended to use active voice, single clauses, and simple words. None of that is the same as small sentences and a limited vocabulary.

His approach was as simple as possible, but unlike what this app creates, no simpler.

Does it recommend against it if it is part of dialogue?

No demo?

It's a five dollar app. Of course, there's no demo because hey, it's only five dollars.

This new marketing model blows.

It's 5 dollars. Stop being cheap. Buy it if it sounds like something you'd like, if not, don't buy it. You don't get a demo of a movie when you buy it. You can't just watch half of it and then decide if you want to buy a ticket. It's pretty obnoxious when tech-types bitch about $5 yet have no problem billing clients $100+ per hour or making $100K+ per year as a developer of the very types of things about which they complain about paying $5. It's not unlike restaurant waiters not leaving tips when they themselves go out to eat. Not everything needs a demo. Perhaps a quick screencast or something if you feel like the screenshots don't do the product justice. But it's a text editor.. how much demo is actually needed?

> You don't get a demo of a movie when you buy it

They're called "trailers".

And in software, it's called "screenshots."

If trailers are to films as screenshots are to software, then demos are to software as what exactly are to films?

I think your argument is defunct, and I don't think it's bad to expect a demo, no matter how expensive or inexpensive a bit of software may be.

You can use the web version for free at http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

It's the price of a beer, come on! As developers in this community we must understand how much hard work goes into these things and we should not cheapen the work of fellow devs making innovative projects.

My first thought was it's only $5 so it can't be any good.

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