vampApr 11, 2017

So I've been going back through my writing folder and exporting every scrivener project from the last 8 years because the Linux version is no longer in development and it don't work post Ubuntu 16.04.

PROPRIETARY FORMATS ARE BAD, M'KAY?

There's so many projects *falls over*

Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@vamp switched to working exclusively in plain text last year - best decision I ever made
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer Exclusively plain text from here on out, though. It's certainly a lot safer.
Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@vamp and far more capable. With a glut of editors, I find myself across a few to get best of all worlds (Vim being best of the best)
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer OMG, I'm a text editor junkie. Always switching to the next shiny thing. Currently a toss-up between Ghostwriter and Typora (I like markdown editors).
Show threadFerdi F. Zebua 🌏
@vamp @dathowitzer Recommendations for markdown-focused big-project text editor? Cross-platform, preferably?
Apr 11, 2017 at 10:33amWeb
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@FerdiZ and there's the problem, essentially. I haven't found one. Ghostwriter and Typora have outline views, good for navigating a single large file. Both are cross platform. @dathowitzer
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@FerdiZ Actually, there might be one. Manuskript (http://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/) is scrivener-like and stores files as .md Also crossplatform. @dathowitzer
Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@FerdiZ @vamp I can't look past Vim with plugins like Vimwiki. Big learning curve but has changed my life immeasurably
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer I haven't quite taken the plunge into that learning curve yet... @FerdiZ
Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@vamp @FerdiZ I get that, I think my friends are sick of me trying to convert them. And all told, it took me about a year of noodling around here and there with it to think "hey, this could do it all if I go all in". But I can't overstate how impactful it has been on my process, the quality of my work, and honestly my life. Pretty big praise for a text editor that began life more like 4 decades ago.
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer LOL I just installed it, opened it, and just went O.O I use nano sometimes ;) My terminal skills are... very basic. @FerdiZ
Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@vamp @FerdiZ haha mine were too but it can be done. If you're on mac, open up terminal and hit "vimtutor" then enter and you'll be going through an interactive tutorial - baby steps
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer Linux. It's open. Wish me luck ;) @FerdiZ
Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@vamp @FerdiZ ...and all it took was a handful of toots. Who said Mastodon was DOA?
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer People are saying that?
People are dumb. @FerdiZ
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer Holy crap. This is kind of beautiful. I might be hooked. @FerdiZ
Show threadDaniel Holliday ⌨️Apr 11, 2017
@vamp ikr - wait until you start extending it out... Just finished an original pilot that was heavily researched, all kept track of through Vim with Vimwiki - https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer right now I'm looking at those moments while editing where I'd really like to toss the mouse across the room...
Show threadDan YorkApr 11, 2017
@dathowitzer @vamp Fun! I hadn't seen vimwiki. I'm old-school vi/vim because that's what I had to learn back in the 1980s because there were few choices. I agree that once you climb the steep learning curve you can do amazing things.
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 11, 2017
@danyork @dathowitzer @vamp As has been said about vim: steep learning curve, high payoff function.
Show threadDan YorkApr 11, 2017
@FerdiZ @vamp @dathowitzer If you are in the Mac/iOS world (as I am), I have become a huge fan of Ulysses - https://www.ulyssesapp.com - because it stores all of its files as plain markdown text files. Yet has tools within the app to manipulate the files in different ways. Also love the sync across devices. But it only is useful if you are in the Apple world.
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@FerdiZ @dathowitzer @danyork Apple does have lots of fun looking toys. But I'm a Linux girl :)
Show threadDan YorkApr 11, 2017
@vamp I am Linux on the server side, but on the desktop/device side I am living in Apple's pretty walled garden. (Although we do now have one Chromebook in the house...)
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@danyork I'm too poor for Apple anything. Last computer I bought cost me $35 and I love it :D
Show threadDan YorkApr 11, 2017
@vamp That's completely awesome that we can now get computers for $35. It's an amazing time to be alive.
Show threadvampApr 11, 2017
@danyork oh, you've gotta be in the right place at the right time - I got lucky because it was a good 2nd hand computer but didn't have windows on it, and most people just don't know what to do with something like that.
Show threadTris HusseyApr 11, 2017
@danyork @FerdiZ @vamp @dathowitzer I'm a huge fan of Ulysses and Scrivener. Dan you might like Marked 2 for processing. I prefer to write in Markdown for posts too. Lately I've been using Hemingway on the desktop. I have to use Win10 at work and it's painful. I'm going to try the suggestion above. I've tried Typora and it's pretty good.
Show threadDan YorkApr 11, 2017
@trishussey @FerdiZ @vamp @dathowitzer Yes, I often use Hemingway on my desktop - http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ - but I've been switching to Ulysses due to the ability to work on different mobile devices. I'll check out Marked 2.
Show threadTris HusseyApr 11, 2017
@danyork @FerdiZ @vamp @dathowitzer Dan you'll dig Marked. I'd love to be able to use Ulysses on Windows. Hell I'd just rather have a mac at work.
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 11, 2017

@FerdiZ @dathowitzer @vamp "Recommendations for markdown-focused big-project text editor? Cross-platform, preferably?"
Vim.
Or Emacs.
Seriously.

It's what they're all about. 40 years of continued refinement /of editing fucking text/.

The only thing I've ever seen that comes remotely close was the EVE editor. But that was tied to VMS, so, I haven't touched that in ... <glances at calendar> ... 20 years.

Show threadFerdi F. Zebua 🌏Apr 11, 2017
@dredmorbius @vamp @dathowitzer Perhaps an amateurish naive question but: does Emacs / Vim support complex writing project planning & outlining etc.? And for example moving around whole chapters, or specific paragraphs within one chapter onto another chapter? I suppose they must have already, after +40 years...
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 11, 2017

@FerdiZ @dathowitzer @vamp Yes.

It's been the academic tool of choice for writing books and articles within maths, physics, and computer science for a few decades.

Generally, what you'll do with a major project and LaTeX is to write a file per chapter. Numbering is automatic. Those are included into the main text. Reorder chapters just by changing the placement of the includes.

Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 11, 2017

@FerdiZ @dathowitzer @vamp See: https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Modular_Documents

StackExchange and Reddit both have excellent LaTeX support groups.