thinkhuman / Writingwithemacs

• Emacs for Writing

Emacs has a long history of being used for writing prose, blog posts, technical books, novels, and more. Here are some first-hand experiences you might find useful, whether you're new to Emacs or just looking for ideas to customize your current Emacs configuration.

Pull requests welcome!

** Contents

• [[README.org#Tips-and-Examples-for-Writing-with-Emacs][Tips and Examples for Writing with Emacs]]
• [[README.org#Writing-a-book-in-Emacs][Writing a book in Emacs]]
• [[README.org#Writing-Technical-and-Scientific-Documents-in-Emacs][Writing Technical and Scientific Documents in Emacs]]
• [[README.org#Writing-a-screenplay-in-Emacs][Writing a screenplay in Emacs]]
• [[README.org#Blogging-with-Emacs][Blogging with Emacs]]
• [[README.org#Emacs-Modes-and-Configurations-for-Writers][Emacs Modes and Configurations for Writers]]
• [[README.org#Emacs-Writing-Workflows][Emacs Writing Workflows]]

** Tips and Examples for Writing With Emacs

| Link | Description | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | [[https://www.wisdomandwonder.com/article/10805/emacsorg-mode-choosing-the-best-writing-and-publishing-software][(Emacs+Org-Mode) Choosing The Best Writing And Publishing Software]] | Using LaTeX and Org-Mode to write and publish | | [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtieBc3KptU][Emacs for Writers: A video presentation by Jay Dixit]] | Jay Dixit, science writer, explains how he uses Emacs as a non-programmer for writing, editing, and research. | | [[https://emacscast.org/episode_8/][EmacsCast, Episode 8: Writing in Emacs and Org mode, part 1]] | Podcast about writing short and long texts, blog posts and books in Emacs, including outlining, exporting and publishing. | | [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOfSjLwQY28][Replacing Scrivener with Emacs and Vim]] | (Video) How-to by Vim Valley (Vim user-focused, but discusses Emacs too) | | [[https://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/2171/what-options-are-there-for-writing-better-non-programming-text-in-emacs/14238#14238][StackExchange: What options are there for writing better non-programming text in Emacs?]] | A novel writer explains some useful Emacs configuration choices he's learned | | [[https://tonyballantyne.com/EmacsWritingTips.html][Tony Ballantyne: My Emacs Writing Setup]] | Tony Ballantyne's Emacs configuration and workflow for fiction writing | | [[https://johnurquhartferguson.info/post/how-i-write-my-writing-software/][How I Write: My Writing Software]] | John Urquhart Ferguson's discussion of how (and why) he uses Emacs for writing | | [[https://www.viktorbengtsson.com/blog/org-mode-for-writers/][Org Mode for Writers]] | Viktor Bengtsson's discussion of the benefits and challenges of using Emacs and Org-Mode to write | | [[https://awarewriter.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/org-mode-for-writing-structure-focus/][Org-mode for Writing: Structure & Focus]] | A writer's (brief) description of using Org-Mode to write a short story | | [[http://www.therandymon.com/index.php?/197-Woodnotes-Guide-to-Emacs-for-Writers.html][Woodnotes Guide to Emacs for Writers]] | Randall Woods' popular guide to using and configuring Emacs for writing text | | [[http://www.howardism.org/Technical/Emacs/orgmode-wordprocessor.html][Org As a Word Processor]] | Howard Abrams' basic configuration choices to make Org-Mode look more like a 'word processor' | | [[https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/48dp3e/what_are_some_options_for_writing_prose_on)][Options for writing prose with Emacs (Reddit thread)]] | Several detailed (Reddit) comments on useful Emacs workflow and configuration options | | [[https://unconj.ca/blog/linting-prose-in-emacs.html][Linting prose in Emacs]] | Proselint, a project for 'linting' prose that focuses on logic and style (not spelling and grammar) | | [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9BcZvQbXU][Consistent Technical Documents Using Emacs and Org-Mode]] | (Video) Using Org-Mode with org-babel to create well-formed technical documents | | [[https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/e0m5dl/my_orgmode_workflow_for_studies/][My Org Mode Workflow for Studies]] | Discussion of one person's experience using Emacs and Org-Mode to keep class notes | | [[http://www.beastwithin.org/blog/2011/05/24/lets-just-use-emacs.html][Let's Just Use Emacs (for editing prose)]] | One writer's success (and frustrations) with using Emacs for writing | | [[https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/18070/make-emacs-or-vim-etc-like-ulysses][Make Emacs Like Ulysses]] | Discussion about how to make Emacs look/function more like the popular (MacOS/iOS only) writing app Ulysses | | [[https://bunkham.com/emacs-writing-setup/][Distraction-Free Writing Gnu Style]] | Paul Bunkham's description of how he configured Emacs to create a 'distraction-free' writing environment | | [[http://doc.rix.si/cce/cce-writing.html#org4123a79][Long form writing with Org Mode]] | Discussion of how a writer configured Emacs and Org-Mode to streamline longer-form (blog and journal) writing | | [[https://jacmoes.wordpress.com/2019/09/24/creative-writing-with-emacs/][Creative writing with Emacs]] | Jacob Moena describes how he went from a childhood with no PCs to Commodores, WordPerfect...and eventually to Emacs. | | [[https://explog.in/notes/writingsetup.html][My Writing Setup]] | Bhalla Kunal's straightforward Emacs writing setup, with monitor orientation and example screenshots. | | [[https://tech.tonyballantyne.com/emacs/really-simple-scrivener-mode/][Really Simple Scrivener Mode]] | Tony Ballantyne's configuration to mimic the basic screen layout of Scrivener. |

** Writing a Book in Emacs | Link | Description | |---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | [[https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/how-to-write-a-book-in-emacs][Mickey Petersen: How to Write a Book in Emacs]] | Description of how to write and output books using Emacs by Mickey Petersen, author of Mastering Emacs | | [[https://www.kpkaiser.com/programming/writing-a-technical-book-in-emacs-and-org-mode/][Writing a Technical Book in Emacs and Org-Mode]] | K.P. Kaiser talks about how he wrote the book /Make Art With Python/ using Emacs | | [[https://irreal.org/blog/?p=4429][Writing a Book in Org Mode]] | A few thoughts on using Org-Mode to write a book, focusing on the usefulness of LaTeX to create output | | [[https://procomun.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/writing-a-book-with-emacs/][Writing a book with a little help from Emacs and friends]] | Oscar Perpiñán Lamigueiro discusses how he configured and used Emacs to write his technical book | | [[https://medium.com/@lakshminp/publishing-a-book-using-org-mode-9e817a56d144][Publishing a Book Using Org Mode]] | Lakshmi Narasimhan reflects on how he used Org-Mode to write and publish his book on Leanpub | | [[https://www.tomheon.com/2019/04/10/how-an-uber-geeky-text-mode-in-a-40-year-old-editor-saved-my-novel/][How an Uber-Geeky Text Mode in a 40-Year-Old Editor Saved My Novel ]] | A writer reflects on how he wrote a novel in Org-Mode, including formatting, revision, and other challenges | | [[https://joshlong.com/jl/blogPost/emacs-pt-1.html][Getting Emacs Ready for Writin', Part I]] | Josh Long describes how he initially configured Emacs to prepare for writing his book /Reactive Spring/ |

** Writing Technical and Scientific Documents in Emacs | Link | Description | | [[https://write.as/dani/writing-a-phd-thesis-with-org-mode][Writing a PhD thesis with Org Mode — Dani]] | |

** Writing a Screenplay in Emacs | Link | Description | |----------------------------------------------+-------------| | [[https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/?action=browse;oldid=ScreenPlay;id=Screenplay][Five Emacs libraries for writing screenplays]] | | | [[https://fountain-mode.org/][Fountain mode]] | | | [[https://github.com/bookhacker/epic-mode][Epic mode]] | |

** Blogging with Emacs | Link | Description | |---------------------------------------------------------+-------------| | [[https://diego.codes/post/blogging-with-org/][Blogging with Emacs (only)]] | | | [[https://loomcom.com/blog/0110_emacs_blogging_for_fun_and_profit.html][Emacs Blogging For Fun and Profit (blogging with Emacs)]] | | | [[https://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-jekyll.html][Using Org to Blog with Jekyll]] | orgmode.org tutorial on combining Emacs Org-Mode with Jekyll to build a blog or static site |

** Emacs Modes and Configurations for Writers | Link | Description | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------| | [[https://opensource.com/article/18/5/emacs-modes-writers][5 Emacs modes for writers]] | | | [[https://github.com/jacmoe/emacs.d][Jacob Moen: My emacs configuration, optimized for creative writing]] | | | [[https://kodfabrik.com/journal/ia-writer-mode-for-emacs/][iA Writer mode for Emacs]] | | | [[https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-mode][Writeroom mode (Emacs mode for imitating Writeroom features)]] | | | [[https://github.com/joaotavora/darkroom][Darkroom mode (a distraction-free Emacs mode)]] | | | [[https://github.com/rnkn/olivetti][Olivetti (Emacs mode for a clean writing environment)]] | | | [[https://github.com/frankjonen/emacs-for-writers][Emacs for Writers (a Spacemacs configuration)]] | | | [[https://github.com/priyatam/camus-mode][Camus mode: a minimalist emacs workflow for writing short stories and novels]] | | | [[https://github.com/kunalb/poet][Poet, an Emacs theme for modes (like markdown and Org mode)using variable pitch]] | | | [[http://bnbeckwith.com/code/writegood-mode.html][WriteGood Mode for finding common writing problems]] | |

** Emacs Writing Workflows | Link | Description | |------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | [[https://www.marcoieni.com/2020/02/doc-org-org-mode-latex-docker-pdf/][Doc-org: org-mode + latex + docker = pdf]] | Marco Ieni's Doc-org, a command line utility to generate PDFs from Org-Mode+LaTeX |