¶ The Serious Writer's Syntax

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Just over a year ago, I decided to do a little experiment with the way I write. Not so much the style or voice of my writing — which is being continuously developed — but rather with the process.

Up until last September, I relied upon the WYSIWYG editor of whichever platform I was using. I had a fair understanding of HTML basics, but HTML is a bit messy to deal with when composing a written work. It can really derail a train of thought. Often, I would write out an article then go back and add links and such, but with a lengthy article, even that could be burdensome, trying to remember the exact phrases I wanted to have as a link.

Never mind the markup that WYSIWYG editors produce is fairly horrendous.

I switched to Markdown. Markdown is a simple markup language that converts plain text to valid HTML. It’s clean, easy to learn, easy to use, and — best of all — makes sense on its own if you were to print out a written work marked up with Markdown and hand it to someone to read.

Another advantage of Markdown is that it is just text. I store everything I write in Markdown as a simple .txt file. Plain text is probably the closest thing we have to an eternal and universal file format. Any computer has the capability to read plain text, and it is likely to always be supported.

The only tool you need to write in Markdown is a text editor, which every computer has. On the Mac there is TextEdit, Notepad on Windows, and heck, you could even use Notes on your iOS device. This are all very serviceable tools. However, there are other tools that can greatly enhance the Markdown experience. On the Mac I use the wonderful Byword, and on iOS I use Elements.

If you need more convincing, check out Brett Terpstra’s Two-Minute Explanation of why Markdown is amazing.

Markdown is an indispensable tool for the modern writer. Whether you write for print or the web, for fun or your profession, an article, blog post, or a book — Markdown simply gets out of your way and lets you write.

If you are a serious writer, I can’t see why you’d want to use anything except Markdown.

AirPrint Gaining Traction

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A while back I pondered why HP had a monopoly on Apple's AirPrint wireless printing standard. Today, I was happy to see that Canon has three printers available today featuring AirPrint, and Epson has thrown in their commitment, as well.

It just so happens that my beloved Canon printer of the past half-decade is starting to show its age mechanically, so maybe I will look into one of these AirPrint-capable models in a few months.

¶ The Lizard Brain Lobotomy

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One of my greatest enemies is the lizard brain. That part of me — part of all of us — that chooses between fight or flight when fear is introduced. The part that sabotages my own personal goals, that sets myself up for failure. I often start a project with great ambition, but somewhere along the line I tell myself I am no longer capable of succeeding.

Amazingly, I go through this process with almost every single long form article I post to this site. Rare is the day where my drive to write and click publish overwhelms the lizard brain on the first shot. Thankfully, not every person has this magnitude of a battle with the lizard brain, but I certainly do.

If you are like me, constantly questioning your ability to succeed, I want to issue a challenge to you and to myself. Lobotomize the lizard brain. Find the courage to push through. Find someone to confide in to keep you accountable to your tasks. Recognize the consequences of succumbing to the heckler inside of you.

Now, a word of caution: the lizard brain, like an appendage on a lizard, will grow back. We're human, after all, and self-doubt will continuously rise up against you. There is hope though, that each time you defeat the lizard brain, each time you lobotomize it, next time it won't grow back quite as strong or quite as large. Your confidence will grow in its absence.

Sustainability

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Ben Brooks on how to keep a business solvent:

Time again there has been one business model that has proven to be successful, as stated recently by Marco Arment:

[…] the traditional style of spend less than you make.

That’s the only way to make money, short of fooling someone into buying your company for more than it’s worth.

Ben mainly cautions business owners about the dangers of firesale prices. If you own a business or are in a position to make financial decisions for a business, consider Ben's article required reading.

Responsive

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Today the Boston Globe launched a redesign. This design is utterly amazing in that it is responsive. What is responsive web design? Well, go visit the Globe's site on your iPhone. Looks great, right? Now turn your iPhone on its side and watch the design adapt to the new width. The same works for your iPad. Or your traditional browser on your computer (go ahead and resize your browser window a bunch and see what happens).

To celebrate, A Book Apart has knocked 20% off their 4th installment — Responsive Web Design — using the code BOSTON today only. I hadn't picked up this book yet, but grabbed it today. I trust it will be stellar, just as A Book Apart's previous publications.

Seeing the Boston Globe embrace something like responsive web design is inspiring. The real treat is how when the screen or window is smaller, the Globe puts content first by sending the ads below the scroll.

More of this, please.