The past few months have made one thing consistently clear: building websites is the easy part; putting content into them, a-whole-nother story. I figured my obsession with so many things would just make me primed to splatter creativity all over the screen, but instead I’ve just stared blankly at it. So void of ideas that I could count the fibers of the canvas (or in this case pixels on the screen).

This is where the typical writer proclaims of an epiphany and writes of whatever their heart sings. Mine was still mute, so instead I did what any other novice would do: looked up how to write things on the internet, on the internet. And…nothing. Everything tries to sell it to you like any other get-rich-quick scheme, so there was little in the way of actual substance, but I digress.

Google noticed my recent search habits and my YouTube feed was soon filled with other, actually professional writers and their tips, tricks, and (important to this case) tools. Perhaps what shocked me the most was seeing the variety of what people used and what they wrote with. While an overwhelming majority write with things like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or any other typical word processor, a noticeable sum of them champion different programs and/or entirely different mediums. Famously George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice & Fire, the Game of Thrones series, still writes with WordStar, the number one word processor of early to mid 1980’s.

One of the most common, interesting, and relatable topics suggested by these writers was distraction-free writing, (good job, Google). These writers profess the need for absolute simplicity and (often) zero need for the internet. While the latter clearly sounds terrifying to someone like me, the first part may have been exactly what I’ve been needing.

What Kind of Editors Sparked my Interest?

Freedom from distractions is clearly the priority here. When looking for word processors here, I tried to maintain these parameters:

1. Needs to work offline. I don’t care for always online services and prefer to hold the files myself.
2. Isn’t part of a program suite. I don’t need a presentation or database software, I just intend to write.
3. It needs to do one thing and do it well. On a similar note, the editor only needs to write and format my document. I don’t need publishing functionality.
4. Free and (preferably) open source. While not a proprietary abolitionist (necessarily), I do always prefer and try to work with that I can trust which typically lies in free and open source software.

With all that out of the way, what did I stumble upon?

WordTsar

WordStar was the legendary word processor of the mid-1970’s and early 80’s, but the last release of it was in 1999. Since then, a lot has changed, and getting it up and running with our current standards for document files is more than a hassle. Enter WordTsar.

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux and developed by the author Gerald Brandt, WordTsar serves as the modern day substitute for the classic tool. Note, the project still is in Alpha stages; hence, there are a number of features and shortcuts that are still missing, but for basic writing, the tool performs just as you would expect. In fact, he now claims to use it as his regular writing tool.

One of the best parts of WordTsar compared to it’s predecessor is that it supports .docx and .rtf out of the box instead of just being limited to WordStar’s proprietary file formats. You do have the option to use those though if you intend to hop back on your writing because WordTsar can struggle to recall all of your special formatting.

Overall, an absolute blast to use and kinda get the hang of, but there is a pretty steep learning curve outside of just the keybindings with things like the formatting codes you can see above. With me just trying to write for a hobby and to just get my mind on paper, the shift would be a large task to undertake. However, for professional writers or those who really want a distraction-free writing experience, WordTsar works phenomenally by carrying that more classic aesthetic and single function utility. Having it’s uniqueness really puts your mind in a different place and can greatly help with keeping yourself on track.

Wordgrinder

A little more back to basics, Wordgrinder is the pinnacle of single function word processor. Its sole focus is just on providing a distraction-free writing experience, only having bare minimal font stylization or exporting. It presets itself as a tool for just processing words: “It is not WYSIWYG. It is not point and click. It is not a desktop publisher.”

Being exclusively in the terminal, this tool has no font options which can be an inconvenience for your typical writer doing something like an assignment. This tool serves as almost a prime example of Unix idealized tool. For that, it does deserve respect; however, it’s minimalism does make it a little underwhelming to use, at least for my case. Being restricted to the more typical form of text movement (just the arrow keys or holding CTRL along with those directions) and editing has started to feel almost inefficient compared to what I more used to now or ever WordTsar’s movement from prior.

Still, for a plug in and play editor, I’d recommend Wordgrinder. If you are just needing to write and only write, it serves its function with zero learning curve. If you know how to type, you know how to use Wordgrinder.

Word Perfect

What if you need more? Wordgrinder works: does one thing and does it well. WordTsar extends that with general document formatting and customization. What if you want a near full feature set on par with modern word processor options like Word? Well Word Perfect may just be the perfect option for you! (end me)

WP (Word Perfect) became the undisputed successor of WordStar in the mid-80’s due to the sharp escalation of function the program provided and in large part to the their early support for MS-DOS while WordStar was still heavily restricted to the CP/M operating system. WP’s relevance was later usurped in a similar fashion as it’s early support for Windows was awful and Microsoft Word was their to take their place.

Honestly, this is hardly a snapshot of the whole story and I would heavily recommend reading further into the history. If you want a great source, I would highly recommend reading Almost Perfect for the full rise and fall of the program, but- again- I heavily digress.

This build of Word Perfect for Unix is a more recent adaptation of WP 8 for today’s personal computer terminal interfaces. It includes more industry standard keybindings like Wordgrinder while going above and beyond WordTsar’s formatting, such as multi column stylization, image embedding, and dynamic data referencing. It also includes printing support, expanded exporting to formats like LaTeX and Groff, and simple conveniences like word count and page spacing.

This is a full feature processor for more personal use. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you may need like office suites of today do, but for general, individual work, this really hits the nail on the head! But it also feels like just more than I need…

So What’s the Conclusion?

Why is Word Perfect more than I need if I speak so highly of it? Because I genuinely don’t need it. I use Neovim for all my writing and I’m only ever going publish things online on a blog like this. This whole experience of digging through writing tools has honestly just been a distraction from thinking about what I actually want to express.

Mostly.

I do have a passion for all these solutions. There’s a million things you do with a paper clip and more than a million ways to make the paper clip in question. The results are fascinating; the process to get, just as astounding. Honestly, the program or tool I use isn’t necessarily the problem. The issue, is that I am so interested in all this minutia.

If I were to look for a dedicated writing tool. I need something that at least emulates the current workflow and shortcuts I have while just disconnecting from the outside or heavily encouraging me to stick to my work flow. Just how I have a bedroom to sleep and an office to work, I need a computer for my everyday task and another solely for getting my ideas on paper.

Assuming I do find that flow and have an idea of what I intend to express with this site, where will writing actually take us? What got me to look up all of these old fashioned solutions instead of just thinking how I intend to present myself? Was it the histories of these technologies that took my attention? The tools themselves? Maybe how they may change my perceptions of what we have today? Maybe it is just as simple as that’s what caught my eye for the day? After all, there is something freeing about just giving the internet a piece of my mind.