writerdeck and my current writing setup
If you've checked out my /now page recently, listed under current interest is "trying to figure out how to make a writerdeck". What the heck is a writerdeck? Well, it's basically any device that is solely dedicated to writing. You can read more about writerdecks here: writerDeck.org
You're probably asking yourself, why not just use a laptop? And sure, you could do that. But for me, I wanted a device that would allow me to only access a word process—no other apps to distract me. Just a simple, distraction free place to write. I also like to tinker around with stuff and this seems like a cool thing to spend my time on.
Over the past few weeks, I've mulled over what my writerdeck would look like and how it would function. There are so many cool projects out there, each built with unique parts and devices. I love browsing the writerDeck subreddit to see everyone's creations. One person whose work I particularly like is Un Kyu Lee. He's created different iterations of a writerdeck called the Micro Journal, all open source so that you, too, can make your very own1. He's recently created a very beautiful Microjournal that is honestly what I would love my own writerdeck to look like2. The cool thing about his projects is that he makes everything open source, so with some technical know how and patience, you can make it on your own.
In the meantime, I've cobbled together my own set up that is not nearly as elegant as the Micro Journal Rev.7 but still is perfectly functional. Currently, I've set up a 10th gen iPad that I no longer use and repurposed it to be a single use device. I SSH into a linux virtual machine that I previously set up with WordGrinder and Dropbox service.
my scrappy set up. keeb has Akko rosewood switches.
In order to achieve this, I first set up my linux virtual machine on my server. Set up WordGrinder3 and set up dropbox. I found an app called iSH (iSH) that runs a Linux shell on your iOS device. I also enabled guided access mode on the iPad so that when you use it, you can only use that application. In iSh, I enabled OpenRC in order to install and start the SSH service. Once that was done, I SSH'd into my linux machine from the iPad and launched WordGrinder. And that's it! The keyboard is connected via Bluetooth to the iPad itself.
My workflow goes like this: I write whatever I need to write, save my file and export it to markdown. If I need to do any formatting—like adding links, footnotes, or photos—I'll bring the markdown file into Obsidian4.
Before this, I was using Obsidian on the iPad, which worked just fine. However, I found myself stopping my writing to fiddle with this or that—there are so many plugins! I wanted something even more distraction free, at least for drafts.
While this setup works for me now, I'd love to build something a little more streamlined and a little more personal to me.
I'm curious to know: what would be your ideal writing set up?
send me an email.
WordGrinder is a Unicode-aware character cell work processor that runs in a terminal. GitHub - davidgiven/wordgrinder↩
Obsidian is where I do all of my note-taking, typically using a daily note to capture all of the cool stuff I've found and thoughts through each day. Obsidian - Sharpen your thinking↩