Testing iA Writer

I’ve seen many bloggers praise the writing app iA Writer. Initially I didn’t quite see the point of it. Do I need another writing app? After all, both blog services I use have very good text editors, plus I often use Obsidian as a means of not only getting good markdown support but also as a means of having another copy of my written work.

I’ll soon be embarking on some lengthy writing and given that one of iA Writer’s main features is identifying the different elements of your writing style (see a screenshot of this below). I’ve been told years ago by one of my lecturers that I have a “journalistic” writing style. They didn’t necessarily mean it as a critique but it wasn’t the preferred style for academia. Over a decade later in which I am now employed in academia and I have found a pretty good balance in which I incorporate aspects of that journalistic style to help make academic writing more accessible.

Uploaded image — The different colours apply to different syntax, although the style check is likely what I would be keeping a closer eye on.

As you can see from the screenshot above (in which I have currently turned on everything), I have a number of “fillers”, which are technically unnecessary flourishes when it comes to more formal/professional language. Fine for blogs, and in moderation ok for journalistic output. I like to keep them in because I feel they make the writing a bit more personal. It is more in line with how we might talk, albeit, the way in which I talk is too fast and I end up adding additional context whilst I think about what it is I’m actually trying to get across.

I’ll continue to try it out for a bit and see if it is of use for my other writing. I’m particularly interested to see what stands out with my academic writing. Regardless of how I get on with it I'll still be using Obsidian as that is a really helpful tool for keeping on top of different ideas and how they link together.