The Era of Building Things
How I put together my own writing-web-tool
I write, write a lot. I make living mostly on writing, whether it is a blog post or marketing email. I needed distraction free, simple editor which will support my efficiency.
Distraction Free Editor
WriteMachine is mainly for the purpose of prototyping articles which is the way I create a written content. By prototyping I mean writing fast in the state of flow. Then moving content to the Google Docs or Hackpad and working on details.
I have not found anything suitable for myself so I decided to put together own, simple — client site — solution, WriteMachine really is. Hopefully someone will also benefits from the fruit of this overnight project.
How WriteMachine works
Every single character being typed is saved to the local storage of the browser. Even if a computer is shut down, after coming back to the WriteMachine content is resolved and the Author will have her text on the screen back, right away. It works like this on every modern browser which supports HTML5.
In fact WriteMachine is a set of java script scripts (sic!) which work in the browser, your browser. Whole app holds one bucket of Amazon’s S3. No server side code, no data base.
Just DIY
I was always freaking out about learning new skills, building things and in general making things happen. I am not a programmer nor coder, and I do not know java script but I decided to do it by myself right after watching Josh Kaufman’s — inspiring — TEDx talk.
There is so many resources out there — i.e. Unheap — that help building things out of jQuery. In fact this process is more like putting together LEGO set, this days.
Since I have become a father the resources of free time are limited but managed well allow to achieve even more. Overnight projects are the key to building new skills.
Skills can be built upon the knowledge which is all over. We can build whatever we want to, so do not wait for permission. Do it yourself.
Free Tools and technology behind WriteMachine
- Name Cheap — one of the best domain service I’ve ever used (affiliate link)
- AWS S3 — Amazon Web Services
- Bitbucket — awesome GIT repository
- Kuler — fantastic tool for color schemes from Adobe
- Popline editor
- TextWrangler
Thank you for reading. It will means a lot to me if you press “Recommend” button and — if possible — share it within your circle of friends.
~ Wojciech Szywalski / @wojteksz
