Chapter 1: Introduction to My Writing Journey

Two years ago, I took a gamble by drafting my most lucrative Medium article directly in the online editor. Looking back, it feels quite reckless! Since then, I've experimented with various writing tools—

• Scrivener: It offers a multitude of features, but I found it overwhelming.
• Obsidian: While its simplicity and focus on plain text were appealing, I initially felt unanchored.
• Ulysses: Aesthetically pleasing, but I still need to master it fully.

After much trial and error, I've chosen Obsidian for my short-form writing, at least for the time being. I believe in using the right tool that best serves my writing goals. I draft in Obsidian and then transfer my work to Ulysses for final touches and image integration before submitting it to Medium as a draft.

Purpose

#### Headline Ideas

#### Brain Dump

#### Resources

#### Tags

Draft

I utilize folding headings to streamline my focus, allowing me to hide sections like Headline, Brain Dump, Resources, and Tags under the Purpose header. This design minimizes distractions and helps me concentrate on the Draft.

#### YAML Front Matter

The front matter serves as a handy reference. I prefer having a unique identifier (uid) for each article, reflecting its creation date and time. I automate this with a Keyboard Maestro script, but you can also set a keyboard shortcut with Obsidian’s Natural Language Dates plugin to insert the current date and time.

Tags relevant to the article can also be included in the front matter, separate from the section below where I specify five tags for the Medium publication.

Purpose

In this section, I briefly articulate what I want readers to gain from the article. It keeps me centered on helping them solve a problem or providing useful information.

Headline Ideas

It's common knowledge that your first headline won’t be the best. This section is dedicated to generating a variety of headline options. Sometimes, I might have several drafts with only headline ideas, while other times, I might have a wealth of content without clear headlines. There’s no right or wrong approach—just whatever helps you achieve a state of flow.

Brain Dump

This section is my favorite! It’s where I jot down random thoughts, potential phrases, and intriguing words like “cruft” or “flummox” that I want to weave into the narrative.

Resources

Here, I compile web links, quotes, and other materials that might assist me in the current draft. This is also where I credit images and keep SEO and ALT text information handy, ensuring I have backups if anything goes missing. I include links to past and future drafts as well, creating snapshots for major or minor revisions.

Tags

Medium allows for five tags. Here, I list the most relevant ones for this specific article.

Draft

Now, it's time to write! It's quite fitting that I'm composing this piece in the Drafts section of the template I'm discussing.

In Summary

In both writing and other aspects of my digital life, I value plain text, simplicity, and flexible structures for organization. This writing template fulfills all those criteria. Should any section require more elaboration or lead to another topic, I can create holding links like this: [[new story]] and expand upon them later.

Will I continue to use this template indefinitely, or will it evolve into something else in the future? Only time will tell, but for now, I'm focused on enjoying the creative process.