Writing fiction with Atom

I’m giving Atom a try this year for writing short stories. After fighting with other tools, I feel most comfortable with code editors, so why not try it?

Things that I like about Atom:

• Flexible Tree View: I can simply drag or open any folder in Atom and it will display the files on the Tree View. No need to setup a library or be limited to a set of folder(s) each time I use the app.
• Plain Markdown files: Unlike Scrivener or Ulysses, all my writing is stored in plain Markdown files, which is the easiest, most compatible form of storing data. At least I think so. This also allows me to use the files directly for generating static websites via Jekyll, Github Pages or, my preferred, Blot.
• Minimal UI: Small feature set, and distraction-free UI.

I have been using Atom to write Markdown on and off for a long time. Here are a few things I had to configure to have a good writing experience.

Add necessary packages

• Add Markdown grammar
  • Plugin: language-markdown
  • Check Soft Wrap At Preferred Line Length
• Set the default language to Markdown
  • Plugin: default-language
• Add word count to the status bar
  • Plugin: wordcount
• Add file-specific icons
  • Plugin: file-icons

Configure core packages

• Enable autosave
  • Core Package: autosave
• Preview Markdown directly using ctrl-shift-m
  • Core package: markdown-preview
• Add to the spell checker the markdown grammar text.md
  • Core package: spell-check
• [Optional] Disable github package for a cleaner status bar
  • Core Package: github

Bonus

• Learn to use bookmarks
  • Core Package: bookmarks

Update [2020-01-25]

• For centering editor while writing markdown
  • Core Package: typewriter
• For distraction free writing install Zen (alternative to typewriter)
  • Core Package: zen
  • Shortcut: Cmd+Ctrl+Z
• For writing style validation
  • Core Package: linter-write-good
• For highlighting the current line in the editor
  • Core Package: highlight-line
• For “bonzo” writing. I have not tried this but it looks fun
  • Core Package: atom-hemingway
• Spell Checking by pulling up a menu of possible corrections
  • Shortcut: Cmd+Shift+;
• Preview Markdown by toggling Preview mode
  • Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+M

The articles below inspired me, and helped me get started on the right track:

• A Plain Text Workflow for Academic Writing with Atom
• My 7+ favourite atom editor plugins.
• Making Atom (even more) awesome — My Setup
• Writing in Atom
• How I Atom (for prose)
• How writers can get work done better with Git