Show HN: Write For Your Reader, a weekend project for nested writing

by aaron5 • 6 years ago

3 3 6 years ago

sharps_xp• 6 years ago

too late at night to lookup but i’ve seen this idea before around HN and I myself am drawn to taking a whack at building a tool like this. this is one of those ideas where whatever I can imagine as a UI almost immediately feels not good enough and it isn’t one of those UIs where you can iterate your way to a good solution.

after thinking about this for on and off i can’t think of anything better than nested lists combined with detail/summary in HTML

aaron52• 6 years ago

Hey! Thanks so much for taking a look at that! I don't know what to do with it, so even your little comment helps - it was a fun weekend project, and I think the technique itself (nested writing) is strong for the future.

But who wants this tool? I don't know!

As far as UI, I really don't know much in that direction either. So, I just went for simple simple.

Anyways, thank you so much again for having a look! My first post on HN and you commented on it. Very gracious of you.

aaron52• 6 years ago

Maybe I should have posted this when I first submitted, but...

The history of writing is in ink. The static page encloses the writer to his audience. But what if his audience is broader, wittier, funnier, smarter, or sexier than its central mass? Alas they are sacrificed to the writer's stomach.

But by nested writing, now he can write for all. Those who want to delve can click the end of his paragraph; those who don't can just continue.

Especially in technical writing this has use. For example, about 50% of Github readme information goes right over my head; another 40% is boring slog that I already know. It's the same for you. In a knowledge community we only actively learn from a sliver of the enlightening rays, and to find that sliver we bumble through a spectrum we can't see. Yet, by nesting paragraphs, a single writer can communicate on each wavelength: from specific to lay.

Show HN: Write For Your Reader, a weekend project for nested writing

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