FREE writing software | Longform and shortform

there are loads of writing apps out

there but I personally use obsidian for

my short form and long form writing as

it's a free application with so much

extensibility that you almost have

unlimited options for customization I've

created a book writing vault which is

essentially a big folder on my computer

which can contain all of my projects I'm

going to go through a couple of

workflows inside of obsidian to get you

started but like I say you can move in

so many different directions but going

to the top left making sure I'm in the

files core plugin I'm going to push on

the new note button and it's going to

create a file I'm going to title it

outline and now I can write my outline

in here I can use bullet points I've got

act one two three with nested bullet

points in maybe you want headers in

which case push hash for heading 1 space

and then heading and then do the same

for the next one then go over to the

right side and open up the right sidebar

so expand that and then at the top you

can see outline of outline that's the

outline of the outline file and you can

see there's the three headings that

we've added and when I click on it it

takes me to that heading so this is like

a table of contents that works for each

file maybe this is a short story so I'm

going to write everything in one file

I've got part one as a heading one and

chapter one of part one as a heading two

and you can see that's shown in the

outline and moving down we've got

chapter one chapter two underneath part

one and then part two heading one

chapter three chapter four then if maybe

I want to change things around so

chapter three is actually going to be in

part one I can drag it in the outline

drag it up and move it into part one so

now I've got one two three then part two

and chapter four maybe you want to have

an outline file and a writing file so

I'm gonna go back to this tab that we

had to start with create a new file call

it script you can see now in the files

core plugin we have an outline file and

a script file all on the same book so

I'm going to create a folder push enter

and now I'm going to drag the outline

and the script into the folder so

essentially I have a project with the

outline script and this is where you can

start mimicking things from other

writing tools scriveness one that comes

to mind so when I right click go new

note research and then as obsidian is

based on panels so we can see this

workspace we've got the left sidebar

right sidebar and we have two tabs in

one panel or pane I actually want to see

the outline script at the same time so I

can click on the tab go to the right and

now I've split the screen and then going

to hold Ctrl on my keyboard and left

click on Research which opens research

up as a new Pane and tab I'm going to

drag this down so now I can see research

and script with the outline on the side

and I'm going to highlight all of this

cart and then paste nice and simple just

like every other word processor cut copy

paste into the script so now in if I

click inside of the script you can see

there's part one part two and all the

chapters when I click an outline it's

got act one two three I know some people

that use scrivener and use other writing

tools like to focus in on whatever

chapter it is they're writing so if I

want to focus on chapter one for example

but it's all in this one file I have two

up options really the first option is to

create a new file so new note chapter

one and then I write the chapter one

inside of this file and then I can show

that inside of the script so I have

chapter one which is where I'm writing

then I've got part one chapter one

inside of the script I'm going to remove

this line and then I'm going to link

chapter one so two square brackets

chapter one and now I've created a link

to chapter one I can then show it by

putting an exclamation mark at the start

so now I've got chapter one translated

it's a technical word that basically

means it's being shown inside of this

script so I've got chapter one being

written in this file and shown inside

the script then any changes made to this

chapter so adding a change will also

change it inside of the script however

there's no way to edit it inside of the

script but you can go to the link so

open link and it opens up that chapter

for writing the other option is to use

something called a community plugin so

bottom left settings go to community

plugins and then I'm going to turn on

community plugins and these are code

scripts that have been checked by the

obsidian team built by the community

that are installed on the device that

you're using so browse and zoom is the

plugin I'm going to use here but there

are 900 plus plugins to explore and use

so install enable if I click on options

you can now see I'm back in the settings

and it's down in a community plugins

option and this plugin literally lets

you zoom in when clicking on the bullet

or heading so I'm in the script file and

if I look at chapter one there's there's

no button if I right click again there's

still no button to zoom in however if I

go to the ribbon on the left side go

down to the bottom you can see open

command palette there is a keyboard

hotkey as well which is control p and

inside this command panel if I type Zoom

I can zoom in and zoom out of the app

which are default options but we also

have this Zoom Community plugin hotkey

and this one as well which lets me zoom

in so that's control comma and zoom out

Ctrl shift comma if I put my cursor on

the chapter one heading and push that

hotkey control comma it will Zoom me in

so you can see I'm in script part 1

chapter 1 and that's where I'm zoomed

into if I go to part one it's now going

to show me just part one go to script

and now it's part one and part two and

you can do this with as many headings as

you want all the way to a level six

heading so you can have six different

levels of heading and then zoom in and

zoom out of any of those levels which

gives you a lot of flexibility going

into the outline you get the same option

with bullet points so I'm currently in

this act one bullet point I'm using that

hotkey and now I'm in outline act one

and it's showing me just these bullet

points then just like as you would

expect when I add the point inside of

this outline it's added it to the

original file so there's no changes

there looking at the ribbon again on the

left side the third one down in the

default is create new canvas and when I

click on this it gives me this canvas

this unlimited canvas I'm gonna name it

canvas for the moment and you can see

it's created it outside of the book

folder so I'm going to drag it into the

book folder and this is like mind

mapping so you can drag a new card in

this is a blank card it's not directed

anywhere you can just start typing away

for ideas you can drag a media element

in which could be a video a picture or

anything like that so if you've got

characters maybe you want to drag and

bring in the images for the character in

here and then you also get the option to

drag any note from the Vault so if I

drag up here it then gives me the option

between these notes alternatively to

make my life a little bit easier I'm

going to drag this script in from the

files and plonk it straight in so now I

can see the script and I can edit the

script inside of this canvas mind

map-esque View and clicking on this card

I'm going to delete it move this one

over hold Ctrl on my keyboard and then

drag click with the mouse let go of

click and now I've duplicated this card

right click narrow to heading and I'm

going to narrow to part one and now it's

only showing me part 1 inside of this

card and right click narrator heading

part two and now only being shown part

two of this card so you could be parts

or chapters or subtractors maybe have

characters details outlines you can add

anything inside of this canvas and if I

zoom out it goes very very fast so you

can map out your entire story your

novels everything inside of this canvas

giving you the ability to add colors so

when you click on a card you can then

add a color alternatively you could

highlight both cards you can align them

you can group them so maybe you have a

group of technology or a group of magic

or a group of ideas for science research

anything like that so you can have a

color group say this is the red color

group and then inside of here we have

two parts and these are both going to be

yellow for whatever reasons so you can

map this out make it look any way you

want all with the ability to when you

click into then add text so I'm adding

words in chapter 4 then if I bring up

the script so if I control click on

script brings up as a new tab drag this

over you can see in chapter 4 adding

words so if I hold middle click on my

mouse and drag I can move the canvas go

back into chapter four and then remove

this adding words line it will disappear

from the canvas as well because they are

linked going into the settings and

having a look at the core plugins we can

type word count and you can see there is

a word count core plugin which counts

the amount of words inside of a file and

puts it in the status bar down the

bottom right so currently inside of this

script we have 218 characters and 34

words however if I highlight just this

sentence it doesn't show me the word

count and this is where Community

plugins can come in handy and so better

word count install enable options and

there are other options inside of better

word count than just changing it so we

can collect some statistics so daily

word count page word account we can also

change some of the things shown in the

status bar and we can look at words

characters sentences footnotes citations

pages and files inside of obsidian so

that could be a project that could be

the entire Vault it's up to you because

it lets you look through the current

note a daily metric or total in Vault

and then you can customize the shows so

prefix text is text that's placed before

the count and suffix text is words after

so we've got words being put after the

metric of words in the current note and

then for this one we have the metric

counter of characters in the current

note with characters after the number

and you can add more and more items to

this or reset them all the way back to

default and then there's the alternative

status bar so when you're not editing a

markdown file in for example the canvas

view it will then show this status bar

which you could use for file counters or

what I personally do is go words total

in Vault and change that to daily

metrics so this is a daily word count of

all the words that I've written and then

I'll change the suffix text to words and

now down the bottom we can see two

different versions one of them when I

highlight this text changes so we've got

five words highlighted with 28

characters and this one is the core

plugin you could keep them both there

but my preference is to remove the call

plugin because better word count does a

better job so core plugins word count

and then toggle it off but the main

drawback of using one file or a couple

of files inside of a folder is that it

becomes very hard to navigate very large

projects this is where the second

workflow comes in so Community plugins

browse and the long form plugin install

enable options and there are loads of

settings in here which we will go

through very slowly but if we jump out

you can see there is another icon in

this sidebar we have the search call

plugin the bookmarks for bookmarking a

section A heading a file a block or

anything like that and then we have long

form and this is a different version of

the fioscope plugin we were using a

second ago so I'm going to drag the

files down so we can still see what's

going on but we can also see long form

now looking at the settings you can see

show scene numbers inside the scene tab

so if I tick this on we'll see the scene

numbers but in order to show that we

actually need a project so for this

example I'm going to create a new folder

call it long form and then I'm going to

right click and you see create long form

project and this is where we get two

options a single file project or a

multi-file project so we're going to go

single to start with single project

create and what it's done is created a

single file project and it's created a

file called single project and added

some information at the top of this file

to essentially tell long form what's

going on and now you can see in the long

form tab all of the information of the

project so the same principles apply if

I add a heading inside of this file we

have an introduction main story conclude

version and it shows up in the outline

panel on the right side we can move that

way we want but we also see project

forwards so the long form project plugin

is also counting the words per project

so you can see we've got eight words

inside this project now in the bottom

right we have 16 words 25 characters and

then eight words for the project the 16

words is including all of these words

and that's the better word count plug-in

whereas the project is looking at just

the words inside of the file then as

this is a single project there is only

one scene inside of the long form

project so there's no numbers that can

be shown which means we need a

multi-file long form project so right

click create long form project

multi-project and create and it's done

the same thing but it's created a folder

with an index file inside of it and the

index file has all of that information

for long form to look at so you can see

format scenes title multi-project

because that's the title workflow

default we'll go through that a second

scene folder that's where the scenes are

going to be stored name the scenes and

then ignored files but we also have in

the long form tab scenes so adding an

introduction enter and now you can see

there's the one introduction and what

it's done is added a file inside of the

folder main story enter and now we have

another file inside of the folder and

that is scene two so going back into the

settings if I turn this toggle off you

can see in the background the numbers

have disappeared turn this on it now

reappears I keep this on because if I

want the main story there and I add two

scenes underneath it one's in the hill

and one's in the car so I can see two

one two two and that's ordered them

inside of the panel and I don't have to

worry about that inside of the files

plugin because I mean I don't know

what's going on here because any and it

could get massive if you've got 30 plus

chapters and where this information is

stored is inside of that index file you

can see here it is Introduction main

story Hill and Castle the compile step

I'll go through in a second but

underneath we then have the word count

and session counts and this does exactly

what it says you can show the word count

in the status bar that's the word count

down the bottom which we can turn on or

off start a new writing session so it

will count the words that you've written

for a project and you can turn that on

or off to default start on a new day

there is a session word count goal so if

we come out of the settings click

project you can see the word count goal

is currently 500 and we've got zero

inside of the project so far so if we go

to the single project we change the long

form from multi-project to single

project have a look we've got one word

typed because I just typed a word and if

we go a b you can see it's adding words

to the file and it's adding words to the

word count because deleting the words

and then adding it again a the I've

already typed A and B so it's only

staying at two I could then go to C it's

now going to change to three because

I've now added three words to the file

this goal can apply to words written

across all the projects each project

individually or each scene etc etc I

personally don't use these because I do

writing in lots of different projects

all over the place so it just makes

sense to use better word account because

it does the job anyway but you may want

a little notification which this plugin

does give you I'm personally not that

fast I know how many words I'm writing

and how many words I've written but it's

something that you may want to use you

can remove words from the account using

the count deletion so you can check that

and then when you delete Words it will

remove the number from the goal rather

than it staying at three when I delete

the C it would go back to two but again

I don't use this much then we've got the

sessions to keep so this is just a log

of how many sessions it will keep and

that will keep it in the long form

settings so you don't have to worry

about it which is my preference but if

we go back to the index file of the

multi-project change this to the

multi-project we now have these scenes

all in here we have the project in here

but maybe we want to use a draft and I

only draft multi-projects because single

projects are really small they're just

one file so I can push on the plus

button I then want to copy all scenes

because I want all of the different

scenes so all of those chapters to be

copied over and it's going to be version

one and you can see you are creating a

new draft with copied scenes from your

current draft which is this one so

create now when I look I'm in version

one and if I click up you can see the

word count has changed the goal has

changed because this is a draft version

one is a different draft so there's zero

words in this project so far because

we've got version one as a new folder so

we've got multi-project and then version

one is a new draft of this multi-project

Castle Hill index introduction main

story they've all been copied over so I

now have an introduction inside of

version one and an introduction inside

of multi-project and I can put them side

by side and this is where I would do my

comparison writing and of course because

of draft is essentially just a new

folder you can have as many drafts as

you want you could have 23 drafts with

all the different versions of chapters

or just have a version for certain

chapters if you want to do a chapter

over and over again you can instead push

the plus button and then just copy a

specific file and now having added a few

words to each of these scenes

introduction you can see down the bottom

we've got four words in the scene 15

teen words in the project go across we

go forwards in the scene 15 in the

project then we've got seven words in

this scene and 15 words still in the

project which shows inside the long form

plugin as well if you want to see it

over there rather than bottom right and

then at the end you can compile all of

these files into one so push the compile

button I'm going to drag the files over

here so you can see everything that's

going on and this is where you can

customize the configuration to whatever

publishing specs you need formatting etc

etc this can get as complicated as you

want so maybe you want to grab some help

on that for using JavaScript files to do

some really complicated things or use

Pandora or something else like that but

at the end of the day it's just a file

so strip the front matter if you're

using front matter most people won't

need to remove links which I'll go

through in a minute pre-pen text which

is basically just adding the scenes

together concatenate the text which

joins all of these files together one

after the other and then save as a note

which makes it into a note and at the

moment it's called man manuscript.md you

can add a step but we're just going to

leave it at the default because that's

all you really need compile and you see

it's made a manuscript file in long form

version one and there's the first scene

the second scene the third scene and the

fourth scene we're obsidian for me

starts to become really powerful is when

you start using its other features and

there are loads of them but the main one

that I use so I'm going to create a new

folder I'm going to call it information

I'm going to add a couple of files in so

I've added two characters myself and

John my podcast co-host and then a

location London and when I'm writing

inside of the story I can link these

together so Danny and John were in

London for a nice trip and because I've

linked them I can actually look at the

information in the file while I'm

writing so if there's information inside

of this file I need for example John is

a human Danny is a cyborg and I can't

remember which one's which I can see it

straight away because I can hold Ctrl

and just look at the file to make my

life a little bit easier I'm gonna go to

the settings go to the page preview core

plugin and actually in the editing view

turn this off so I don't need to hold

Ctrl I can just hover over the link and

it shows me Danny is a cyborg John is a

human okay we're safe this means I can

keep character information inside of a

character file location information

inside of a location file and all the

information inside of its specific

spaces but when I'm writing the story I

don't lose any context because I can

quickly jump straight in then when I go

to the character file in the backlinks

so at the moment it's in the side panel

you can see exactly where I've used

myself inside of the story it's

currently in the main story maybe inside

of the castle scene Jon is the king of

the castle and I can't remember when I'm

inside of my characters who is the king

of the castle I can go on to Danny nope

dany's in the main story go to John oh

wait John's in the main story but he's

also in the castle and I can see John is

the king of the castle now for

convenience I prefer to keep these

collapsed so I can only see the file

name rather than the context so when I

have loads of chapters I only have to

expand and the chapter that I'm looking

at rather than seeing everything because

when you say names they appear quite a

lot and the other thing is I'm going to

go to settings go to the backlinks core

plugin settings and backlink in

documents so I'm going to take that on

I'm going to close everything down

because obsidian needs to update and now

I have the backlinks at the bottom of

the file if I bring some of these back

up again you can see at the bottom of

the file all of the links all of those

backlinks that were in the side pane are

now at the bottom so I can scroll down

and see what's going on and again I can

search for this which is really nice so

I can see the file see the scene see the

settings see the plot that this person

is involved in and just for confirmation

you can see remove links is the second

part of the compile of the default

compiled so when I compile this again

you can see inside the manuscript we

have the new manuscript but where I've

said Danny John John they are all just

words rather than the links that you

actually see inside of the scenes I am

just brushing the surface with obsidian

here but hopefully it's giving you a bit

of insight as to why I use obsidian over

things like scrivener Microsoft Word and

Google Docs