Markdown is enough

For years I chased better writing tools. Richer editors, more buttons, cleverer ways to arrange the page. None of it made the writing any better.

What I actually needed was a heading, some emphasis, the occasional list, and a way to link out. Markdown gives me all of that with a handful of plain marks I can type without lifting my hands from the keys.

The constraint is the gift. With fewer choices about how a paragraph looks, I spend that attention on what the paragraph says. Markdown is enough, and most of the time enough is the right amount.