Less Processing, More Writing!

Word Processing

In the 1960s, IBM coined the term “word processing” to distinguish their Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter (MT/ST) from traditional typewriting. This marketing term evolved to describe software used for digitally composing, editing, formatting, and printing text as technology progressed from electronic typewriters to personal computers.

Despite the convenience of modern word processing software, writing essays in school always overwhelmed me. Opening Microsoft Word and similar programs would trigger an instant flight response in my brain. The screen was lined with toolbars stuffed with unnecessary buttons and dropdown menus that I never used. Why force something like this for a 500-word reflection on a short reading?

The earliest “word processors” were designed to enhance document composition, not overwhelm you with crowded interfaces and rigid formats! The worst part was that there was no escape. Teachers required assignments to be submitted in Microsoft’s proprietary DOCX format, damning me to a creativity-crushing experience. The ensuing mental stress outweighed the occasional praise I received about my writing skills from my professors whenever I managed to put out a decent essay. Am I composing a thesis, I used to think, or just processing words?

I graduated university with a sour taste in my mouth for “word processing” that hindered me in future job roles. I didn’t start writing regularly again until years later when I set up a personal blog with a built-in text editor. That’s when I was introduced to an exciting new way to compose texts that healed the trauma I endured from years of “processing words” in school.

The text editor interface was minimal, yet not lacking in utility. It gives big MT/ST vibes. The revolutionary feature for me was that it saved my blogs not in a DOCX file, but in a portable plain text format called Markdown (.md).

CommonMark

Created in 2004, Markdown (or CommonMark, as the standard is officially called) might seem intimidating at first, but it’s just a simple way to format plain text for a browser. Markdown makes your writing digitally legible for 5.5 billion web surfers.

It’s an essential documentation tool for professionals in the modern world. News organizations, bloggers, and academics use it to draft articles, and it’s the standard for software documentation. You can even format your chat messages in Discord with it! Markdown is widely adopted and makes your writing portable and convertible to other formats. Whenever I wanted to try a new blog hosting solution, I could simply copy over each blog.md file for a browser-native reading experience. You can’t do that with DOCX.

Markdown isn’t just for technical people—it’s an intuitive way for anyone to write that can bring us back from the brink of ultra-processed words. Here are some reasons why I think Markdown-based writing is dope:

• It is easily convertible to other formats like PDF and HTML (even DOCX if needed).
• It future-proofs your writing.
• A whole genre of minimal text editors becomes available to use that reduces distractions and helps you focus on crafting ideas.
• Plain text puts you in control of formatting. There is no rigid document structure in markdown editors that warps pasted content like with Microsoft Word, preventing unnecessary friction in the creative process.
• Markdown is extendable with citation tools like Citation Style Language files.

A Call to Action

Institutional inertia makes educators treat digital text as “electronic paper documents” instead of embracing accessible, web-first reading experiences. The ironic part is that educational institutions pioneered information sharing on the early internet — so why do they impose overstimulating and proprietary work flows on students and workers now? With Markdown, a return to web-first work flows aligns with the Internet’s original purpose! Academia is overdue for a shift back to web-first text formatting for writing assignments.

Educators: You already require essays to be submitted via email or a learning management system — neither of which actually require DOCX. Instead of reinforcing Microsoft’s monopoly, try incentivizing an assignment submission in Markdown and offering an alternative “distraction-free” text editor to see how students respond.

Students: Regularly writing out your thoughts is a valuable workout for your brain. Try composing a writing assignment in a minimal markdown-friendly rich text editor to see if you enjoy it more than a word processor.

For fun, you could self host a blog with Bludit or publish content on a blogging site like habla.news or tumblr (tumblr’s rich text editor is my favorite).