The Best Writing Platform

I have attempted writing on dozens of platforms. I’m always seeking a minimalist, easy-to-use platform that helps me focus. I have finally found it.

Day One Journal

I have been aware of this application for about 6 years as a result of being exposed to it by YouTuber Ali Abdaal who consistently mentioned this journalling app that he used across both his iPhone and Mac.

As a recent convert to the Apple ecosystem and now having both an iPhone and a Mac I can completely understand the appeal of this application. I have taken this application to its limit and I am loving every bit of it.

1. Dark Mode

I have always been a fan of the dark mode on any applications but have always been against it on writing applications because I have found the contrast used between the dark background and the light text not soothing to the eye. Day One changed that, the clear text on the dark background allows me to write at any hour of the day and has minimised my eyes soreness even after hours of looking at the screenwriting.

2. Search Function

I love the ability to have all of my writing stored in the platform and being able to search the entirety of my writing to see if I have written about something before

3. Coloured Categories

This feature has allowed me to do all of my writing on this one platform whilst still being able to keep organised. I can have my posted articles, my ready-to-post articles, my draft, personal journals, and any other categories organised and recallable at a moment's notice. This allows me to go from doing my morning journalling to writing an article idea down to editing an article to post within one platform.

4. Minimalist Design

The platform has stripped away all of the unnecessary features associated with Microsoft Word and has made a simplistic writing platform whilst still having all of the necessary functionalities.

• Word count
• Numbered lists
• Bullet points
• Bold
• Italicized
• Headings
• Ability to export to pdf
• Edit history
• Quotations

These are the features that I use most often within my writing and Day One has them all easily accessible within the app while still maintaining a level of minimalism to support my focus when writing.

5. Entries Column

This left-hand expandable column allows you to see varying levels of preview of previous entries so that you can either enter the entry again or keep a record of the Date, Time, and Location of the entry. I have found this immensely valuable as I have been able to write about events and journal on times in my life. Due to the time coding, I have been able to corroborate these entries with dated photos and screenshots at a later date rather than having to at that moment. This means that I can work in an offline capacity and then return to the entries and make historical accuracy corrections at a later time.

Beyond these main features that I have found most beneficial for my writing the platform also houses the ability to add tags and attachments to the entries so that you can further integrate other forms of media with your entries.

Ultimately, I highly recommend this platform as it has been pivotal in allowing me to write over 43 thousand words on Medium in April and over 60 thousand words in April in a simple and focused manner rather than my past experiences on other platforms.

Give it a go, I am sure you won’t be disappointed by what it can do for you too.