Excel changed the world by allowing users to format and beautify data, although this is often at the cost of clarity. This trend is worse with Microsoft Word, where users are bombarded with formatting options. That massive ribbon at the top of the screen is a siren calling to the user to mess about with styles and borders and colours, when they should be concentrating on writing.
Historically, writers wrote the content; typists dealt with the formatting, and the limitations of typewriters meant that the writing remained clear. Today, everyone formats their own documents, but most don’t know what they are doing. They might write good words but present them in documents that are cluttered, making the content hard-to-read. Even Word’s Focus mode fails to eliminate distractions because that ribbon is just one click away.
When I write, I prefer plain text applications. They strip away distractions because there is no formatting ribbon, allowing me to focus purely on content. I write my books and client reports in plain text, only converting them to Word for final formatting.
By focusing on content first and formatting later, you can enhance both the clarity and impact of your writing. Embrace the constraints of plain text; it’s liberating and improves your creativity.
Try it: Write in plain text. Focus on your words. Format later.
