Show HN: Tomoshibi – A writing app where your words fade by firelight
Tomoshibi is a unique writing app designed to combat writer's block by making previously written words gradually fade, preventing endless self-editing. This 'Show HN' submission stands out for its thoughtful approach to a common creative challenge, offering a gentler alternative to high-pressure writing tools. It appeals to the Hacker News audience with its elegant solution to a human problem, built with minimal technology (vanilla JS) and a clear focus on user experience.
The Lowdown
Tomoshibi is a browser-based writing application created to help authors overcome the paralyzing habit of constant rewriting. The developer, having struggled with a decade-long attempt to write a novel due to an inability to stop editing, designed Tomoshibi as a solution that fosters forward momentum rather than punishing pauses.
- Problem Identification: The creator found that always seeing past text led to obsessive editing, and existing 'delete-on-stop-typing' apps were too stressful.
- Core Mechanic: Tomoshibi allows users to write on a dark screen where older lines subtly fade. This fading isn't instant but occurs only when a new line is started, providing a brief window for minor edits to the current and previous line without enabling extensive revision spirals.
- Design Philosophy: Named after the Japanese word for 'small light in the dark,' the app offers just enough visibility to focus on the immediate task without the distraction of past prose, promoting 'permission' to write rather than 'punishment' for stopping.
- Persistence & Access: All written content is saved to the browser's local storage, ensuring durability across sessions, and can be exported as a .txt file at any time. A separate reader view is available for reviewing completed work.
- Technical Simplicity: The application is built using vanilla HTML, CSS, and ES modules, with no accounts, servers, or complex build steps, emphasizing a lightweight and private user experience. A native Mac app with file system integration is also in development.
In essence, Tomoshibi serves as a digital companion for long-form writing, encouraging writers to keep progressing by strategically limiting their ability to backtrack, thus shifting focus from perfection to creation.