Documents are Writing Desk’s home for shorter writing: essays, blog posts, newsletters, articles and notes. Each one is a plain markdown file (.md), so it opens in any other app and goes wherever you need it.
Create a document
- On the home screen, click Projects, then open the Documents tab.
- Click New Document.
Writing Desk creates an untitled document in your Writing Desk Documents folder and opens it straight away. Start typing: when you close it, Writing Desk offers to name the file from its first line.
You can also press ⌘N, or click New File on the home screen, to create a document and choose where to save it yourself.
Shape it as you write
Use headings to structure your piece. Choose them from the Normal menu in the toolbar, press ⌥⌘1 to ⌥⌘3, or type #, ## or ### and a space at the start of a line.
Every heading appears in the Outline at the top of the sidebar. Click one to jump to it.
Keep your sources to hand
Pin the files, folders and links you’re drawing on in References, at the bottom of the sidebar. Click +, choose what to pin, and it stays one click away whenever you open this document.
Keep your documents organised
The Documents tab is where all your documents live.
- Favourites lists the documents you’ve opened recently or marked as favourites, so the ones you’re working on are always at the top. Click Add favourite to add one.
- Documents shows your Writing Desk Documents folder. Click Add folder to create a new folder, or Add file to create a new document, and drag files and folders to reorganise them.
Get feedback before you publish
When your draft is ready, open Analysis and choose AI Editor for feedback built for non-fiction. See Get editorial feedback on non-fiction.
Writing Desk saves your document automatically as you go, so there’s nothing to remember.