New way of blogging
Hello Indies!
I spent the last week or so building myself a tool for writing "blog" for myself. I had one goal in mind, and that was to build a tool for myself, which would allow me to very easily and quickly write things to my "blog" on-the-go. Sort of like a note-taking app, but kind of like a blog.
I have always found it hard to start writing in this today's normal way, which is to sacrifice many hours per post, plan and proof-read etc. I also hate the whole concept of writing just to please some crawlers while trying to achieve popularity by the norms that are set by the search engines. I just want to write stuff, on-the-go as I come up with ideas or things I want to publish.
As I have tried writing a blog a few times, my wife, who is usually the one who reads my stuff on the first hand, said some time ago that my writing style is more like a prose. A prose? Never heard of that before, but apparently I should be aware as that is thought to us in elementary school. Well, I studied a while about proses and indeed found some things I identified myself with.
Ok so as the Indie Hacker that I am, I found myself from the editor not too long after investigations. I have now a sort of MVP at https://prosepage.com - which aims to help people like me who would like to just start writing stuff fast, without worrying too much about SEO or writing style.
What do you guys think about the current standard for writing blog posts and articles? Do you generally enjoy writing according to todays SEO principles and the ways of writing? Are you familiar with prose?
Let me know what you think.
Interesting idea.
I agree that it can be hard to blog because of how time-consuming it is.
Maybe it could be thought of as a longer form version of Twitter?
What do you mean by "prose" exactly? I understand that's the regular way of writing as opposed to "verse" which the way poems are written (this text I'm writing right now is written in prose)
Anyway, I do find coincidence on what you're saying. I personally don't blog that often (or if at all) The thinking of having to conform to "conventional" practices and adhere to certain style creates a bit of anxiety in me. What if what I'm writing is seems boring? What if my grammar is terrible? What if the content is all over the place?
Fortunately I came across this blog https://manuelmoreale.com/ which is is a great source of inspiration for a different type social media content. Way simpler, no SEO goals, personal.
I also can relate to the "graveyard" folder situation. Many projects started and never finished because of lack of time and/or lack of definition of a MVP.
So, as a way of applying what I've learn here in IH about creating and MVP and keep it minimum I created a clone of manumorale.com blog, but this one could be edited in situ. Unfortunately I also wanted to experiment with "extreme" serverlessness and the editor only runs locally and publishes the generated static site, so no online demo, only the final output: https://manu.oscarryz.now.sh/
So that's my MVP for the same goal as yours, create something for myself.
I'm sorry if I'm just talking about myself. What I meant to say with all of this, is yes! I like your idea and I'm myself going to keep exploring on these different ways to do things.
The concept of prose is quite new to me, but how I interpreted it and what meaning I gave to the word itself is a more free and flowing way of writing.
I can believe the graveyard could be quite common thing within IH community.
I like the minimal design of your blog a lot.
I've never heard of the word prose before either, but I like it.
I was consistently blogging for about 5 years up until a couple of years ago. I know what you mean. It never felt like a chore to me to get my thoughts down, but it became a chore because other things got in my way of just the writing.
Lately vlogging has kind of filled that void for me. As general lounge chats are becoming more popular on YouTube, and I find it freeing to just talk without a script. Although there's still a bit of chore work in the video editing after recording, but thankfully I'm enjoying that at the moment. But that probably won't last. So I think prosepage is a good idea and I took a look.
The intro page reeled me in. At first I thought it was underwhelming, but you have a good writing style I could see from just those few paragraphs, and about halfway I "got it" and signed in.
One thing is that I tend to use my notes app for a lot of messy unedited thoughts, so there might have to be another value prop in addition to just writing. Like perhaps viewing other proses as a feed. But it doesn't need to take away from the raw minimal editor. Good job.
You can also take a look at the "blog" I have now started writing for myself with this tool - https://prosepage.com/qgEh8KknH8
Nice!
I also built this tool in a way that I could link the prosepage to a domain name - which I did now for my personal site: https://prose.codemysoul.com/
I really resonate with your approach to writing, Codemysoul! The traditional blogging model can feel constraining with its SEO demands and time-consuming processes.
What you're describing about prose writing is spot on. Prose is essentially written language in its natural flow, as opposed to poetry or verse that follows strict metrical patterns. Your wife made an insightful observation about your writing style!
There are actually different prose styles that writers gravitate toward. Some prefer what's called "Orwellian prose" or the "clear pane of glass" approach—simple, direct language where the writing itself is almost invisible to the reader. Others prefer more "florid prose," sometimes called the "stained glass window" approach, where the language itself is part of the art. It sounds like you've found your natural voice without forcing it into SEO templates.
Your tool reminds me of how writers are increasingly seeking ways to bypass conventional publishing norms. Many successful bloggers are now focusing on writing for humans rather than algorithms—some have built impressive audiences (200k+ monthly visits) without traditional SEO practices.
I've found that developing good prose often comes from regular practice with words. I enjoy using word games like Canuckle as daily writing exercises—they help sharpen vocabulary and develop that concise writing style that works well for on-the-go content. If you're interested in adding some word play to your routine, <a href="https://canucklewordgame.com/answer/">Daily Canuckle Answers</a>can be a fun way to keep your writing muscles limber between prose entries.
For your tool, I like the minimal interface that puts writing front and center. You might consider adding features like adjustable rhythm markers or sentence variety analysis—good prose often mixes short, punchy sentences with longer flowing ones to create engaging rhythm.
Have you considered offering different "modes" for different prose styles? Perhaps one minimalist mode for quick thoughts and another with more formatting options for longer pieces?