Why Write Novels, Narrative Non-Fiction and Long-form articles in Markdown?

Markdown is a light-weight, text-based writing format. Writing novels and long articles in Markdown has some major benefits:

See this text below:

# Why write in markdown?

## An essay

Because it lets you write without distraction!

That text above is Markdown. the # means Heading 1, ## is Heading 2. This gets translated to a wide variety of formats. Read on.

Easy to write: Markdown uses simple, easy-to-read syntax that allows you to format text quickly. This makes it perfect for writing long-form content, such as novels, narrative non-fiction, articles, blog posts, and documentation. You get to focus on content rather than struggle with format. Once you’re done writing, use PublishQuickly and a standard template to transform it into a great looking upload-ready Microsoft word document. You can also create ePub, and more coming soon.

Fast: Because Markdown uses simple syntax and is just text, it is very fast to write and edit. This makes it ideal for quickly drafting and iterating on content. For authors, this can significantly speed up writing, and with the right tools, by nearly 20-30%. See this blog post on using Visual Studio to write novels.

Cross-platform compatibility: Markdown can be used on any device and in any text editor, making it a versatile choice for writing. It’s just a text file, so you are not tied to any specific tools.

Version control: Because Markdown is a plain text format, it is easy to track changes and revert to previous versions using version control systems like Git.

Easy to convert output: Markdown can be converted to other formats, such as Word, HTML, PDF. PQ uses Markdown as its input and produces the upload-ready Microsoft Word document.

Accessibility: Markdown is a semantic format, which means that it is easy for assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to interpret and understand.

Wide adoption: Markdown is widely used by writers, developers, and organizations around the world, making it a well-supported and established choice for writing.