I am typing this post on my iPad using Elements by Second Gear Software, which is a plain text editor.

Elements links with DropBox so if I need to tweak the post later on my Mac I will open it in ByWord, which is another plain text editing app.

Windows users don’t seem to have access to anything as elegant as these two apps, but can easily open and edit plain text docs in WordPad or (my personal choice) Notepad++ (which is very functional and also boasts green credentials – apparently due to using less CPU capacity than Microsoft Word!).

For formatting, links and lists I use Markdown, which is a very basic text formatting language. For example to add emphasis to a phrase in Markdown you just use an asterisk symbol like *this*.

Most blogging platforms allow you to post in Markdown and will automatically convert the Markdown document into HTML. This means that you have total control over the formatting of your text (rather than relying on a WYSIWYG editor, but without having to learn the detailed HTML tags (or equally important on the iPad, without having to type them).

The process is even easier if you use TextExpander to automatically add in Markdown syntax for links. For example, to add a link I have copied from Safari I simply type “mdl” and hit the spacebar and TextExpander adds in the full Markdown link including the URL from the clipboard. All I have to do is add in the anchor text.

All of this means that I don’t have to worry about using or finding an iPad app for the blogging platforms I use or needing an Internet connection so that I can log in and compose a post online. It is by far the best workflow I have found for iPad blogging.

However, there are a few other advantages to the plain text approach.

If I decide that I want to use a different editor on one or more platforms then there are no concerns about my data being tied into one platform. Any text editor can open the files on any platform. This should also avoid any problems in the future as I am not tied to any proprietary platform.

Forgetting about styles and formatting really allows you to focus on the important part: what you are actually writing. Some documents do require the formatting options which are built into MS Word (legal contracts for one), but for notes, articles and blog posts the formatting can be an unnecessary distraction.

You can always use Markdown to add some formatting or let someone else deal with it in Word at a later stage, but plain text is a great way of just getting the content onto the page.

It is easy to see plain text writing as a compromise which is forced on you as a result of using the iPad (and to extent this was the driver for me). However, I have found myself using it more and more across different platforms and embracing the distinction between the writing process and the formatting / typesetting operation.