HackerTube.dev

Emacs For Writers

thoughtbot · 153.3K views · 2015-10-07 · 1:01:06

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

Science writer Jay Dixit explains how he uses Emacs as a non-programmer to write, edit and research more productively. He shows his plain-text writing workflow and what led him from tools like Scrivener to Emacs.

On Hacker News

Recommended as a favorite talk showing Emacs as a writing environment rather than just a programmer's editor.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 4 months · HN mentions 2016–2024

Topics

Search by tags

What people said

bjoli · 2024-06 · Strong recommendation

There is always Emacs. I love this talk by Joe Dixit about how he came from things like scrivener to Emacs [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
bjoli · 2021-01 · Strong recommendation

My favourite talk on this topic is "Emacs for writers": [VIDEO] If you are working with plain text, use something that excels at working with text. I saw another of his talks, and how he works in Emacs is amazing.

Read the original HN comment ↗
Johnny_Brahms · 2016-08 · Recommendation

I saw this a couple of weeks ago: [VIDEO] I really like how he has no idea how to pronounce stuff, but he still managed to bend emacs after his will.

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by thoughtbot, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources