Joe Moyer recently wrote a post in his excellent blog, 24 Letters, about how he writes using Ulysses. His post describes how he organizes and uses Ulysses to take his writing from ideas through completed posts. I also use Ulysses for almost all of my blog posts. I have some similar uses of Ulysses to how Joe uses the app, but I also have variations.
Like Joe, it’s important to me that my writing tool syncs seamlessly between my Macs, my iPad, and my iPhone. While I do most of my writing on my Mac Studio or MacBook Pro, it’s also convenient to be able to make revisions on my iPad or iPhone. Ulysses’ sync has been fast and without any issues.
The Ways I Use Ulysses in Writing Blog Posts
1. Preparation for Writing
When I write about a topic, I don’t find it productive to sit in front of a blank screen and just start writing. For me, it’s well worth the time to do thorough preparation so that when I sit down to write, I already know what I’m going to write.
a. Ideas Go Into Craft
When I have an idea for a post, I record it in Craft. I have standing documents for “Blog Ideas” for both of my blogs. The newest ideas are added to the bottom of this page, along with a few notes about the topic (subject, my initial thoughts, some bullet points) and perhaps a photo or drawing.
After deciding to turn an idea into a post, I cut the information about a topic from the “blog ideas” page, and paste it into a separate Craft document with the topic title in my projects folder. I add more bullet points containing my thoughts about the topic, and do a search of my documents in Craft and DevonThink to discover any material I may already have on the topic. If I feel the need for more research, I do that.
b. Organizing Posts Happens in MindNode
When I’ve completed researching and writing more bullet points, I open a mind map in MindNode. The mind map will guide my writing step by step.
I typically copy all of my bullet points in my Craft document and paste them into the outline feature in MindNode. This turns each bullet point into a mind map node connected to the main node, or title. It thus gives me a head start in organizing my thoughts.
I look for thought connections and begin dragging and organizing the existing bullet points into logical categories or progressions of thought for my topic. The mind map helps me to see where I have gaps in my thoughts or arguments, and I add material and create new categories when necessary. I keep working with the mind map until I have a functional plan for my writing that I’m happy with.
c. Folders in Ulysses Keep Me Organized
To facilitate my writing flow, I have several folders, or groups as they are called in Ulysses, set up in my Ulysses left sidebar. One is titled “On deck.” This is for documents that maybe I’ve started on, but decided to postpone. I rarely use this.
The next folder is “writing.” As you have probably guessed, this folder holds any documents I am currently writing. Occasionally, I’ll be working on two documents, or it may take me multiple sessions to complete a draft.
“Editing” holds documents I have finished writing but are in the process of being edited. When I complete editing and publish the post to a WordPress site, I move the document into the “published” folder, which includes folders for each one of my blogs.
2. Setup and Writing in Ulysses
When I’m ready to write the post, I block off time on my calendar to focus. I open Ulysses on the left side of my screen, and MindNode on the right side. My one and only shortcut does this for me automatically.
I always write in light mode. One of the things I like about Ulysses is that I can pick and modify a theme any way I want to. I’ve been using the “iOS theme” on all my devices. Aside from section headlines, I’ve tweaked it to not show different colors for bold and italic text. I’ve also dimmed the Markdown symbols, so they don’t detract from the text.
Like Joe, I always choose focus editing mode while writing, so the only thing on my Ulysses screen is the text. The sidebars on both sides vanish in this mode.
As I write, I use my mind map to guide my writing and ensure I don’t leave out anything. The graphical layout of the mind map helps me to conceptualize when I’m shifting topics and need to insert headings and transitions into my draft.
Another helpful feature of Ulysses is that it includes a dropdown menu in the menu bar, “Markup.” This menu lists several Markdown commands, some of which I rarely use and haven’t memorized. This makes it easy to insert the Markdown commands for images, videos, a quote block, a code block, etc.
3. Editing In Ulysses, Craft, and Grammarly
Ulysses contains a built-in proofreader and editing assistant that I find very helpful. Where it disagrees with Grammarly, I typically prefer the option in Ulysses. I also run the text through Grammarly.
Once the initial edit is done, I often copy the text and paste it into a Craft document. As Joe points out in his post, I find it helpful to edit in a context besides what I did my writing in.
Once I’m done editing the document in Craft, I send it to a space in Craft that I share with my wife. I send her a message letting her know the document is there and asking her to proofread it, highlight the problem areas, and insert comments. When she’s completed her work on it, I get a message from Craft and I can review her comments and make changes.
4. Publishing to My WordPress Site
One of the features of Ulysses that I most appreciate is that it publishes directly to my WordPress site. It cuts out multiple clicks and the extra steps of copying the post in Ulysses, then opening a WordPress new post and copying the draft text into it.
Before I publish it from Ulysses I can set a scheduled publishing date or publish it as a draft, I can designate the category and tabs, select a featured image, and insert a description. I’ve never had an issue with the text, headings, or images not transferring correctly.
When I select the blog and click on the publish command, it sends the document and images to the appropriate WordPress site and opens it in editing mode. I can then designate a keyword, add a subscription blurb, and do another edit.
I often schedule posts to publish on a future date, so I have time to go back and do further editing. I find that my editing improves when I have some time to let it sit between edits.
Ulysses is a Key Tool for Me in Writing and Publishing
Since I’ve started using Craft for my second brain, my journaling, and my weekly reviews, I’ve considered moving all of my writing to Craft. I enjoy writing in Crafts’ beautiful interface.
However, I’ve decided to stick with Ulysses as my primary writing tool because of its unique features geared toward writing. I can’t publish to WordPress directly from Craft, and Craft doesn’t have a built-in proofreader and editing assistant.
You can learn more about the many features of Ulysses from the website. There are free trials available on all devices on the App Store.
If you choose to subscribe, it costs $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Student subscriptions are available for $11.99 every 6 months.
The app supports family sharing. Ulysses is also available on Setapp, so if you have a Setapp subscription, there is no additional cost.