About this Video

• Video Title: Obsidian as a writing program. Downloading and Setting up Obsidian and plugins.
• Channel: Josh of Many Things
• Speakers: Josh
• Duration: 00:27:36

Introduction

This video demonstrates Josh's writing setup using Obsidian, a note-taking app with extensive customization. The video explains how to download and set up Obsidian, focusing on essential plugins that enhance the writing process.

Key Takeaways

• Obsidian Setup: The video details downloading Obsidian from obsidian.md and creating a new vault (folder) to store writing projects. It highlights that Obsidian uses markdown for formatting.
• Core Plugins: Josh recommends several core plugins: Templates (for creating writing templates), Search, Publish (for directly uploading to websites), and Live Preview. Auto-save and File Recovery are also suggested for safety.
• Community Plugins: The video emphasizes the vast library (nearly 1800) of community plugins. Josh reviews several, including: Long Form (for organizing chapters), Novel Word Count (for tracking progress), Red Pen (for proofreading), Remember Cursor Position, Soundscapes (for background music), and Text to Speech.
• Workflow Enhancements: Plugins like Typewriter Scroll and Writing Goals are shown to improve focus and track writing progress. The Pomodoro Timer plugins (Word Sprint and Status Bar Pomodoro Timer) are highlighted for managing writing sessions.
• Enhanced Export: The video explains the setup of the Enhanced Export plugin, requiring the separate download and installation of Pandoc. This allows exporting in various formats (Markdown, HTML, PDF, etc.). The Editing Toolbar plugin provides a familiar interface for those used to word processors.