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Ersin Buckley
Ersin Buckley

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Get better at writing with 3 lines of bash

Everyone knows that great communication skills are the most important trait we want in our team members. I have been deliberately practicing writing over the last three years and today I want to share with you my most impactful tools. Here are three lines of bash that are responsible.

#!/bin/bash

NOTESPATH="~/Notes/"

$EDITOR "$NOTESPATH$(date "+%Y-%-m-%-d")"
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How do I install it?

  • put it on your path, I suggest /usr/bin
  • create the Notes directory in your user home.
  • set your $EDITOR variable to your favorite tool ( if it isn't already ).

What does it do?

  • Creates a file with the current date if it doesn't exist
  • Opens your today's file if it already exists

After many iterations on writing tools, this is still my favorite way to get my thoughts on 'paper'. Day to day, I spend my time using the terminal, and for me this script is the easiest way to context switch in to writing.

The hardest part about deliberate practice is starting, and this tool has allowed me to write something much more frequently.

Hope you find this useful! <3

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