Vim Motions for Writers

Vim Motions for writing are the best flow I can imagine. The smoothness and clarity are on another level.

If you want to see what this looks like, below is a live capture of me writing an article based on my existing notes and navigating my Obsidian vault with Vim motions. The video is sped up 2000% from the original screen capture, reducing 43 minutes to 2 minutes.

Video link to Vim Motion for Writers Showcase (Inside My Obsidian Vault)

This is a video I wanted to make for a long time, and today I just took a screen capture while working on the new article (Caching with DuckDB, stay tuned). It showcases the process of writing with vim motions in my Obsidian vault. Until you see it in action, it’s hard to understand. I hope this helps you open a new world of editing text compared to what you might be used to.

However, isn’t it beautiful? Almost like a painter paints their art, or editing words with the precision of a surgeon operating on their patients.

I suggest everyone try it wheter you are a writer or a programmer.

# The Flow of Writing an Essay

This is Paul Graham video on editing with vim, which inspired my captured video above. Here, Paul is showing his vim editing skills. He says Writing is rewriting as an example of his personal Editing and Proofreading.

When you first write part of an essay it tends to flow very well. Then you notice things you overlooked, and you have to go back and insert them. This usually ruins the flow. Fixing this — recreating the old flow with the new ideas — is one of the hardest parts of writing. Paul Graham ( x.com)

How it looks when Paul writes:

What it looks like writing an essay. I use vim and run the text through fmt. Instead of a single wallpaper, I use individual images for decoration. Sometimes this yields interesting combinations. x.com

# Paul Graham Timelapse Video

Writing is rewriting. Here’s me writing the essay “Startups in 13 Sentences.” Characters in yellow will ultimately be deleted. Notice how few characters I type make it into the final version. x.com

Time-lapse: Watch Me Make Mistakes
The finished: Startups in 13 Sentences

# My Writing Process

I write all my blogs, notes and also my book in Markdown with Obsidian and vim motions. If you are not familiar, it’s very hard to know the advantage or how it works, that’s why I took a screencast of me writing.

To me, it’s the best way of editing text, and therefore writing. The best part is being in the flow, moving around without overthinking; the fingers just do the work. I don’t think I could get that flow otherwise, except by writing from start to finish. But that’s not typically how I write.

I start with an outline, add to it over the week and potentially years, and then, at some point, finish it. Changing the re-structure, the flow many times. Truly editing it, where I see vim motions (not the editor) really shine. Read more on My Writing Process.

# Four Different Modes

I have four modes of writing. From Normal, Insert, Visual to Command mode. Each has their unique way of editing text. These are obvisouly the different modes of Vim Motions. Read more on Four Modes of Writing.

# Futher Reads

Origin: Vim Language (and Motions)
References:
Created 2025-12-02