[tyingq]

I remember being very productive with WordStar, with muscle memory better than what I have now with vim. I could type like the wind, make corrections, reformat, and print in a sort of "out of body" way where my thoughts just flowed.

I haven't really experienced that since. Maybe the single tasking environment kept me more focused.

[slantyyz]

Well, back in those days, styling choices could be incredibly limited (depending on whether you were using a green screen vs gui), especially if the word processor's output was limited to a daisy wheel printer.

I think the vast number of styling and formatting options these days can easily distract writers from... writing, which is probably why Markdown and focused writing tools have become so popular.

[tyingq]

Very true. WordStar gave me headings, bullets, bold, italic, etc. But not much more. Kept my focus on the words.

[garganzol]

You may find WordGrinder by David Given a treat. It is the most close resemblance of WordStar experience nowadays and it is free.

[tyingq]

Amen. <ctrl>KP to my friends. I will check it out. The link: http://cowlark.com/wordgrinder/index.html