[cbolton]

Do give typst's syntax a try! I had the same worry as you but I now find typst's syntax more pleasant to write, and the resulting code is much more readable. Instead of

    \frac{1}{\alpha - 1}\ \mathrm{for}\ n\in\{1, \ldots, N\}

you get to write

    1/(alpha - 1) "for" n in {1, ..., N}