--- title: Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel description: A novelist explains why Emacs has become his complete writing environment, combining note-taking (Org-Roam), manuscript writing (LaTeX), and screenplay work... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/why-and-how-i-am-using-emacs-for-writing-my-next-novel-bm06pxmmd twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel | daily.dev og:description: A novelist explains why Emacs has become his complete writing environment, combining note-taking (Org-Roam), manuscript writing (LaTeX), and screenplay work... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/why-and-how-i-am-using-emacs-for-writing-my-next-novel-bm06pxmmd og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/bM06PxMMd.png og:image:alt: Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel **[It's Foss](https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A novelist explains why Emacs has become his complete writing environment, combining note-taking (Org-Roam), manuscript writing (LaTeX), and screenplay work (Fountain) in one tool. He traces how Emacs' design philosophy of user agency and extensibility creates a flexible workspace that adapts to his thinking process, contrasting it with proprietary tools that increasingly push AI features. The piece emphasizes Emacs as a digital habitat for creative work that prioritizes user control over corporate convenience. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [May I recommend thinking of Emacs as your Fortress of Solitude](https://daily.dev/posts/may-i-recommend-thinking-of-emacs-as-your-fortress-of-solitude-fffj2emkj) · Lobsters · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Emacs Writing Machine](https://daily.dev/posts/emacs-writing-machine-ud9o4kytk) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Emacs as a programmable workbench](https://daily.dev/posts/emacs-as-a-programmable-workbench-fnxwvzmws) · BirkeyCo · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/why-and-how-i-am-using-emacs-for-writing-my-next-novel-bm06pxmmd) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-and-how-i-am-using-emacs-for-writing-my-next-novel-bm06pxmmd","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-and-how-i-am-using-emacs-for-writing-my-next-novel-bm06pxmmd"},"datePublished":"2026-02-15T10:51:08.561Z","dateModified":"2026-02-15T11:43:48.764Z","description":"A novelist explains why Emacs has become his complete writing environment, combining note-taking (Org-Roam), manuscript writing (LaTeX), and screenplay work...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8dfc89600dcc36712e0d76f59d475c3d?_a=AQAEunF","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8dfc89600dcc36712e0d76f59d475c3d?_a=AQAEunF","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"It's Foss","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"It's Foss","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/582e3faed71842bfb9d3840a787d6700","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-and-how-i-am-using-emacs-for-writing-my-next-novel-bm06pxmmd","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"open-source,productivity","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It's Foss","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why and How I am Using Emacs for Writing My Next Novel"}]} ```