There have been plenty of articles recently about using the iPad as a way to get work done. Most of these posts talk about using the iPad in a keyboard case or in some other way.
I have a secret. I've been typing a majority of the posts on this three-week old blog on my iPad, without the help of a keyboard case or a physical Bluetooth keyboard. Yes, I've been using the touchscreen to write longer-form posts.
(In the interest of disclosure, the Twitter for iPhone piece definitely fell in the I-need-to-use-a-computer category.)
The tools of the trade
Apple Smart Cover. Obviously, the Smart Cover is one of the most important part of using the iPad as a competent writer. Without it, it's an awkward balancing act. With it, the iPad becomes a versatile typing machine. I've used it in post-game press conferences at basketball games and it was a breeze to take notes.
Elements ($4.99). I'm completely sold on the usefulness of Markdown as writer's tool. It makes it dead-simple to write posts that are link heavy, without having to deal with long snippets of code. Having brackets instead of typical HTML formatting litter the document make it easier to proofread before posting.
Elements (App Store link) supports Markdown as a syntax and even shows previews of the document fully-rendered as if it were on a Web page. Pair that with awesome Dropbox syncing and my files are available anywhere I have access to a computer, iPhone or iPad.
Dropbox. With Dropbox for iPad, you can easily upload photos and videos, grab the link and insert it into the document.
Calepin. You're reading this post on Calepin, which is a very new hosted blog solution built on the marriage of Markdown and Dropbox. All posts must be composed as Markdown documents and saved to a folder that Calepin publishes. Then, just publish the document from Calepin's website and they show up on the home page.
I work with and have worked with a bunch of content management systems, but using Dropbox and Calepin is among the easiest. They are featured enough for writers, but admittedly for individual writers. I'd like to see where Calepin can go for larger-scale sites, while remaining useful for solo writers.
Focus
The iPad has a sincere and real advantage over using the computer for focus writing. Don't believe me? If you're on a laptop or desktop right now, hit command- or alt- tab right now. Back? Go to your Facebook tab and come back. How long did it take you to come back to this article?
I'm more likely to be engaged as a writer and as a reader if I'm using an iPad. With the exclusion of an occasional message notification, writers can be more focused. Perhaps it's possible that writing on an iPad, touchscreen or physical keyboard, is inherently faster, because there's not this compulsion to check other browser tabs or check Twitter. When writing this post I didn't check Twitter or Facebook once, because there is no reason to.
It was just me, my on-screen keyboard and my words. Can it get better?