It’s a common misconception that constraints are a bad thing. Constraints can be a good thing. Constraints can engender creativity. It has for this blog.

I write this blog in Markdown. I deploy directly from the main branch on GitHub to GitHub Pages. I don’t have a CMS. I don’t have a database. I don’t have a server. I don’t have a CDN. I don’t have a custom domain. I use the default Jekyll theme.

These constraints have forced me to focus on the writing. I don’t have to worry about the infrastructure. I don’t have to worry about the design. I don’t have to worry about the performance. I can just write.

Constraints help my writing too. I keep it short. In fact, I try to keep each sentence to a single line. Less than 80 characters. Markdown helps with this because paragraphs are separated by a blank line. So one sentence per line makes each sentence have one main idea. The first sentence therefore must be a concise topic sentence. Hopefully, it makes for easier reading.

I used to write on WordPress. I found all the GUI layout options distracting. The WYSIWYG editor was too much. I found it frustrating that I couldn’t even find a theme that I liked. All the miminalist themes didn’t look right. They would only display the first few posts. I wanted all my posts to be displayed.

I’m happy with my current setup. The constraints have helped freed me in an ironic way. Embrace constraints and prosper!