Howdy! As, I suppose, many others, I have an idea for a plugin, but not the knowledge to actually make it myself. Yeah, I know, “how original”… Anyways.
Lately, I’ve switched to Obsidian as my primary markdown editor, where I write all my stuff. I should note that I’m a writer, have been writing about tech for over two decades, so it’s super-nice to be able to have all my notes, research, and write new articles in the same app. But I have a tiny problem.
As it is, there’s a word count plugin available. It works in a similar way as most other word counts, in most other applications. There’s a little problem with this approach, though: it’s not visual enough.
Now, here’s the problem: countless apps try to implement a “distraction-free” mode, since it’s well known that you’re more productive when you “get in the flow/zone.” Problem is, when in that state, you only care about your writing, and you don’t notice the word count. Even something as simple as that can be a distraction and take you out of the zone.
And here’s the solution: dynamic background color. As in, allow the user to set two values, one for a target amount of words, one for exceeding them. While writing, the note’s background color can gradually change from the default one to the one for the target amount of keywords. This way, you’d be able to tell how close you are to your goal without having to take your eyes from the content you’re creating for even a split second. If you exceed the word count, the color would then start to shift towards the second color, to alert how far you’re getting from your goal.
As a bonus track, and a boon for long-form writing and ultra-long articles, it would be even better if there was a way to change the background of only the current section (from one title/subtitle to the next) or paragraph.
I hope somebody likes the idea enough to implement it, since it would be a great helper in my line of work.