Own Your Words
Why your writing deserves better than a platform database.
1 / 17
I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one.
— Blaise Pascal
2 / 17
The Problem
You write something good.
You publish it on a platform.
Now it lives in their database, behind their login, under their terms.
3 / 17
What happens when you want to leave?
4 / 17
Export Options, Ranked
- Best case — download a zip of weirdly formatted HTML
- Common case — copy-paste each post manually
- Worst case — your content is gone when the platform pivots
5 / 17
Geocities. Posterous. Google+. Medium’s pivot.
6 / 17
What If Publishing Didn’t Require Giving Up Ownership?
- Your files stay on your computer
- Your editor stays the same
- Your words stay in a format that works everywhere
7 / 17
Markdown is a 20-year-old open standard.
8 / 17
What Markdown Looks Like
# My Post Title
A paragraph. **Bold** and *italic*.
- A list
- Of things
> A quote from someone smart.That’s it. No proprietary format. No database. A text file.
9 / 17
Your Folder Is Your Blog
my-blog/
posts/
why-i-write.md
on-morning-routines.md
craft/
finding-your-voice.md
Save a file. It’s published. Rename it. The URL updates. Delete it. It’s gone.
10 / 17
The Tools You Already Have
- iA Writer — distraction-free, focused
- Obsidian — linked thinking
- VS Code — powerful, extensible
- Vim —
:wand it’s live
- Anything that saves to Dropbox
11 / 17
The best tool is the one you forget you’re using.
12 / 17
What “No Lock-In” Actually Means
- Stop paying. Your files don’t change.
- Switch platforms. Your markdown works everywhere.
- Go offline. Write on the plane, publish when you land.
13 / 17
0 steps to leave
14 / 17
Write in your editor. Save to Dropbox. It’s live.
15 / 17
Own your words.
16 / 17
Scan to follow along
Own Your Words
blog.folderpress.com/decks/own-your-words
17 / 17