goyo.vim

With vim, one can go from single setting[1] to something more complex[2] or use one of the available plugins (e.g. typewriter-vim[3] or vim-goyo[4] or vim-focus[5] or Lite-DFM[6] or zen-mode[7] etc.) [1] https://superuser.com/a/368275 [2] https://vitalyparnas.com/guides/vim-typewriter-mode/ [3] https://github.com/logico/typewriter-vim [4] https://github.com/junegunn/goyo.vim [5] https://github.com/merlinrebrovic/focus.vim [6] https://github.com/bilalq/lite-dfm [7] https://github.com/folke/zen-mode.nvim

I wrote a manuscript in vim a couple Novembers ago, for NaNoWriMo. I used a couple plugins, primarily Goyo [1] to add some margins, but otherwise, yeah, plain vim. I don't think it was really any more productive than my current workflow in Obsidian. Vim keybindings are more useful for editing than for writing (and for editing code in particular, where the changes you're making are much more structured). The extra features afforded by Obsidian don't really make a difference during the actual writing process, but I find they're really useful for outlines and other preliminary work, which is something of a point against a vim-only workflow unless you want to use vimwiki [2] or something. Granted, Obsidian is still a markdown-based tool, so there's still some level of minimalism going on there, but by that point we're really discussing markup

I haven't maintained a Vim config in a few years now (more of an Emacs man now), but I do remember using Goyo in college. Looking back at it, I think it might scratch your itch as far as Vim plugins go, it even allows you to resize the area on the fly. https://github.com/junegunn/goyo.vim