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John
@jhmc.bsky.social
28 followers 6 following 170 posts
📝 managing editor @ ellipsus
🏳️‍🌈 he/him
📍 berlino
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ellipsus.com Ellipsus @ellipsus.com · 12d
We've been super busy this week, annnnd here's some new things you'll find in Ellipsus:

👾 GIF support in comments
📱Mobile comment redesign
📀 New themes
⌨️ Granular styling

Let's go!
November 13, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
It’s coming... ThemeThursday! Four versions of the future we were promised (+ the one we’re writing ourselves).

⛓️‍💥 Wasteland - the poetry of ruin.
🫧 Aero - a shiny glint of optimism.
💾 Retrograde - the computer room, and one overly helpful paperclip.
❤️ Kudos - iykyk.

Check em out next week!
November 6, 2025 at 10:26 PM
jhmc.bsky.social
Just reminder when you pop the hood of the internet this is what you'll see: 🐍🐍🐍
The internet eating itself DEAD
October 20, 2025 at 9:22 AM
jhmc.bsky.social
That is always my hack, too ;)
muse.bsky.social muse ✨ @muse.bsky.social · Sep 18
ellipsus users: if you are also sad that the chat function only works in documents with collaborators now, invite yourself via another email address! you don't have to accept it. chat will switch on for the document & you can use it to stash notes again 🥳
September 18, 2025 at 3:55 AM
jhmc.bsky.social
I can help with that 📲 ellipsus.typeform.com/mobile-beta
September 16, 2025 at 7:05 AM
jhmc.bsky.social
1) We want our free plan to be comparable to GDocs long-term (unlimited docs, drafts, collaborators, words)
2) No Gen AI.
3) We’re trying to get chapters in this fall! 📚

FWIW I love writing in notebooks.
eicaxy.bsky.social ˗ˏˋ ★Eicaxy★ ˎˊ˗ @eicaxy.bsky.social · Aug 16
TLDR: Ellipsus better fucking not ruin their beautiful free writing platform with money-greed or gen ai.
(They could also add chapters, similar to what reedsy had bc that was why I chose reedsy to begin with and i am struggling to let it go)
August 16, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by John
hailstormtsunami.bsky.social
made this after a discussion about ellipsus' new themes in the ellipsus server.

tiermaker.com/categories/r...

if you also use ellipsus, i'd love to see how you'd rank them.
August 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
jhmc.bsky.social
Theme Thursday y'all!
ellipsus.com Ellipsus @ellipsus.com · Aug 14
Theme Thursday is live!

This week, we have:

Lilium - a midnight garden 🥀
Love Letter - a secret romance 💌
Cinéma Vérité - greyscale shadowplay 🌫️
Cotton Candy - dreamcore pastels 🍬

Find them all in the themes picker - and let us know what you think!
August 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
You can now set a password for your Ellipsus account—no more digging for login codes in your inbox every time you sign in.

Code login is still around if you prefer it, but this update makes it way faster (and easier!) to jump back into your writing. Set whatever weird password your heart desires.
August 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by John
gingko28.bsky.social
BLESS THE ELLIPSUS TEAM GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND 🙌🙌🙌🙌
August 5, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Ellipsus services are back online. Team is continuing to monitor.

Syncing might be slower for a period of time. Please check your work and reach out to support if you need any assistance.

status.ellipsus.com
Ellipsus status
Welcome to Ellipsus status page for real-time and historical data on system performance.
status.ellipsus.com
August 4, 2025 at 2:26 AM
jhmc.bsky.social
Our users are the best users.
July 29, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by John
elljwalker.bsky.social
⚠️BATCH DOWNLOAD YOUR GOOGLE DRIVE NOW⚠️

👉 takeout.google.com/manage

I did this last night, and literally this morning a friend who writes fic has had her whole account restricted, and when I try to access writing that I've edited/collaborated on, this is what I get:
A screencap of a google doc. It reads: "We're sorry. You can't access this item because it is in violation of our Terms of Service."
July 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by John
zanwrites.bsky.social
#WritingCommunity If you haven’t jumped ship with google drive/docs yet, this is your sign to do so…

If you have alternatives for sharing/collaborative work via cloud (that respects privacy and doesn’t work for the police state), please drop them below!

www.tumblr.com/jahaliel/790...

#WriteSky
Screenshot of tumblr post by maerossi Screenshot: Google Sheets We're sorry. You can't access this item because it is in violation of our Terms of Service. Find out more about this topic at the Google Drive Help Center. Tumblr post text: Everyone: Please please please don't write your books in Google Docs. Frankly don't use Google Drive for personal stuff. Their terms of service say they take down stuff like content related to terrorism and trafficking, but this Google Sheet was literally a list of movies I'd watched this year and books l'd read. Tumblr post from maerossi Holy smokes, guys. It's way worse than I thought. Google actually took away access to every single file of fiction writing l'd made on that account. BUT I backed it all up on Scrivener yesterday by coincidence. So I haven't lost my work, but I could have just lost the 12,000 words l've written this month after a year of really intense writer's block. I honestly don't know what that would have done to my psyche. Please be careful out there, folks! <3
July 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
jhmc.bsky.social
merch.ellipsus.com should now be available in the Philippines (and a few others in SEA). Fun 🇵🇭 fact: I was born in Angeles City!
June 24, 2025 at 7:27 AM
jhmc.bsky.social
For June we're introducing a free Pride theme! 🏳️‍🌈

It's going to be part of our free offering forever—because you aren't gay just one month of the year... 🔥
ellipsus.com Ellipsus @ellipsus.com · May 28
So, here’s our first little offering: a fancy schmancy Pride theme! 🎉

There’s much more to come, so stay tuned all month long!
May 29, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
We don’t just celebrate Pride in June—we live it every day. As a queer-founded company building a space for our very, very gay (🙌) creative community, we know how much this month matters.
May 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Where does your story begin? What’s holding it together? And what is it really trying to say?

Ideas are easy—stories are a lot harder. That’s why we just dropped four new templates to help you turn sparks into structure, tension, themes, and meaning.

ellips.us/4jnlYt5
Story opener template: Does your first line make the reader ask a question?  What does your character’s body language, inner thoughts, or dialogue tell us about them? Do any details foreshadow later conflicts, or your character’s overall arc? Scene Builder Template Setting: How does this location affect the characters? What is this scene’s balance of dialogue, internal thoughts, and action? How does this scene shape the reader’s perception of the characters? Themes and Symbolism Template Do any characters reflect different sides of the thematic conflict? If your story could be summarized with a thematic question, what would it be? Does a character face major decisions or actions that define the theme? Conflicts, Stakes, and Tension Template Will your characters lose something they love? How does conflict affect the culture, society, or history of your setting? How does the conflict push a character toward growth or adversity?
March 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Ready, set, write. ⏳

Start a timer and track your progress directly in Ellipsus.
February 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Just in time for Valentine’s Day. 💔 

Ready to #degoogle your life? We’re rounding up a handful of privacy-forward alternatives for:

📧 Email
🔍 Search
🌐 Browsers
📝 Writing tools
💼 Office suites
🗺️ Maps

Check out the full list here: ellips.us/4gIabn4
A graphic showing three email / calendar alternatives to Gmail—it lists Tuta, Fastmail, and Proton. A graphic showing two office suite alternatives to Google Workspace—it lists Libreoffice and Cryptpad. A graphic showing three search engine alternatives to Google—it lists Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, and Brave. A graphic showing three alternatives to Google Docs—it lists Obsidian, Cryptpad, and Ellipsus.
February 13, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
New themes just dropped! Go beyond light and dark with:

🕯️ Sepia
🌲 Nature
🦇 Ultra dark
January 30, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Our co-founder Rex sat down with the delightful C. M. Lockhart (writteninmelanin.com) to chat about our Ellipsus journey, why we stepped back from NaNoWriMo 🍵, and what’s next for writers everywhere! 💫

📺 Watch the full interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhSp...
Ellipsus: The Best Free Writing Software
YouTube video by Written In Melanin
www.youtube.com
January 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
✨ Share wow-worthy WIPs—snippets now support text colors and text decorations like bold and italics.
Ellipsus snippet containing "Create colorful and ~interesting~ impactful snippets."
January 7, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Setting a resolution to *finally* share your WIP with others?

In part 3 of our collaboration guide we're looking at beta reading and editing. Learn about common struggles (deadlines! criticism!) and get tips on how to successfully manage late-stage revisions. ellips.us/4gyeqCp
A pie chart with the title: "Have you ever used beta readers or editors?" Yes: 62.4% No: 14.7% No, but I'm interested: 22.8% A bar chart with the title: "What do you look for in a beta reader or editor?" Honest feedback/constructive criticism: 93.1% Attention to detail: 74.1% Good communication: 74.1% Knowledge of the genre/content/fandom: 69% Other: 7.5% A horizontal bar chart with the title: "What is the hardest part of collaborating with beta readers or editors?" Sticking to deadlines: 42.7% Fear of criticism: 42.4% Staying motivated: 42.1% Managing creative differences: 41% Organizing feedback: 33.5% Switching between tools: 23.2% Other: 10%
December 31, 2024 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by John
ellipsus.com
Writers (rightfully) have concerns about tools monitoring, scraping, or censoring their work.

That's why we updated our privacy policy and terms of service to make sure our stances on privacy (YES), generative AI (NO), and transformative works (❤️ #AO3) are crystal clear. 💎

ellips.us/4glC4Sr
All writing—and all writers—are welcome in Ellipsus, but there’s a special place in our hearts for the creative writers who’ve been quick to adopt and celebrate what we’re building. Many people have flocked to Ellipsus because they (rightfully) have concerns about how their writing might be monitored, scraped, or censored by other tools. To make sure our stances on privacy (we’re for it), generative AI (we’re against it), and transformative works (❤️ AO3) are clear, we’ve revised our privacy policy and terms of service. Nothing’s materially changed, but the language should be much, much clearer. Here’s the gist: Your data is yours. We won’t access, sell, or use your personal information for nefarious purposes. Ever. We won’t police your content. We’re a writing tool—we don’t host published works. We strongly believe in creative expression, and you’re free to write whatever you want. (Just don’t commit crimes or use Ellipsus to harm yourself or others, pretty please.) We’ll always keep you in the loop. These docs are a WIP—we may update them to reflect changes to how we operate, prevent abuse, or better safeguard and serve our writers. When there are significant changes, we’ll let you know first. We want you to feel safe and confident when storing your work in Ellipsus.
December 18, 2024 at 4:16 PM