The Superelectric Typewriter: a writing machine for first drafts
Typewriter simplicity. Modern polish.
The Superelectric Typewriter began with the mid-century typewriter: one page, nothing in the way. Then it added everything a writer expects from today's software.
What the typewriter taught it
Toolbars wait until you reach for them
Move to a screen edge, or press Alt and an arrow key. Otherwise the page is all you see.
Typewriter mode
Keep the line you're writing at a steady eye level, and let the page scroll beneath it.
Click anywhere, keep typing
Click below your last line and the cursor is there, with lines ready for you.
What software adds
Offline first, in sync everywhere
Edits save on your device first and sync when you reconnect.
Version history
Snapshots are taken as you write. Preview an old draft and restore it.
Export in seven formats
Markdown, DOCX, ODT, PDF, EPUB, plain text, or JSON, each on a keyboard shortcut.
Spelling and grammar, on your device
Off until you want it. Nothing you write is sent anywhere to be checked.
Arrange it like a writing room.
Almost everything can be changed, and nothing has to be. The defaults are quiet.
A binder of desks, folders, and pages
Nest pages as deep as you like. Turn any folder into a desk, step inside, and see only that project.
Your page, your colors
Pick the color of your page and the interface follows, with contrast checked. Fourteen typefaces come built in, and more are a search away.
Toolbars you assemble
Choose from 33 toolbar items, or start from a preset such as Zen Mode or Writer Focus.
Simple until you decide otherwise.
Most days, the Superelectric Typewriter is a blank page and nothing else. The moment you want more, whether a custom hotkey, a second sync device, or a palette that matches tonight's mood, it's one click under the surface, exactly where you left it.
The rain kept a rhythm like the carriage return of some enormous machine overhead. Mara didn't mind.
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Notes
The rain kept a rhythm like the carriage return of some enormous machine overhead.
Everything a long manuscript needs. Nothing it doesn't.
Ten years of Scrivener requests, built in from day one, and a couple of things Scrivener has never had at all.
Locked on your machine, unreadable on ours
The Superelectric Typewriter encrypts your work end-to-end, so even our own servers can't read a single word of it.
Total control over your workspace
Show, hide, or rearrange almost anything in the interface, and set a hotkey for nearly any action there is. Build the room you actually want to write in.
One writing life, every device
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and your browser. The same binder and the same manuscript, wherever you happen to sit down.
A palette for your mood
Pick one shade and the Superelectric Typewriter builds a full, considered palette around it, start to finish, in seconds.
3,000 fonts, one Besley default
Start with the typeface built for long prose, or search for almost any other.
Real formatting, not a workaround
Bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, alignment, lists, tables, and block styles, all native to the editor.
Every draft, still there
Step back through a chapter's history and recover a paragraph you cut three revisions ago.
Backups that happen without you
The Superelectric Typewriter backs itself up quietly in the background, so a bad day never costs you a manuscript.
Your files, in plain sight
Everything is stored as ordinary, human-readable files, right on your own machine. If the Superelectric Typewriter ever disappeared tomorrow, your work wouldn't.
Goals that keep you honest
Set a word count or a deadline and watch the bar fill in as you write toward it.
The only end-to-end encrypted app built for professional writing.
Every other tool asks you to trust a company with your unfinished book. The Superelectric Typewriter doesn't ask.
your device
then sent
unreadable to us
This is what we see when you write.
Pages you sync are scrambled on your device first, so this is what reaches our servers. Only you can turn it back into words.
Everything is encrypted, from page titles to settings to the background color you pick.
Easier than a blank Google Doc. Deeper than Scrivener.
You shouldn't have to choose between simple and capable. Here's the honest comparison.
| Google Docs | Superelectric | Scrivener | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learning curve | Gentle | Gentle | Steep |
| Built for 100,000-word manuscripts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works fully offline | No | Yes | Yes |
| End-to-end encrypted | No | Yes | No |
| Sync across devices | Yes | Yes, 5 years included | Not included |
| Price | Free, Google account | $25 once | $59.99 per platform |
Everywhere you sit down to write.
One purchase, one account, every platform you use.
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Android
- Any modern browser
Now, the only thing stopping you is writer's block.
The demo is the full app. It just can't save your work.