Draft. Version control for writing | Nathan Kontny

I wanted to show off a preview of what I’ve been working on. It’s a better version control system for writing. I call it Draft.

As a writer, I’ve been very annoyed at my options for version control. Software like iCloud and Google Docs end up saving a lot of arbitrary junk making it very hard to find an old draft that has that certain paragraph I ended up deleting and now want back.

And when I share a Google Doc with someone to help edit it, they overwrite my master copy making it insanely difficult to accept individual changes they’ve made.

A lot of folks try to end up learning Git, which is a popular version control system used by software developers. It really is a great tool if you’re in software development. But even as a developer it’s full of headaches. Writers don’t need all this added complexity and overhead to manage versions of their work.

Draft solves this. Draft is a distraction free editor that auto-saves as you type. But as you go along, you can mark major versions of your work:

When you share your document, any changes your collaborator makes are on their own copy of the document, and you get to accept or ignore each individual change they make. Here’s what that looks like:

Draft will be released to the public very soon.

But I’m gradually sending the sign up link to friends, family and folks that want to give it a good trial right now. I’ve been insanely flattered and motivated by the feedback.

If you’d like to try it out early just add your email to the form below.