Writing Faster With Markdown Shortcuts in Deckle

Reaching for the toolbar breaks flow. Deckle recognizes a handful of markdown-style patterns as you type, so the most common formatting happens without taking your hands off the keyboard.

What You'll Need

• Nothing extra. These shortcuts are always on, not a setting to enable.

Step-by-Step

1. Start a line with > (greater-than, then a space) to turn that paragraph into a Blockquote instantly, the only block type with a typing shortcut. Every other block type (Verse, Attribution, Conversation, Written Note, Inset Block, Subheading) needs the toolbar's block-type dropdown instead.
2. *Start a line with -, +, or ` ** to begin a bulleted list, or1. ` (any number followed by a period and a space) for a numbered one. Both continue automatically as you keep typing new lines.
3. **Type ---, ___, or ***** on its own line to insert a scene break, without touching the toolbar's Scene Break button at all.
4. Just keep typing through quotes and dashes. A straight " or ' automatically becomes the correct curly quote based on context, and typing -- becomes a real em dash. There's nothing to turn on or remember to do differently.
5. Reach for the toolbar only for what typing shortcuts don't cover: headings (Subheading), the other special blocks, links, images, comments, and footnotes all need a click since they don't have (or, in the case of headings, deliberately don't have) a typing shortcut.

Common Mistakes

• Expecting # to create a heading. It doesn't. Deckle's Subheading block has no typing shortcut, unlike many other markdown-style editors. Use the block-type dropdown.
• Typing a scene break as three literal hyphens without realizing it auto-converts. If you actually wanted the text "---" to stay as plain text, undo immediately after it converts (Ctrl/Cmd+Z), since the substitution happens the moment you finish typing the pattern.
• Assuming these shortcuts need to be turned on somewhere in Settings. They don't. Unlike spellcheck or typewriter scrolling, markdown shortcuts and smart typography are always active, with no toggle.
• Fighting the automatic quote conversion when pasting code-like text or dialogue with unusual punctuation. The curly-quote conversion is context-based and generally reliable, but if you paste text that already has mixed straight/curly quotes, double-check the result rather than assuming it's untouched.