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# Tooling Up
- URL: https://murmurationpress.co.uk/tooling-up/
- Published: 2026-07-01T19:35:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-01T19:35:37.000Z
- Author: Edward Hawkins

**Announcing the Murmuration Writing Companion**

One of the questions I’ve been asked most often since publishing **EMERGENCE** is simple:

*“How did you write and publish a novel entirely in Obsidian?”*

The answer is that I didn’t just use Obsidian—I gradually built a collection of templates, workflows, and plug-ins that transformed it into a complete long-form writing and publishing environment.

Today I’m pleased to announce the start of the **Murmuration Writing Companion** project.

The aim is straightforward: to create a free, open toolkit that helps writers manage complex manuscripts without forcing them into someone else’s workflow. Rather than replacing Obsidian, the Writing Companion extends it with features designed specifically for authors.

The project will grow in the open. Along the way I’ll be sharing ideas, documenting design decisions, and releasing the components that power my own writing process.

Some of the areas we’ll be exploring include:

- Rich annotation and research workflows
- Character, location and story management
- Conversation and interface formatting
- Manuscript review and editing tools
- One-click PDF and EPUB compilation
- Publishing workflows used to produce the PRIME Trilogy

This isn’t intended to become another monolithic writing application. The philosophy is to keep everything as plain Markdown wherever possible, allowing authors to own their work, customise their workflow, and continue using the excellent Obsidian ecosystem.

The Writing Companion is the next stage of Murmuration Press: not just publishing stories, but sharing the tools that made those stories possible.

If you’re interested in writing, Obsidian, publishing, or simply enjoy watching software evolve from the first commit onwards, I hope you’ll follow along. The first development updates begin this week.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/1e/9f1e11bc-1adb-41c1-a2bc-96da66024217/content/images/2026/07/D396396B-359F-4BE0-B05F-0DCE8957F557.png)