Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Articles on Nostr
Writing on Nostr is a great way to publish content in a censorship-resistant way. Unlike traditional platforms, Nostr is a decentralized protocol, so the process is a bit different. Here’s a simple, step-by-step guide to get you started.
Step 1: Choose a Nostr Client
Nostr isn't an app itself, but a protocol that different apps (called "clients") use to connect. To write articles, you need a client that supports "long-form content" or Kind 30023 events.
Good clients for writing articles include:
Primal.net: A popular web and mobile client with a clean interface.
Snort.social: Another excellent web client with many features.
Nostrich.app: A simple and intuitive web-based editor specifically for writing articles.
Choose one that you feel comfortable using.
Step 2: Create or Log in to Your Account
To publish on Nostr, you need a private key and a public key. The private key is your secret password that proves you own your content, and the public key is your public identity (like a username).
If you're new, the client will generate a new key pair for you. It is crucial to save your private key in a safe place! If you lose it, you lose control of your account.
If you already have a key, simply paste your private key to log in.
Step 3: Write Your Article
Most clients will have a clear button like "New Post," "Write Long-Form," or an icon to create new content. Click on this to open the article editor.
Title: Add a clear title for your article.
Content: Write your article. You can use basic Markdown to format your text. This includes things like:
Headings (#, ##, ###)
Bold (**text**) and Italic (*text*)
Lists (- item)
Links ([text](url))
You can also add images by pasting a link to an image file.
Step 4: Publish Your Article
Once you're finished writing, look for a "Publish" or "Send" button. When you click it, a few things happen automatically:
Your Nostr client signs the article with your private key.
It sends the article to the relays you are connected to. Relays are servers that store and distribute Nostr content.
The article is now live on the Nostr network!
Your article will be visible to anyone using a Nostr client that is connected to the same relays.
Step 5: Share and Promote Your Article
After publishing, your article will have a unique note ID (a long string of characters). You can copy this ID or the link to the article and share it with others. You can also share the link on other platforms like Twitter or Facebook to get more people to read it.
On Nostr, people can interact with your article by giving it "zaps" (small tips in Bitcoin), replying to it, or reposting it to their followers.
Happy writing!