Writer’s block is real. But like most insurmountable tasks, the hardest part is usually just getting started. When it comes to writing, “starting” doesn’t necessarily mean coming up with a brilliant idea — it simply means the physical act of putting something, anything, down on the page.
I won’t bother describing the pain of staring at a blank page. If you are here reading about Obsidian, then you are already familiar with the struggle. But what if I told you that the best note-taking and writing app on the market also has the best solution for the worst writing obstacle?
I hooked Obsidian to a local LLM and it beats NotebookLM at its own game
My notes now talk back and it’s terrifyingly useful.
The most dangerous Obsidian plugin
Pain brings clarity
Productivity is a strange thing. We are always looking for ways to trick ourselves into working. Techniques like the Pomodoro method use time as a platform: when you see the clock ticking, you instinctively want to make the most out of it.
But I’m not talking about something as benign as a Pomodoro timer. No — this plugin is far more dangerous. In fact, it’s literally called Dangerous Mode. And for good reason.
The Dangerous Mode Obsidian plugin brings a simple solution to a complicated problem. You start a timed session — be it 5, 10, or 15 minutes — and you start writing. There will be a timer at the bottom of the screen counting down. So far, so good.
It’s literally called Dangerous Mode. And for good reason.
But if you stop writing at any moment, you’ll notice a red glare appearing around the edges of your screen. A red glare is never a good sign, right? If you stick around to find out what happens next, you’ll find that your entire note — everything you had written so far during the session — disappears.
That is the terrifying beauty of this plugin. When you start a five-minute session to write, you must write for five minutes. It creates a “sunk cost” dynamic that actually works in your favor. If you start the timer and don’t write a single word, you don’t have anything to lose. But if you manage to write even two sentences, you now have to see it through to the end; otherwise, that progress will be for naught.
The mechanics of the Obsidian plugin
No undo, no mercy
The plugin only works on the active note — the developer makes this very clear, and repeats it often. Your other notes are safe. You have to start a session manually. You can assign a hotkey, but I usually just press Ctrl + P to bring up Obsidian’s command palette and type “Dangerous Mode” to start a session.
The red glare appears the moment you stop writing. You get three seconds to resume typing; otherwise, everything is gone. And when I say gone, I mean gone. It doesn’t move to a trash folder. It doesn’t get archived somewhere. It simply ceases to exist.
The plugin also disables copy, paste, and the context menu to discourage cheating. But then again, why would you want to cheat a method you willingly chose, for your own benefit?
If you really wanted to cheat, you could recover the deleted note through version history if you’re subscribed to Obsidian Sync. And even if you use other syncing solutions, chances are you still have some form of version history available.
Safer Obsidian plugins for the faint of heart
Carrots instead of sticks
Obsidian is wonderful — not so much because of its built-in features, but because it’s the perfect platform for adding exactly what you want through plugins.
I’ll stop talking about this particular plugin for now, but it’s worth mentioning that the idea behind it comes from the most dangerous writing app I covered some time ago. I go into more detail about using this approach there, if you’re curious.
There are plenty of other plugins that can help you write more smoothly. One approach is to make your Obsidian vault feel more like a dedicated writer’s tool. For me, that’s as simple as installing a theme that makes Obsidian resemble a typewriter — and reinforcing that feeling with the Typewriter Scroll plugin. Sometimes, that alone is enough to get the words flowing.
A plugin as brutal as Dangerous Mode is for emergencies. If you’re not the type who “works better under pressure,” there are gentler, more gamified options. The Writing Goals plugin adds a clean sidebar showing your targets and progress. Word Sprint brings a Pomodoro-style timer into Obsidian. It offers a similar push — but in a much kinder, tamer way.
- OS
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Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS
- Developer
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Dynalist Inc.
Embracing the chaos
The Dangerous Mode Obsidian plugin has been a wonderful addition to my writing workflow. Of course, I have to be careful. I use this exclusively in my second vault, where I do most of my creative writing and drafting. I can’t allow anything of this nature to be present in my academic vault. The Dangerous Mode plugin is simply too risky to keep around notes that require research and careful thought.
At the end of the day, tools are just there to facilitate the flow state. Whether you need a gentle nudge from a progress bar or the existential threat of your work being incinerated, Obsidian has a plugin for it.
