diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.css b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.css
index aa2fec15..30b75f9c 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.css
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.css
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @import "../../../../UI/theme";
 
-.root {
+.rawWrapper {
   position: relative;
 }
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   composes: editorControlBarSticky from "../VisualEditor/index.css";
 }
 
-.SlateEditor {
+.rawEditor {
   position: relative;
   overflow: hidden;
   overflow-x: auto;
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.js
index 15bef1b6..6615a1f2 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.js
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/RawEditor/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React, { PropTypes } from 'react';
-import { Editor as SlateEditor, Plain as SlatePlain } from 'slate';
+import { Editor as Slate, Plain } from 'slate';
 import { markdownToRemark, remarkToMarkdown } from '../../unified';
 import Toolbar from '../Toolbar/Toolbar';
 import { Sticky } from '../../../../UI/Sticky/Sticky';
@@ -8,32 +8,44 @@ import styles from './index.css';
 export default class RawEditor extends React.Component {
   constructor(props) {
     super(props);
+    /**
+     * The value received is a Remark AST (MDAST), and must be stringified
+     * to plain text before Slate's Plain serializer can convert it to the
+     * Slate AST.
+     */
     const value = remarkToMarkdown(this.props.value);
     this.state = {
-      editorState: SlatePlain.deserialize(value || ''),
+      editorState: Plain.deserialize(value || ''),
     };
   }
 
   shouldComponentUpdate(nextProps, nextState) {
-    if (this.state.editorState.equals(nextState.editorState)) {
-      return false
-    }
-    return true;
+    return !this.state.editorState.equals(nextState.editorState);
   }
 
   handleChange = editorState => {
     this.setState({ editorState });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * When the document value changes, serialize from Slate's AST back to plain
+   * text (which is Markdown), and then deserialize from that to a Remark MDAST,
+   * before passing up as the new value.
+   */
   handleDocumentChange = (doc, editorState) => {
-    const value = SlatePlain.serialize(editorState);
-    const html = markdownToRemark(value);
-    this.props.onChange(html);
+    const value = Plain.serialize(editorState);
+    const mdast = markdownToRemark(value);
+    this.props.onChange(mdast);
   };
 
+  /**
+   * If a paste contains plain text, deserialize it to Slate's AST and insert
+   * to the document. Selection logic (where to insert, whether to replace) is
+   * handled by Slate.
+   */
   handlePaste = (e, data, state) => {
     if (data.text) {
-      const fragment = SlatePlain.deserialize(data.text).document;
+      const fragment = Plain.deserialize(data.text).document;
       return state.transform().insertFragment(fragment).apply();
     }
   };
@@ -44,7 +56,7 @@ export default class RawEditor extends React.Component {
 
   render() {
     return (
-      <div className={styles.root}>
+      <div className={styles.rawWrapper}>
         <Sticky
           className={styles.editorControlBar}
           classNameActive={styles.editorControlBarSticky}
@@ -52,8 +64,8 @@ export default class RawEditor extends React.Component {
         >
           <Toolbar onToggleMode={this.handleToggleMode} disabled rawMode />
         </Sticky>
-        <SlateEditor
-          className={styles.SlateEditor}
+        <Slate
+          className={styles.rawEditor}
           state={this.state.editorState}
           onChange={this.handleChange}
           onDocumentChange={this.handleDocumentChange}
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/components.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/components.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a06e026
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/components.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import cn from 'classnames';
+import styles from './index.css';
+
+/**
+ * Slate uses React components to render each type of node that it receives.
+ * This is the closest thing Slate has to a schema definition. The types are set
+ * by us when we manually deserialize from Remark's MDAST to Slate's AST.
+ */
+
+export const MARK_COMPONENTS = {
+  bold: props => <strong>{props.children}</strong>,
+  italic: props => <em>{props.children}</em>,
+  strikethrough: props => <s>{props.children}</s>,
+  code: props => <code>{props.children}</code>,
+};
+
+export const NODE_COMPONENTS = {
+  paragraph: props => <p {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</p>,
+  'list-item': props => <li {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</li>,
+  'bulleted-list': props => <ul {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</ul>,
+  'numbered-list': props =>
+    <ol {...props.attributes} start={props.node.data.get('start') || 1}>{props.children}</ol>,
+  quote: props => <blockquote {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</blockquote>,
+  code: props => <pre><code {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</code></pre>,
+  'heading-one': props => <h1 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h1>,
+  'heading-two': props => <h2 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h2>,
+  'heading-three': props => <h3 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h3>,
+  'heading-four': props => <h4 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h4>,
+  'heading-five': props => <h5 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h5>,
+  'heading-six': props => <h6 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h6>,
+  table: props => <table><tbody {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</tbody></table>,
+  'table-row': props => <tr {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</tr>,
+  'table-cell': props => <td {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</td>,
+  'thematic-break': props => <hr {...props.attributes}/>,
+  'shortcode-wrapper': props => <div {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</div>,
+  link: props => {
+    const data = props.node.get('data');
+    const url = data.get('url');
+    const title = data.get('title');
+    return <a href={href} title={title} {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</a>;
+  },
+  shortcode: props => {
+    const { attributes, node, state: editorState } = props;
+    const isSelected = editorState.selection.hasFocusIn(node);
+    const className = cn(styles.shortcode, { [styles.shortcodeSelected]: isSelected });
+    return <span {...attributes} className={className} draggable >{node.data.get('shortcode')}</span>;
+  },
+};
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.css b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.css
index b7a3aafb..6c40e7c4 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.css
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.css
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
   border-color: var(--textFieldBorderColor);
 }
 
-.editor {
+.wrapper {
   position: relative;
   & h1, & h2, & h3 {
     padding: 0;
@@ -49,26 +49,7 @@
   }
 }
 
-.dragging { }
-
-.shim {
-  position: absolute;
-  top: 0;
-  right: 0;
-  bottom: 0;
-  left: 0;
-  display: none;
-  border: 2px dashed #aaa;
-  background: rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
-}
-
-.dragging .shim {
-  z-index: 1000;
-  display: block;
-  pointer-events: none;
-}
-
-.slateEditor {
+.editor {
   position: relative;
   overflow: hidden;
   overflow-x: auto;
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js
index 75f3072f..70c067e2 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/index.js
@@ -1,215 +1,37 @@
 import React, { Component, PropTypes } from 'react';
-import ReactDOMServer from 'react-dom/server';
-import { Map, List, fromJS } from 'immutable';
-import { get, reduce, mapValues } from 'lodash';
-import cn from 'classnames';
-import { Editor as SlateEditor, Raw as SlateRaw, Text as SlateText, Block as SlateBlock, Selection as SlateSelection} from 'slate';
-import EditList from 'slate-edit-list';
-import EditTable from 'slate-edit-table';
-import { markdownToRemark, remarkToMarkdown, slateToRemark, remarkToSlate, markdownToHtml, htmlToSlate } from '../../unified';
+import { get, isEmpty } from 'lodash';
+import { Editor as Slate, Raw, Block, Text } from 'slate';
+import { slateToRemark, remarkToSlate, htmlToSlate } from '../../unified';
 import registry from '../../../../../lib/registry';
-import { createAssetProxy } from '../../../../../valueObjects/AssetProxy';
 import Toolbar from '../Toolbar/Toolbar';
 import { Sticky } from '../../../../UI/Sticky/Sticky';
+import { MARK_COMPONENTS, NODE_COMPONENTS } from './components';
+import RULES from './rules';
+import plugins, { EditListConfigured } from './plugins';
+import onKeyDown from './keys';
 import styles from './index.css';
 
-const DEFAULT_NODE = 'paragraph';
-
-const BLOCK_TAGS = {
-  p: 'paragraph',
-  li: 'list-item',
-  ul: 'bulleted-list',
-  ol: 'numbered-list',
-  blockquote: 'quote',
-  pre: 'code',
-  h1: 'heading-one',
-  h2: 'heading-two',
-  h3: 'heading-three',
-  h4: 'heading-four',
-  h5: 'heading-five',
-  h6: 'heading-six',
-}
-
-const MARK_TAGS = {
-  strong: 'bold',
-  em: 'italic',
-  u: 'underline',
-  s: 'strikethrough',
-  del: 'strikethrough',
-  code: 'code'
-}
-
-const BLOCK_COMPONENTS = {
-  'container': props => <div {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</div>,
-  'paragraph': props => <p {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</p>,
-  'list-item': props => <li {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</li>,
-  'numbered-list': props => {
-    const { data } = props.node;
-    const start = data.get('start') || 1;
-    return <ol {...props.attributes} start={start}>{props.children}</ol>;
-  },
-  'bulleted-list': props => <ul {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</ul>,
-  'quote': props => <blockquote {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</blockquote>,
-  'code': props => <pre><code {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</code></pre>,
-  'heading-one': props => <h1 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h1>,
-  'heading-two': props => <h2 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h2>,
-  'heading-three': props => <h3 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h3>,
-  'heading-four': props => <h4 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h4>,
-  'heading-five': props => <h5 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h5>,
-  'heading-six': props => <h6 {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</h6>,
-  'image': props => {
-    const data = props.node && props.node.get('data');
-    const src = data.get('url');
-    const alt = data.get('alt');
-    const title = data.get('title');
-    return <div><img src={src} alt={alt} title={title}{...props.attributes}/></div>;
-  },
-  'table': props => <table><tbody {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</tbody></table>,
-  'table-row': props => <tr {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</tr>,
-  'table-cell': props => <td {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</td>,
-  'thematic-break': props => <hr {...props.attributes}/>,
-};
-const getShortcodeId = props => {
-  if (props.node) {
-    const result = props.node.getIn(['data', 'shortcode', 'shortcodeId']);
-    return result || props.node.getIn(['data', 'shortcode']).shortcodeId;
-  }
-  return null;
-}
-
-const shortcodeStyles = {border: '2px solid black', padding: '8px', margin: '2px 0', cursor: 'pointer'};
-
-const NODE_COMPONENTS = {
-  ...BLOCK_COMPONENTS,
-  'link': props => {
-    const data = props.node.get('data');
-    const href = data.get('url');
-    const title = data.get('title');
-    return <a href={href} title={title} {...props.attributes}>{props.children}</a>;
-  },
-  'shortcode': props => {
-    const { attributes, node, state: editorState } = props;
-    const { data } = node;
-    const isSelected = editorState.selection.hasFocusIn(node);
-    return (
-      <div
-        className={cn(styles.shortcode, { [styles.shortcodeSelected]: isSelected })}
-        {...attributes}
-        draggable
-      >
-        {data.get('shortcode')}
-      </div>
-    );
-  },
-};
-
-const MARK_COMPONENTS = {
-  bold: props => <strong>{props.children}</strong>,
-  italic: props => <em>{props.children}</em>,
-  strikethrough: props => <s>{props.children}</s>,
-  code: props => <code>{props.children}</code>,
-};
-
-const SoftBreak = (options = {}) => ({
-  onKeyDown(e, data, state) {
-    if (data.key != 'enter') return;
-    if (options.shift && e.shiftKey == false) return;
-
-    const { onlyIn, ignoreIn, closeAfter, unwrapBlocks, defaultBlock = 'paragraph' } = options;
-    const { type, nodes } = state.startBlock;
-    if (onlyIn && !onlyIn.includes(type)) return;
-    if (ignoreIn && ignoreIn.includes(type)) return;
-
-    const shouldClose = nodes.last().characters.takeLast(closeAfter).every(c => c.text === '\n');
-    if (closeAfter && shouldClose) {
-      const trimmed = state.transform().deleteBackward(closeAfter);
-      const unwrapped = unwrapBlocks
-        ? unwrapBlocks.reduce((acc, blockType) => acc.unwrapBlock(blockType), trimmed)
-        : trimmed;
-      return unwrapped.insertBlock(defaultBlock).apply();
-    }
-
-    return state.transform().insertText('\n').apply();
-  }
-});
-
-const BackspaceCloseBlock = (options = {}) => ({
-  onKeyDown(e, data, state) {
-    if (data.key != 'backspace') return;
-
-    const { defaultBlock = 'paragraph', ignoreIn, onlyIn } = options;
-    const { startBlock } = state;
-    const { type } = startBlock;
-
-    if (onlyIn && !onlyIn.includes(type)) return;
-    if (ignoreIn && ignoreIn.includes(type)) return;
-
-    const characters = startBlock.getFirstText().characters;
-    const isEmpty = !characters || characters.isEmpty();
-
-    if (isEmpty) {
-      return state.transform().insertBlock(defaultBlock).focus().apply();
-    }
-  }
-});
-
-const EditListPlugin = EditList({ types: ['bulleted-list', 'numbered-list'], typeItem: 'list-item' });
-
-const slatePlugins = [
-  SoftBreak({ ignoreIn: ['paragraph', 'list-item', 'numbered-list', 'bulleted-list', 'table', 'table-row', 'table-cell'], closeAfter: 1 }),
-  BackspaceCloseBlock({ ignoreIn: ['paragraph', 'list-item', 'bulleted-list', 'numbered-list', 'table', 'table-row', 'table-cell'] }),
-  EditListPlugin,
-  EditTable({ typeTable: 'table', typeRow: 'table-row', typeCell: 'table-cell' }),
-];
-
 export default class Editor extends Component {
   constructor(props) {
     super(props);
-    const plugins = registry.getEditorComponents();
-    const emptyRaw = {
-      nodes: [{ kind: 'block', type: 'paragraph', nodes: [
-        { kind: 'text', ranges: [{ text: '' }] }
-      ]}],
-    };
-    const remark = this.props.value && remarkToSlate(this.props.value);
-    const initialValue = get(remark, ['nodes', 'length']) ? remark : emptyRaw;
-    const editorState = SlateRaw.deserialize(initialValue, { terse: true });
+    const emptyBlock = Block.create({ kind: 'block', type: 'paragraph'});
+    const emptyRaw = { nodes: [emptyBlock] };
+    const mdast = this.props.value && remarkToSlate(this.props.value);
+    const mdastHasNodes = !isEmpty(get(mdast, 'nodes'))
+    const editorState = Raw.deserialize(mdastHasNodes ? mdast : emptyRaw, { terse: true });
     this.state = {
       editorState,
       schema: {
         nodes: NODE_COMPONENTS,
         marks: MARK_COMPONENTS,
-        rules: [
-          /**
-           * If the editor is ever in an empty state, insert an empty
-           * paragraph block.
-           */
-          {
-            match: object => object.kind === 'document',
-            validate: doc => {
-              const hasBlocks = !doc.getBlocks().isEmpty();
-              return hasBlocks ? null : {};
-            },
-            normalize: transform => {
-              const block = SlateBlock.create({
-                type: 'paragraph',
-                nodes: [SlateText.createFromString('')],
-              });
-              const { key } = transform.state.document;
-              return transform.insertNodeByKey(key, 0, block).focus();
-            },
-          },
-        ],
+        rules: RULES,
       },
-      plugins,
+      shortcodes: registry.getEditorComponents(),
     };
   }
 
   shouldComponentUpdate(nextProps, nextState) {
-    if (this.state.editorState.equals(nextState.editorState)) {
-      return false
-    }
-    return true;
+    return !this.state.editorState.equals(nextState.editorState);
   }
 
   handlePaste = (e, data, state) => {
@@ -217,12 +39,12 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
       return;
     }
     const ast = htmlToSlate(data.html);
-    const { document: doc } = SlateRaw.deserialize(ast, { terse: true });
+    const { document: doc } = Raw.deserialize(ast, { terse: true });
     return state.transform().insertFragment(doc).apply();
   }
 
   handleDocumentChange = (doc, editorState) => {
-    const raw = SlateRaw.serialize(editorState, { terse: true });
+    const raw = Raw.serialize(editorState, { terse: true });
     const mdast = slateToRemark(raw);
     this.props.onChange(mdast);
   };
@@ -230,70 +52,6 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
   hasMark = type => this.state.editorState.marks.some(mark => mark.type === type);
   hasBlock = type => this.state.editorState.blocks.some(node => node.type === type);
 
-  handleKeyDown = (e, data, state) => {
-    const createDefaultBlock = () => {
-      return SlateBlock.create({
-        type: 'paragraph',
-        nodes: [SlateText.createFromString('')]
-      });
-    };
-    if (data.key === 'enter') {
-      /**
-       * If "Enter" is pressed while a single void block is selected, a new
-       * paragraph should be added above or below it, and the current selection
-       * should be collapsed to the start of the new paragraph.
-       *
-       * If the selected block is the first block in the document, create the
-       * new block above it. If not, create the new block below it.
-       */
-      const { document: doc, selection, anchorBlock, focusBlock } = state;
-      const singleBlockSelected = anchorBlock === focusBlock;
-      if (!singleBlockSelected || !focusBlock.isVoid) return;
-
-      e.preventDefault();
-
-      const focusBlockParent = doc.getParent(focusBlock.key);
-      const focusBlockIndex = focusBlockParent.nodes.indexOf(focusBlock);
-      const focusBlockIsFirstChild = focusBlockIndex === 0;
-
-      const newBlock = createDefaultBlock();
-      const newBlockIndex = focusBlockIsFirstChild ? 0 : focusBlockIndex + 1;
-
-      return state.transform()
-        .insertNodeByKey(focusBlockParent.key, newBlockIndex, newBlock)
-        .collapseToStartOf(newBlock)
-        .apply();
-    }
-
-    if (data.isMod) {
-
-      if (data.key === 'y') {
-        e.preventDefault();
-        return state.transform().redo().focus().apply({ save: false });
-      }
-
-      if (data.key === 'z') {
-        e.preventDefault();
-        return state.transform()[data.isShift ? 'redo' : 'undo']().focus().apply({ save: false });
-      }
-
-      const marks = {
-        b: 'bold',
-        i: 'italic',
-        u: 'underlined',
-        s: 'strikethrough',
-        '`': 'code',
-      };
-
-      const mark = marks[data.key];
-
-      if (mark) {
-        e.preventDefault();
-        return state.transform().toggleMark(mark).apply();
-      }
-    }
-  };
-
   handleMarkClick = (event, type) => {
     event.preventDefault();
     const resolvedState = this.state.editorState.transform().focus().toggleMark(type).apply();
@@ -310,7 +68,7 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
     // Handle everything except list buttons.
     if (!['bulleted-list', 'numbered-list'].includes(type)) {
       const isActive = this.hasBlock(type);
-      const transformed = transform.setBlock(isActive ? DEFAULT_NODE : type);
+      const transformed = transform.setBlock(isActive ? 'paragraph' : type);
     }
 
     // Handle the extra wrapping required for list buttons.
@@ -318,16 +76,16 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
       const isSameListType = editorState.blocks.some(block => {
         return !!doc.getClosest(block.key, parent => parent.type === type);
       });
-      const isInList = EditListPlugin.utils.isSelectionInList(editorState);
+      const isInList = EditListConfigured.utils.isSelectionInList(editorState);
 
       if (isInList && isSameListType) {
-        EditListPlugin.transforms.unwrapList(transform, type);
+        EditListConfigured.transforms.unwrapList(transform, type);
       } else if (isInList) {
         const currentListType = type === 'bulleted-list' ? 'numbered-list' : 'bulleted-list';
-        EditListPlugin.transforms.unwrapList(transform, currentListType);
-        EditListPlugin.transforms.wrapInList(transform, type);
+        EditListConfigured.transforms.unwrapList(transform, currentListType);
+        EditListConfigured.transforms.wrapInList(transform, type);
       } else {
-        EditListPlugin.transforms.wrapInList(transform, type);
+        EditListConfigured.transforms.wrapInList(transform, type);
       }
     }
 
@@ -381,7 +139,7 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
       shortcodeValue: plugin.toBlock(shortcodeData.toJS()),
       shortcodeData,
     };
-    const nodes = [SlateText.createFromString('')];
+    const nodes = [Text.createFromString('')];
     const block = { kind: 'block', type: 'shortcode', data, isVoid: true, nodes };
     const resolvedState = editorState.transform().insertBlock(block).apply();
     this.ref.onChange(resolvedState);
@@ -401,17 +159,15 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
 
   render() {
     const { onAddAsset, onRemoveAsset, getAsset } = this.props;
-    const { plugins, selectionPosition, dragging } = this.state;
 
     return (
-      <div className={styles.editor}>
+      <div className={styles.wrapper}>
         <Sticky
           className={styles.editorControlBar}
           classNameActive={styles.editorControlBarSticky}
           fillContainerWidth
         >
           <Toolbar
-            selectionPosition={selectionPosition}
             buttons={{
               bold: this.getButtonProps('bold'),
               italic: this.getButtonProps('italic'),
@@ -424,21 +180,21 @@ export default class Editor extends Component {
               codeBlock: this.getButtonProps('code', { isBlock: true }),
             }}
             onToggleMode={this.handleToggle}
-            plugins={plugins}
+            plugins={this.state.shortcodes}
             onSubmit={this.handlePluginSubmit}
             onAddAsset={onAddAsset}
             onRemoveAsset={onRemoveAsset}
             getAsset={getAsset}
           />
         </Sticky>
-        <SlateEditor
-          className={styles.slateEditor}
+        <Slate
+          className={styles.editor}
           state={this.state.editorState}
           schema={this.state.schema}
-          plugins={slatePlugins}
+          plugins={plugins}
           onChange={editorState => this.setState({ editorState })}
           onDocumentChange={this.handleDocumentChange}
-          onKeyDown={this.handleKeyDown}
+          onKeyDown={onKeyDown}
           onPaste={this.handlePaste}
           ref={ref => this.ref = ref}
           spellCheck
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/keys.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/keys.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a5f839d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/keys.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import { Block, Text } from 'slate';
+
+export default onKeyDown;
+
+function onKeyDown(e, data, state) {
+  const createDefaultBlock = () => {
+    return Block.create({
+      type: 'paragraph',
+      nodes: [Text.createFromString('')]
+    });
+  };
+  if (data.key === 'enter') {
+    /**
+     * If "Enter" is pressed while a single void block is selected, a new
+     * paragraph should be added above or below it, and the current selection
+     * should be collapsed to the start of the new paragraph.
+     *
+     * If the selected block is the first block in the document, create the
+     * new block above it. If not, create the new block below it.
+     */
+    const { document: doc, selection, anchorBlock, focusBlock } = state;
+    const singleBlockSelected = anchorBlock === focusBlock;
+    if (!singleBlockSelected || !focusBlock.isVoid) return;
+
+    e.preventDefault();
+
+    const focusBlockParent = doc.getParent(focusBlock.key);
+    const focusBlockIndex = focusBlockParent.nodes.indexOf(focusBlock);
+    const focusBlockIsFirstChild = focusBlockIndex === 0;
+
+    const newBlock = createDefaultBlock();
+    const newBlockIndex = focusBlockIsFirstChild ? 0 : focusBlockIndex + 1;
+
+    return state.transform()
+      .insertNodeByKey(focusBlockParent.key, newBlockIndex, newBlock)
+      .collapseToStartOf(newBlock)
+      .apply();
+  }
+
+  if (data.isMod) {
+
+    if (data.key === 'y') {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      return state.transform().redo().focus().apply({ save: false });
+    }
+
+    if (data.key === 'z') {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      return state.transform()[data.isShift ? 'redo' : 'undo']().focus().apply({ save: false });
+    }
+
+    const marks = {
+      b: 'bold',
+      i: 'italic',
+      u: 'underlined',
+      s: 'strikethrough',
+      '`': 'code',
+    };
+
+    const mark = marks[data.key];
+
+    if (mark) {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      return state.transform().toggleMark(mark).apply();
+    }
+  }
+};
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/plugins.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/plugins.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..308a403f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/plugins.js
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import EditList from 'slate-edit-list';
+import EditTable from 'slate-edit-table';
+
+const SoftBreak = (options = {}) => ({
+  onKeyDown(e, data, state) {
+    if (data.key != 'enter') return;
+    if (options.shift && e.shiftKey == false) return;
+
+    const { onlyIn, ignoreIn, closeAfter, unwrapBlocks, defaultBlock = 'paragraph' } = options;
+    const { type, nodes } = state.startBlock;
+    if (onlyIn && !onlyIn.includes(type)) return;
+    if (ignoreIn && ignoreIn.includes(type)) return;
+
+    const shouldClose = nodes.last().characters.takeLast(closeAfter).every(c => c.text === '\n');
+    if (closeAfter && shouldClose) {
+      const trimmed = state.transform().deleteBackward(closeAfter);
+      const unwrapped = unwrapBlocks
+        ? unwrapBlocks.reduce((acc, blockType) => acc.unwrapBlock(blockType), trimmed)
+        : trimmed;
+      return unwrapped.insertBlock(defaultBlock).apply();
+    }
+
+    return state.transform().insertText('\n').apply();
+  }
+});
+
+const SoftBreakOpts = {
+  onlyIn: ['quote', 'code'],
+  closeAfter: 1
+};
+
+export const SoftBreakConfigured = SoftBreak(SoftBreakOpts);
+
+const BackspaceCloseBlock = (options = {}) => ({
+  onKeyDown(e, data, state) {
+    if (data.key != 'backspace') return;
+
+    const { defaultBlock = 'paragraph', ignoreIn, onlyIn } = options;
+    const { startBlock } = state;
+    const { type } = startBlock;
+
+    if (onlyIn && !onlyIn.includes(type)) return;
+    if (ignoreIn && ignoreIn.includes(type)) return;
+
+    const characters = startBlock.getFirstText().characters;
+    const isEmpty = !characters || characters.isEmpty();
+
+    if (isEmpty) {
+      return state.transform().insertBlock(defaultBlock).focus().apply();
+    }
+  }
+});
+
+const BackspaceCloseBlockOpts = {
+  ignoreIn: [
+    'paragraph',
+    'list-item',
+    'bulleted-list',
+    'numbered-list',
+    'table',
+    'table-row',
+    'table-cell',
+  ],
+};
+
+export const BackspaceCloseBlockConfigured = BackspaceCloseBlock(BackspaceCloseBlockOpts);
+
+const EditListOpts = {
+  types: ['bulleted-list', 'numbered-list'],
+  typeItem: 'list-item',
+};
+
+export const EditListConfigured = EditList(EditListOpts);
+
+const EditTableOpts = {
+  typeTable: 'table',
+  typeRow: 'table-row',
+  typeCell: 'table-cell',
+};
+
+export const EditTableConfigured = EditTable(EditTableOpts);
+
+const plugins = [
+  SoftBreakConfigured,
+  BackspaceCloseBlockConfigured,
+  EditListConfigured,
+  EditTableConfigured,
+];
+
+export default plugins;
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/rules.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/rules.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..261f9e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/VisualEditor/rules.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { Block, Text } from 'slate';
+
+/**
+ * Rules are used to validate the editor state each time it changes, to ensure
+ * it is never rendered in an undesirable state.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * If the editor is ever in an empty state, insert an empty
+ * paragraph block.
+ */
+const enforceNeverEmpty = {
+  match: object => object.kind === 'document',
+  validate: doc => {
+    const hasBlocks = !doc.getBlocks().isEmpty();
+    return hasBlocks ? null : {};
+  },
+  normalize: transform => {
+    const block = Block.create({
+      type: 'paragraph',
+      nodes: [Text.createFromString('')],
+    });
+    const { key } = transform.state.document;
+    return transform.insertNodeByKey(key, 0, block).focus();
+  },
+};
+
+const rules = [ enforceNeverEmpty ];
+
+export default rules;
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/index.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/index.js
index 6ed3df10..e2063020 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/index.js
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/MarkdownControl/index.js
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ import { StickyContainer } from '../../../UI/Sticky/Sticky';
 const MODE_STORAGE_KEY = 'cms.md-mode';
 
 /**
- * Slate can serialize to html, but we persist the value as markdown. Serializing
- * the html to markdown on every keystroke is a big perf hit, so we'll register
- * functions to perform those actions only when necessary, such as after loading
- * and before persisting.
+ * The markdown field value is persisted as a markdown string, but stringifying
+ * on every keystroke is a big perf hit, so we'll register functions to perform
+ * those actions only when necessary, such as after loading and before
+ * persisting.
  */
 registry.registerWidgetValueSerializer('markdown', {
   serialize: remarkToMarkdown,
diff --git a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/unified.js b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/unified.js
index b5f5dfc7..60ea8abd 100644
--- a/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/unified.js
+++ b/src/components/Widgets/Markdown/unified.js
@@ -392,8 +392,11 @@ const remarkToSlatePlugin = () => {
 
     if (node.type === 'linkReference') {
       const definition = getDefinition(node.identifier);
-      const { title, url } = definition;
-      const data = { title, url };
+      const data = {};
+      if (definition) {
+        data.title = definition.title;
+        data.url = definition.url;
+      }
       return { kind: 'inline', type: typeMap['link'], data, nodes };
     }
 
@@ -405,8 +408,11 @@ const remarkToSlatePlugin = () => {
 
     if (node.type === 'imageReference') {
       const definition = getDefinition(node.identifier);
-      const { title, url } = definition;
-      const data = { title, url };
+      const data = {};
+      if (definition) {
+        data.title = definition.title;
+        data.url = definition.url;
+      }
       return { kind: 'block', type: typeMap['image'], data };
     }
   };
@@ -536,6 +542,10 @@ export const slateToRemark = raw => {
       return u('html', { data: node.data }, node.data.shortcodeValue);
     }
 
+    if (node.type === 'shortcode-wrapper') {
+      return u('paragraph', children);
+    }
+
     if (node.type.startsWith('heading')) {
       const depths = { one: 1, two: 2, three: 3, four: 4, five: 5, six: 6 };
       const depth = node.type.split('-')[1];
@@ -597,22 +607,6 @@ export const remarkToHtml = (mdast, getAsset) => {
   return output
 }
 
-export const markdownToHtml = markdown => {
-  // Parse shortcodes from the raw markdown rather than via Unified plugin.
-  // This ensures against conflicts between shortcode syntax and Unified
-  // parsing rules.
-  const markdownWithParsedShortcodes = parseShortcodesFromMarkdown(markdown);
-  const result = unified()
-    .use(markdownToRemarkPlugin, { fences: true, pedantic: true, footnotes: true, commonmark: true })
-    .use(remarkToRehype, { allowDangerousHTML: true })
-    .use(rehypeRemoveEmpty)
-    .use(rehypeMinifyWhitespace)
-    .use(rehypeToHtml, { allowDangerousHTML: true })
-    .processSync(markdownWithParsedShortcodes)
-    .contents;
-  return result;
-}
-
 export const htmlToSlate = html => {
   const hast = unified()
     .use(htmlToRehype, { fragment: true })