diff --git a/docs/source/api.rst b/docs/source/api.rst
index 7abac511..8453deac 100644
--- a/docs/source/api.rst
+++ b/docs/source/api.rst
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Stream
    rate_limit
    scatter
    sink
+   sink_to_textfile
    slice
    sliding_window
    starmap
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ Definitions
 .. autofunction:: partition
 .. autofunction:: rate_limit
 .. autofunction:: sink
+.. autofunction:: sink_to_textfile
 .. autofunction:: sliding_window
 .. autofunction:: Stream
 .. autofunction:: timed_window
diff --git a/docs/source/plugins.rst b/docs/source/plugins.rst
index 9ae4e934..f521318e 100644
--- a/docs/source/plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/source/plugins.rst
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Different kinds of add-ons go into different entry point groups:
 =========== ======================= =====================
  Source      ``streamz.Source``      ``streamz.sources``
  Node        ``streamz.Stream``      ``streamz.nodes``
- Sink        ``streamz.Stream``      ``streamz.sinks``
+ Sink        ``streamz.Sink``        ``streamz.sinks``
 =========== ======================= =====================
 
 
diff --git a/streamz/__init__.py b/streamz/__init__.py
index 82e3cf46..18cf5d2a 100644
--- a/streamz/__init__.py
+++ b/streamz/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from .core import *
 from .graph import *
 from .sources import *
+from .sinks import *
 from .plugins import load_plugins
 
 load_plugins(Stream)
diff --git a/streamz/core.py b/streamz/core.py
index aa5106bc..0149b691 100644
--- a/streamz/core.py
+++ b/streamz/core.py
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@
 
 no_default = '--no-default--'
 
-_global_sinks = set()
-
 _html_update_streams = set()
 
 thread_state = threading.local()
@@ -167,8 +165,10 @@ def __init__(self, upstream=None, upstreams=None, stream_name=None,
         self.downstreams = OrderedWeakrefSet()
         if upstreams is not None:
             self.upstreams = list(upstreams)
-        else:
+        elif upstream is not None:
             self.upstreams = [upstream]
+        else:
+            self.upstreams = []
 
         self._set_asynchronous(asynchronous)
         self._set_loop(loop)
@@ -238,10 +238,7 @@ def _inform_asynchronous(self, asynchronous):
     def _add_upstream(self, upstream):
         """Add upstream to current upstreams, this method is overridden for
         classes which handle stream specific buffers/caches"""
-        if self.upstreams == [None]:
-            self.upstreams[0] = upstream
-        else:
-            self.upstreams.append(upstream)
+        self.upstreams.append(upstream)
 
     def _add_downstream(self, downstream):
         """Add downstream to current downstreams"""
@@ -254,10 +251,7 @@ def _remove_downstream(self, downstream):
     def _remove_upstream(self, upstream):
         """Remove upstream from current upstreams, this method is overridden for
         classes which handle stream specific buffers/caches"""
-        if len(self.upstreams) == 1:
-            self.upstreams[0] = [None]
-        else:
-            self.upstreams.remove(upstream)
+        self.upstreams.remove(upstream)
 
     @classmethod
     def register_api(cls, modifier=identity, attribute_name=None):
@@ -529,8 +523,8 @@ def destroy(self, streams=None):
         if streams is None:
             streams = self.upstreams
         for upstream in list(streams):
-            upstream.downstreams.remove(self)
-            self.upstreams.remove(upstream)
+            upstream._remove_downstream(self)
+            self._remove_upstream(upstream)
 
     def scatter(self, **kwargs):
         from .dask import scatter
@@ -656,48 +650,6 @@ def _release_refs(self, metadata, n=1):
                 m['ref'].release(n)
 
 
-@Stream.register_api()
-class sink(Stream):
-    """ Apply a function on every element
-
-    Examples
-    --------
-    >>> source = Stream()
-    >>> L = list()
-    >>> source.sink(L.append)
-    >>> source.sink(print)
-    >>> source.sink(print)
-    >>> source.emit(123)
-    123
-    123
-    >>> L
-    [123]
-
-    See Also
-    --------
-    map
-    Stream.sink_to_list
-    """
-    _graphviz_shape = 'trapezium'
-
-    def __init__(self, upstream, func, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.func = func
-        # take the stream specific kwargs out
-        stream_name = kwargs.pop("stream_name", None)
-        self.kwargs = kwargs
-        self.args = args
-
-        Stream.__init__(self, upstream, stream_name=stream_name)
-        _global_sinks.add(self)
-
-    def update(self, x, who=None, metadata=None):
-        result = self.func(x, *self.args, **self.kwargs)
-        if gen.isawaitable(result):
-            return result
-        else:
-            return []
-
-
 @Stream.register_api()
 class map(Stream):
     """ Apply a function to every element in the stream
diff --git a/streamz/graph.py b/streamz/graph.py
index 0189e8d7..8b181fc2 100644
--- a/streamz/graph.py
+++ b/streamz/graph.py
@@ -69,8 +69,6 @@ def create_graph(node, graph):
     """
     # Step 1 build a set of all the nodes
     node_set = build_node_set(node)
-    if None in node_set:
-        node_set.remove(None)
 
     # Step 2 for each node in the set add to the graph
     for n in node_set:
@@ -87,8 +85,7 @@ def create_graph(node, graph):
     # Step 3 for each node establish its edges
     for n in node_set:
         t = hash(n)
-        upstreams = [_ for _ in n.upstreams if _ is not None]
-        for nn in upstreams:
+        for nn in n.upstreams:
             tt = hash(nn)
             graph.add_edge(tt, t)
 
diff --git a/streamz/sinks.py b/streamz/sinks.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..358339ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/streamz/sinks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+import inspect
+import weakref
+
+from tornado import gen
+
+from streamz import Stream
+
+# sinks add themselves here to avoid being garbage-collected
+_global_sinks = set()
+
+
+class Sink(Stream):
+
+    _graphviz_shape = 'trapezium'
+
+    def __init__(self, upstream, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(upstream, **kwargs)
+        _global_sinks.add(self)
+
+
+@Stream.register_api()
+class sink(Sink):
+    """ Apply a function on every element
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    func: callable
+        A function that will be applied on every element.
+    args:
+        Positional arguments that will be passed to ``func`` after the incoming element.
+    kwargs:
+        Stream-specific arguments will be passed to ``Stream.__init__``, the rest of
+        them will be passed to ``func``.
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    >>> source = Stream()
+    >>> L = list()
+    >>> source.sink(L.append)
+    >>> source.sink(print)
+    >>> source.sink(print)
+    >>> source.emit(123)
+    123
+    123
+    >>> L
+    [123]
+
+    See Also
+    --------
+    map
+    Stream.sink_to_list
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, upstream, func, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.func = func
+        # take the stream specific kwargs out
+        sig = set(inspect.signature(Stream).parameters)
+        stream_kwargs = {k: v for (k, v) in kwargs.items() if k in sig}
+        self.kwargs = {k: v for (k, v) in kwargs.items() if k not in sig}
+        self.args = args
+        super().__init__(upstream, **stream_kwargs)
+
+    def update(self, x, who=None, metadata=None):
+        result = self.func(x, *self.args, **self.kwargs)
+        if gen.isawaitable(result):
+            return result
+        else:
+            return []
+
+    def destroy(self):
+        super().destroy()
+        _global_sinks.remove(self)
+
+
+@Stream.register_api()
+class sink_to_textfile(Sink):
+    """ Write elements to a plain text file, one element per line.
+
+        Type of elements must be ``str``.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        file: str or file-like
+            File to write the elements to. ``str`` is treated as a file name to open.
+            If file-like, descriptor must be open in text mode. Note that the file
+            descriptor will be closed when this sink is destroyed.
+        end: str, optional
+            This value will be written to the file after each element.
+            Defaults to newline character.
+        mode: str, optional
+            If file is ``str``, file will be opened in this mode. Defaults to ``"a"``
+            (append mode).
+
+        Examples
+        --------
+        >>> source = Stream()
+        >>> source.map(str).sink_to_textfile("test.txt")
+        >>> source.emit(0)
+        >>> source.emit(1)
+        >>> print(open("test.txt", "r").read())
+        0
+        1
+    """
+    def __init__(self, upstream, file, end="\n", mode="a", **kwargs):
+        self._end = end
+        self._fp = open(file, mode=mode) if isinstance(file, str) else file
+        weakref.finalize(self, self._fp.close)
+        super().__init__(upstream, **kwargs)
+
+    def __del__(self):
+        self._fp.close()
+
+    def update(self, x, who=None, metadata=None):
+        self._fp.write(x + self._end)
diff --git a/streamz/tests/test_core.py b/streamz/tests/test_core.py
index 2eb14f5c..b288ed32 100644
--- a/streamz/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/streamz/tests/test_core.py
@@ -395,23 +395,6 @@ def test_sink_to_file():
         assert data == 'a\nb\n'
 
 
-def test_sink_with_args_and_kwargs():
-    L = dict()
-
-    def mycustomsink(elem, key, prefix=""):
-        key = prefix + key
-        if key not in L:
-            L[key] = list()
-        L[key].append(elem)
-
-    s = Stream()
-    s.sink(mycustomsink, "cat", "super")
-
-    s.emit(1)
-    s.emit(2)
-    assert L['supercat'] == [1, 2]
-
-
 @gen_test()
 def test_counter():
     counter = itertools.count()
@@ -1097,7 +1080,7 @@ def test_connect():
     # connect assumes this default behaviour
     # of stream initialization
     assert not source_downstream.downstreams
-    assert source_downstream.upstreams == [None]
+    assert source_downstream.upstreams == []
 
     # initialize the second stream to connect to
     source_upstream = Stream()
diff --git a/streamz/tests/test_sinks.py b/streamz/tests/test_sinks.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6af7eb42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/streamz/tests/test_sinks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import weakref
+
+import pytest
+from streamz import Stream
+from streamz.sinks import _global_sinks
+from streamz.utils_test import tmpfile
+
+
+def test_sink_with_args_and_kwargs():
+    L = dict()
+
+    def mycustomsink(elem, key, prefix=""):
+        key = prefix + key
+        if key not in L:
+            L[key] = list()
+        L[key].append(elem)
+
+    s = Stream()
+    sink = s.sink(mycustomsink, "cat", "super", stream_name="test")
+    s.emit(1)
+    s.emit(2)
+
+    assert L['supercat'] == [1, 2]
+    assert sink.name == "test"
+
+
+def test_sink_to_textfile_fp():
+    source = Stream()
+    with tmpfile() as filename, open(filename, "w") as fp:
+        source.map(str).sink_to_textfile(fp)
+        source.emit(0)
+        source.emit(1)
+
+        fp.flush()
+
+        assert open(filename, "r").read() == "0\n1\n"
+
+
+def test_sink_to_textfile_named():
+    source = Stream()
+    with tmpfile() as filename:
+        _sink = source.map(str).sink_to_textfile(filename)
+        source.emit(0)
+        source.emit(1)
+
+        _sink._fp.flush()
+
+        assert open(filename, "r").read() == "0\n1\n"
+
+
+def test_sink_to_textfile_closes():
+    source = Stream()
+    with tmpfile() as filename:
+        sink = source.sink_to_textfile(filename)
+        fp = sink._fp
+        _global_sinks.remove(sink)
+        del sink
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"I/O operation on closed file\."):
+            fp.write(".")
+
+
+def test_sink_destroy():
+    source = Stream()
+    sink = source.sink(lambda x: None)
+    ref = weakref.ref(sink)
+    sink.destroy()
+    del sink
+
+    assert ref() is None