Some bits of writing need a clutter free environment.
No tweets, no pings, no open tabs.
Here’s a simple, effective and free way to create that environment on your machine. It’s called Dark Room.
Basically it creates a full screen that you just type into. It covers up all other distractions and lets you work in peace.
It’s a blank canvas rather than feature rich word processor, so it also means no formating requests or interuptions as you go.
I’m not geeky enough to be able to describe more about how it works. The simplest thing I can say is that is does work, and is definitely worth a try. Download for free from here. Thanks to @jnswanson for pointing me towards it.
Hi Joanna,
I’m using WriteRoom – Dark Room’s cousin for the Mac – for exactly the same reason and I absolutely love it. Only when I’m writing something where I really need to look things up on the internet it doesn’t work so well as I find myself switching to Firefox constantly…
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Hi Alexandra thanks for pointing us to the Mac version. It’s a great idea / resource isn’t it? I know what you mean about the switching – for that reason I only use Dark Room when I’ve got already done the research or have something longer to write that I need to ‘just write’ and maybe check elements of it later.
There’s also Q10, which is a simple standalone program that does the same as Dark Room, only no need to install the .Net program. I found the clutter free writing screen perfect.
http://www.baara.com/q10/ is where you can download it.
.-= Naoko´s last blog ..VGL in a nutshell =-.
Joanna, what I need is something to keep my MIND from wandering as I write. It walks off on me all the time.
.-= Karen Putz´s last blog ..On Being Deaf =-.
I agree with Karen – How do we keep or MIND focused? I think not only is it helpful to turn off on-screen computer distractions, but to turn off mental distractions as well. Too bad there wasn’t a ‘Dark room’ for our mind sometimes – lol!
Thanks for this software!
.-= Julie – Inspired to Write´s last blog ..Why Online Writers Should Care About SEO =-.
ah write room is awesome! thanks alexandra and jo!
.-= Paddy´s last blog ..False Evidence Appearing Real =-.
Naoko thanks for that addition
Karen I’m not sure there’s a bit of software for that! But it’s a great question… inspired a series of posts, starting next week.
Julie indeed!
Paddy glad we could help
The software looks really interesting but I’m not sure I could use it. I would most likely get distracted by something and then completely lose my place and then that defeats the purpose I suppose. I’m sure it would work well for others though!
.-= Tiffany´s last blog ..Generating an Online Passive Income Promoting Physical Products =-.
I’m using WriteRoom for Mac, it’s about the same as DarkRoom. I also use Scrivener for my novel. It’s awesome when it comes to a distraction free environment.
.-= Jens P. Berget´s last blog ..I’m in Love With A Fairy tale =-.
Tiffany I know what you mean – I find it works best when I’ve got something very specific already in my head and I need a distraction free environment to get it written down. It wouldn’t work when I’m still in the exploratory stage
Jens thanks for that addition – I’ve heard great things about Scrivener though not tried it (as not a novel writer
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