WriteRoom / Dark Room

1. I never realised how much visual clutter there was on my desktop, and how much it affected my writing, until now: thanks to a great bit of software called WriteRoom (OS X only, Windows users can try Dark Room, which does pretty much the same thing. I use it on my VAIO.) Such a simple idea — remove everything that could cause distraction, leave only the most important things behind. In this case, it’s just you and the words. Nothing else. It’s brilliant! It basically turns your computer into a typewriter, albeit one which lets you edit as well as type. You have a blank background with nothing but type. You choose the colour, the font, the size of the font and the length of a line. That’s it. The rest is up to you.

2. What’s even better is that WriteRoom also lets you install scripts and plugins that extend it’s features. I have scripts that, with the appropriate keyboard command (which you can choose), will do a word count, or send it to my email client. The company keeps a section of the forum for users to submit their own scripts, so other users can use and abuse as they see fit. And, best of all, the program is freeware.

3. This is what I love most about using a Mac. It’s not just the shiny hardware and pretty software from Apple, but the great user and developer community. I’m sure there are great programs for Windows as well, but they’re really hard to find. Most programs I find useful on Windows has a user interface that doesn’t just look like an afterthought, but rather a no-thought. But Mac developers seem to care about what their software looks like as well as how it functions. I like that. Aesthetics matter an awful lot in UI design — people work better in nice looking places.

4. Anyway, rant over, have a look for yourself — I’ll bet you’ll dig it as much as I do.

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