Thoughts about using a distraction-free editor
Posted in opinion, technology, writing on September 1st, 2010 by scott – Be the first to comment
As it turns out, I’ve written quite a bit about distraction-free text editors (also called full-screen editors) in this space — here, here, here, and here if you’re curious. In some circles, these apps are very trendy. In others, they’re buried under a pile of scorn.
I find them to be indispensable tools. Why? Distractions are everywhere, and can crop up when I least expect them. One of the biggest sources of distractions is the computer desktop. Things like email notifications, instant messenger windows, a Web browser, even your wallpaper.
When I want to focus on writing and not have my attention pulled away by email, RSS feeds, or anything else I fire up a distraction-free editor — either TextRoom or PyRoom. My screen goes blank, and I have an empty page on which I can type. My goal is to fill that page with words. And that’s what happens.
Going this route works very well for me. But I keep hearing one complaint (if you want to call it that)
… in one or two or even three styles or areas doesn’t mean you can tackle other types of writing. I was reminded of this when reading a blog post by my pal Tom Johnson.
When most of us think of spreadsheets, images of number crunchers and bean counters probably come to mind. They usually conjure those images for me.