Distraction-Free Writing Tools
To conduct your freewriting exercise, the tools you use must be also important. As far as I know, the recent favorite tools are in the category of so-called "distraction-free writing tool".
There are various kinds of tools; some are free and for some with well-crafted features you have to pay. Or, using the default applications would be a kind of minimalistic approach in a sense you do not have to be bothered by your effort to choose which tools and application would be the best fit for you. To some extent I also have such principle. For example, if someone ask me what is your favorite tool in Windows, then, paradoxical enough my answer would be Notepad. This is so simple and so free; you would never be bothered by any "unnecessary" features. It is a kind of "ultimate" distraction-free writing tool, I think.
By searching the Internet, you can easily find many "life-hack" entries like the top 10 best distraction-free writing tools, etc. These are are like WriteRoom, OmmWriter, WriteMonkey, WriteBox, etc. If you are still looking for the best one for you, my only suggestion is to check the related articles as much as possible and if possible try some. Most of them are free, so you can easily try them and if not for you, you can just uninstall it. By the way, right now I am writing this with WriteMonkey.
I used to be fond of WriteRoom - especially for its iPad version. There was the time when I was a really heavy iPad user and trying to experiment if all my writing tasks (including a lot of my translation tasks) could be done by iPad. At that time WriteRoom was really helpful. But if I am not mistaken, its iPad version is no longer available. With this, I've also stopped using it. So, currently the distraction-free tools I am using could be as follows:
1) WriteBox: This is the web-based writing service. WriteBox for Chrome is also available. Due to its web-service feature, the advantage is you can use it in any platforms as long as your device is connected with Internet. Another good thing is that it is also connected with the could storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive.
2) WriteMoneky: One thing I am not satisfied with WriteBox is actually lack of "sound effect". As some know it very well, many distraction-free tools have such feature; some are even with background music. In my case, what I need is the sound of an old manual typewriter. With this you can really feel like "Hemingway".
By the way, there is a very interesting "device" called "the Hemingwrite". It is "a minimalist digital typewriter for distraction free writing composition". I will find time to talk about this some other time.
3) Notepad: The simplest is also the best. With all those well-crafted tools for a minimalist writer, there must be always a room for him/her to go back to the basic, which is Notepad. For any simple memos and reminders,this is always one of the useful options I keep in mind.
All in all, it seems (at least for my own preference) there are the basic conditions in choosing the distraction-free tools. It should be:
- With the sound effect feature like an old portable manual typewriter
- Synchronized with any cloud services
- Usable in the mufti-platforms due to the web-based service
Lastly, I'd like to mention one very cool iPad app called "Hanx Writer". With this you can "literally" experience the sensuality of an old portal manual type writer. I will talk about it next time.
Thank you!
Tom
There are various kinds of tools; some are free and for some with well-crafted features you have to pay. Or, using the default applications would be a kind of minimalistic approach in a sense you do not have to be bothered by your effort to choose which tools and application would be the best fit for you. To some extent I also have such principle. For example, if someone ask me what is your favorite tool in Windows, then, paradoxical enough my answer would be Notepad. This is so simple and so free; you would never be bothered by any "unnecessary" features. It is a kind of "ultimate" distraction-free writing tool, I think.
By searching the Internet, you can easily find many "life-hack" entries like the top 10 best distraction-free writing tools, etc. These are are like WriteRoom, OmmWriter, WriteMonkey, WriteBox, etc. If you are still looking for the best one for you, my only suggestion is to check the related articles as much as possible and if possible try some. Most of them are free, so you can easily try them and if not for you, you can just uninstall it. By the way, right now I am writing this with WriteMonkey.
I used to be fond of WriteRoom - especially for its iPad version. There was the time when I was a really heavy iPad user and trying to experiment if all my writing tasks (including a lot of my translation tasks) could be done by iPad. At that time WriteRoom was really helpful. But if I am not mistaken, its iPad version is no longer available. With this, I've also stopped using it. So, currently the distraction-free tools I am using could be as follows:
1) WriteBox: This is the web-based writing service. WriteBox for Chrome is also available. Due to its web-service feature, the advantage is you can use it in any platforms as long as your device is connected with Internet. Another good thing is that it is also connected with the could storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive.
2) WriteMoneky: One thing I am not satisfied with WriteBox is actually lack of "sound effect". As some know it very well, many distraction-free tools have such feature; some are even with background music. In my case, what I need is the sound of an old manual typewriter. With this you can really feel like "Hemingway".
By the way, there is a very interesting "device" called "the Hemingwrite". It is "a minimalist digital typewriter for distraction free writing composition". I will find time to talk about this some other time.
3) Notepad: The simplest is also the best. With all those well-crafted tools for a minimalist writer, there must be always a room for him/her to go back to the basic, which is Notepad. For any simple memos and reminders,this is always one of the useful options I keep in mind.
All in all, it seems (at least for my own preference) there are the basic conditions in choosing the distraction-free tools. It should be:
- With the sound effect feature like an old portable manual typewriter
- Synchronized with any cloud services
- Usable in the mufti-platforms due to the web-based service
Lastly, I'd like to mention one very cool iPad app called "Hanx Writer". With this you can "literally" experience the sensuality of an old portal manual type writer. I will talk about it next time.
Thank you!
Tom
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