Software Shout-out: WriteRoom

Around the same time that I switched to an Apple laptop work took me to Leeds several days a week. Most of this travel was by train, and so I found myself with around an hour and a half to do work and catch up with friends and colleagues. I would write very long and rambling emails (and still do) while crossing the Pennines. I would also write song ideas, song lyrics, and whatever else came to mind.

For programming work the only editor to which I will bow is Emacs. However, either I never fully ascended or I believe too strongly in the right tool for the right job. While Emacs is no longer considered a “heavyweight editor” (some programming environments eclipse its memory footprint — pun intended) it comes with a pile of extra feature baggage which can serve as a distraction when trying to be textually creative. Also there can be the temptation to tinker with Emacs rather than get on with the job at hand. Searching around I found a lovely software solution: WriteRoom.

I use WriteRoom with the Anonymous font by Mark Simonson (and I have my reasons for preferring this font). The display is a retro-feeling phosphor green on charcoal, with a black border to make aspect conform to the golden ratio. This does mean that there are about 20-25 words per line and so the current-line highlight is especially useful for reading back what I have read; but mostly I use WriteRoom to write rather than edit.

I could write something banal which draws a parallel between the bleak scenery of the Pennine Moors and the minimalist user interface of WriteRoom, and how both inspire me and remove unnecessary distractions…