Retro-Writing: back to basics

What with email, facebook, google, youtube…it’s time to get off the net and get writing.

After reading Steven Poole’s excellent post, Goodbye, cruel Word, it has inspired me to turn everything else off and just let the blank page of the word-processor (WP) stare back. Easier said than done; and slow-bloated crash-prone Windows MS Word has so much redundant crap that it clutters my mind.

I want to see a screen when writing and nothing much else. Old-Skool here I come: trying out a WP called Q10 – download for Windows (free): http://baara.com/q10/

Minimalist features, though includes setting a word count target, setting a timer – makes you into a writing machine. And it has reassuring typewriter sound effects – now that is cool.

The beauty of Q10: it’s all and only about writing.

Note: saves in text files only, so you can’t format, or put together a whole book. But do that afterwards.

[Update 24/02/10]: if you’re a windows user, WriteMonkey also looks promising and is actively being developed: http://writemonkey.com/