No more writers block !I have just installed flowstate.
It is a writing app.
An unforgiving writing app.
I’m writing this on flowstate.
If I pause for more than 5 seconds, everything i’ve written is deleted.
No undo option, no copy-paste to another window.
If I don’t keep writing, it’s gone.
This is ruthless.
You can configure how long you will write – 5, 10, 15, 30, or more, minutes and what font you will use.
That’s it.
Then when you start, it’s a totally blank page with no options or settings.
No fonts.
No layout.
No million-options-word-processing-application.
No editing.
No thinking.
No so-called ‘research’ (Read: Idly wasting time on many websites that have very little to do with what i’m writing).
Maybe an even stronger approach would have been to disable backspace; Disable any editing. Disable any movement within the document. Just write like on a typewriter. But one that burns the page if you don’t keep writing.
Yes i can see how i might write crap just to stall.
Or just type random letters or spaces to give me time to think.
…………………………………
But this is not the point.
I’m looking at what i wrote and the screen already fades out, signaling that i’m gonna lose everything i’ve written if I don’t keep going.
So I write.
And when the timer hits zero, i’m free to edit the text or copy it to another application.
And just like that, i’ve managed to write most of this post for 5 minutes straight, without pausing.
And later i went for 15 minutes, then 30, and wrote a 2000 words article i’ve been struggling with for days.
This is a true writing app. A writing tool.
This is a cure for writers block.
Flowstate, $14, available for and requires the newest OSX or iOS.
Hat-tip to Stefan Markworth.