WriteRoom or DarkRoom is a simple FullScreen distraction-free workspace that some writers like. There are a number of packages that provide a similar experience in Emacs. Alternatively, you could use the code below to configure your own version and make Emacs work similarly by getting rid of all the distractions.

Specialized modes

Full Screen

Requirements: wmctrl shell command.

Modified from FullScreen:

( defun switch-full-screen ( &optional ii) (interactive "p" ) ( if (> ii 0) (shell-command "wmctrl -r :ACTIVE : -badd,fullscreen" )) ( if (< ii 0) (shell-command "wmctrl -r :ACTIVE : -bremove,fullscreen" )) ( if (equal ii 0) (shell-command "wmctrl -r :ACTIVE : -btoggle,fullscreen" )))

Dark Room

Requirements: color-themes.el is used for the green on black retro theme.

Set the mode (from the thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1235260 ):

( defun darkroom-mode () "Make things simple-looking by removing decoration and choosing a simple theme." (interactive) (switch-full-screen 1) (color-theme-retro-green) (setq left-margin 10) (menu-bar-mode -1) (tool-bar-mode -1) (scroll-bar-mode -1) (set-face-foreground 'mode-line "gray15" ) (set-face-background 'mode-line "black" ) (auto-fill-mode 1))

Cancel the mode

( defun darkroom-mode-reset () (interactive) (switch-full-screen -1) (color-theme-subtle-hacker) (menu-bar-mode 1) (tool-bar-mode 1) (scroll-bar-mode 1) (set-left-margin 0))

One feature of WriteRoom that this does not have a live WordCount on the statusbar. See WordCount’s reference to word-count.el for this feature.

In a Frame

The following code maximizes the new frame on Windows and uses the fullscreen frame parameter for other systems. The new frame has no scroll bar, no tool bar, no menu bar, no minibuffer (it uses the minibuffer of your old frame), no fringe, and some internal border.

It opens your NOTES file and gets rid of the modeline. Unfortunately I have not found a ways of doing this for all buffers in a frame. Instead, it only works for the current buffer – the NOTES file. All other buffers in this frame will get their modeline back.

This tries to create a fullscreen frame, and sends the magic code on Windows to maximize.

( defun write-room () "Make a frame without any bling." (interactive) ( let ((frame (make-frame '((minibuffer . nil) (vertical-scroll-bars . nil) (left-fringe . 0) (right-fringe . 0) (background-mode . dark) (background-color . "black" ) (foreground-color . "green" ) (cursor-color . "green" ) (border-width . 0) (border-color . "black" ) (internal-border-width . 64) (cursor-type . box) (menu-bar-lines . 0) (tool-bar-lines . 0) (mode-line-format . nil) (fullscreen . fullboth) (unsplittable . t))))) (select-frame frame) (find-file "~/NOTES" ) (setq mode-line-format nil) ( when (fboundp 'w32-send-sys-command) (w32-send-sys-command 61488 frame))))

To get rid of the ModeLine in all buffers, try this: (setq-default mode-line-format nil) – WilliamXu

OS related things

In MS Windows

See darkroom-mode for a slightly more advanced version with multi-monitor support, etc.

Using in Aquamacs

I used WriteRoom with the Firefox “It’s all text!” add-in for wiki-editing, but I have now switched over to Aquamacs. I have it running fullscreen with Shift-CMD-A, and I’ve changed the default colors to a black background. But there are still some artifacts around the screen. Even without any buttons, the toolbar is still visible. The command pane at the bottom is also there. Would it be possible to have some sort just-the-text-ma’am mode, which could be a black fullscreen with either no-command pane (unless used) or one that auto-hides? I am a professional writer and the fewer distractions the better. – DG

Talk

This looks very nice. Reminds me of the Q10 editor for Windows, which even features typewriter sounds. 😊

Related

CategoryWriting