As a student, writing is a large part of what I do on a daily basis. Whether it be essays, reports or just homework, I’m always typing away. The internet is a distracting place as you are well aware, and the temptation to sneak a look at Facebook or the internet window behind your document becomes too great a lot of the time. Thus, I am always looking for new ways to focus my attention on my work.
Enter ‘Ommwriter’. The weird name comes from a meditation exercise in which the phrase ‘omm’ is hummed in an effort to clear one’s mind. Following this philosophy, Ommwriter’s soul purpose is to create a serene, tranquil environment in which to write until your heart (or essay word limit) is content.
Once you realize that Ommwriter isn’t a word processor, but a writing companion, you begin to see its true value. Its minimalist, and flaunts it. You’ll find Ommwriter amazingly simple and clean, offering only three fonts, three font sizes and three background images. Even the scroll bar is only a few pixels wide. What you won’t find it any formatting options, fancy graphics, imaging or even headers. There isn’t even a spellchecker built into it. Why? I guess because all of those features add clutter, something which Ommwriter goes out of its way to reduce.
“Find, it looks really boring. What else?” you may ask. Well before you jump to conclusions, Ommwriter has a few cool and unique tricks that set it apart from other writing programs like WriteRoom. Ommwriter has a series of ambient music tracks and key stroke sounds built in to bring you into your writing frame of mind. Seven of each for you to explore and enjoy, each beautiful and relaxing in its own way.
Of course, some people will find the sounds dreadfully annoying and will go out of their way to avoid it. But for me, Ommwriter provides a soothing, calming and distraction free environment. As a writing companion, Ommwriter is fantastic. It knows its place in a person’s workflow, and neatly fits into it, molding itself perfectly into the roll.
Ommwriter is currently in beta, and you can pick up a copy from their website. I don’t know when the final version will ship, all I know is that I can’t wait!
