iA Writer

When you’re tackling a big project or trying to get something down on paper, sometimes you need a quiet place—a place where there are no distractions, where you can focus on your work. It’s easy enough to turn off your phone and close a few of your browser windows, but it can be hard to clear those mental hurdles that come with the idea of “getting started” on anything—especially when you have that other stuff hanging around in the back of your mind.

There are apps and websites out there that do all kind of things to help you get started: some have been designed to make writing easier by giving writers space for collecting ideas, some have been designed for brainstorming, and others just provide a space for organizing thoughts. The tools at iA Writer’s disposal are simple ones: clean lines and a white screen.

What it does is give you the space to collect your thoughts without distraction. There are no distractions because there is nothing for you to look at except the words themselves. And if you really want to get going, there’s an optional word counter that lets you start tracking the number of words written so far (or total number if you prefer).

If you’re going for a clean, simple interface to help you focus on writing, or just want to get away from distractions for a little while, iA Writer’s minimal style is the perfect place to do it. The free version of the app has the basic features you need to get work done, and you can upgrade to iA Writer Pro ($9.99) if you want more than 500 characters per document (if you’re worried about that).