Computers, browsers on them in particular, are a gateway to endless possibility and thus endless distractions. But since good writing cannot occur in such a distracting world, I in a few days created A_WritingProgram, a portable, distraction-free writing software for markdown, which blocks every other app on your computer until you have reached your writing goal (e.g. write 500 words or write for 1 hour).

A_WritingProgram is entirely written in Python using its in-build tkinter package. I added some quality of life features to tkinter’s default text input widget like Undo/Redo, the ability to remove entire words in one button pressing using Ctrl+Backspace / Ctrl+Delete as well as the ability to add markdown sytnax using key combinations like Ctrl+I for Italic Text.

A screenshot from the start-up window of A_WritingProgram

A screenshot from the main text editing window (Note the missing close button in the corner). The bar at the top displays the progress made towards reaching your goal. It's fairly unspectacular, but that's needed for it in order to not be distracting.

I technically still work on this project, but since adding more features to something claiming to be distraction-free doesn’t really work I only really act on incoming bug reports.

Note, that there are simular programs available online like FocusWriter and ColdTurkey Writer.