For me, writing on a computer can be challenging. You start working on a paragraph and then you get an email. Or a notification. Or you think of something to post on Twitter. And before you know it, you’re wasting time on the Internet. And not writing.

I recently got a copy of WriteRoom from Hog Bay Software for free as part of a promotional bundle. WriteRoom is a Mac application that presents a full-screen, distraction-free writing experience. The dock, menu bar and other windows disappear. What’s left is simply blank space for writing. The menu bar only shows up when you move the mouse to the top of the screen. And if you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, you get the file name and other information like word and character counts.

There’s not much to look at, but that’s the point. In full-screen mode, this is all you see.

You can completely customize the look of the full screen mode. Colors, type, and cursor types can all be modified. I’m partial to the black on green old-school computer look.

You can download a free trial of WriteRoom from Hog Bay Software. The full version costs $24.95. And while that may seem like a lot for a simple writing application, if you are looking for a better writing environment that blocks out the background clutter, it’s a solid investment.

(There is also a WriteRoom iPhone app. That app is $4.99, but comes with a $5 coupon for the Mac version of WriteRoom. So if you are interested in both, you may want to buy the iPhone app first.)