JDarkRoom - an Ideal Text Editor for Freelance Writers

JDarkRoom is a fantastic text editor for anyone wishing to make money writing online. Let me tell you why. But first...

As a Contributor on Associated Content, I've done a lot of writing. If we assume that my average submission is the minimum 400 required words, and I've published 176 pieces of content, I've written 70,400 words, or one-and-almost-a-half novels. To be honest, I think this is a lowball estimate. So I spend a lot of time in a text editor.

Of course, writing for hours every day is not always the most exciting or interesting task, so it's easy to get distracted, especially with the existence of things such as television and the internet. Unfortunately, when you're doing freelance writing online, your profits are determined by your ability to produce content. And if you take twice as long to write an article, your hourly wages have been cut in half. Distraction is my enemy, and probably the enemy of many other online freelance writers.

Here's where JDarkRoom comes into play. JDarkRoom is a "distraction-free" text editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. It is completely free to download and use, and does not take up much space on a hard drive at all. So how is JDarkRoom "distraction-free?"

A black screen covers the desktop, eliminating distraction from things like web browsers or instant messaging clients. All typed text is a pale green. The green-on-black reduces eye strain, which is something that I appreciate greatly. I feel like anyone that uses a word processor regularly would appreciate this as well. Not having to take breaks as frequently to rest my eyes allows me to complete articles while I have all of my thoughts collected. If you can't quite picture what it looks like, there are screenshots on the site. The colors can also be changed if you prefer white on blue or any other color combination.

Does JDarkRoom really help an individual to be a more efficient online writer? Well, I have used JDarkRoom for the last three articles I have written (as well as this one), and I think it does. Does it completely eliminate distraction? No. It eliminates a lot of distraction from the computer, but it cannot eliminate distraction from the television or a cell phone. And it can be minimized, so it's not like an individual can't get on the internet.

So JDarkRoom isn't foolproof, nor will it make you the most prolific writer that ever lived. However, I think it's worth looking into if it can decrease the time it takes for an online writer to finish an article by a quarter or a third. The time you save could be used to start another article, to brainstorm, or to relax. Likewise, your hourly wages increase when you spend less time writing.

If you're interested in JDarkRoom, it is available for download here. Have any other ideas or tricks for how an online writer can be more efficient? Feel free to share your thoughts in the form of a comment. Thank you for reading!