Typewriter & Focus Modes

Stop Staring at the Bottom of Your Screen

I built Verkilo because after 500,000 words, I got tired of always staring at the bottom of my laptop screen. Your eyes shouldn't have to hunt for your cursor.
— Ben Wilson, Founder & Author

The Interface Should Disappear

The best writing happens when the software gets out of your way. Standard word processors are built for business memos. Fixed toolbars, ribbons, and formatting panels compete for your attention while you're trying to stay in a scene.

Verkilo's Focus Mode collapses the binder and series bible with a single keystroke, leaving only your prose on a clean canvas. When you need to check a character detail or plot point, your bible is one keypress away. Then it's gone again.

Typewriter Scrolling Keeps You Centered

Once a page fills up, most software forces you to type at the bottom of the window. Your eyes drop, your neck cranes forward, and after a few thousand words you're hunched over your laptop.

Typewriter Mode keeps your active paragraph vertically centered in the editor. The document scrolls around your cursor, so you stay in the same comfortable position whether you're on page one or page three hundred.

• Reduced eye travel. Your current paragraph stays in the center of the screen, not wherever it happens to land.
• Paragraph highlighting. In Focus Mode, surrounding paragraphs are dimmed so your attention stays on the sentence you're writing.
• Faster immersion. A consistent focal point helps you drop back into the story faster after interruptions.

Write However You Want, Export Professionally

Your drafting environment and your final manuscript are different things. Verkilo keeps them separate.

• Choose your own font. Prefer a monospaced typewriter font? Large text for tired eyes? Set whatever works for you.
• Export stays clean. Your editor preferences never touch your output. Write in 24-point Comic Sans if it helps. Your EPUB and PDF still export with proper typography.
• Toggle between modes. Show the full interface when you're plotting and organizing. Hide everything when it's time to write.