Some people, especially creative writers, like to write on a blank canvas without any distractions from their editor. Bastien Guerry, who we’ve discussed before and who’s sat on both sides of a Sacha Chua interview, has a nice post on how to set up a blank canvas with Emacs.
Bit by bit, he strips away all the extraneous information that Emacs puts on your screen so that you’re left with nothing but a blank screen on which to write. All the usual Emacs functionality is still there, of course, you’re just not being distracted by mode lines, titles, scroll bars, and all the rest.
Even if, like me, you don’t find the blank canvas idea compelling, Guerry’s post shows you how to adjust various elements of the Emacs display and you may find that you would like to implement one or more of them. The post is another reminder, if you need it, that Emacs is infinitely customizable and that you can have it your way.