Five Themes for Writers and Readers
Five elegant themes for a smooth writing and reading experience.
In the past, we’ve highlighted some of our favorite themes for longform enthusiasts and bloggers who just want to write. Today, let’s take a look at five free themes, launched in the past several months, that offer a distraction-free writing and reading experience.
Radcliffe
Radcliffe combines bold typography with a clutter-free post layout, as shown above. Ideal for longform writing, the theme works blissfully out of the box for those focused on lots of text. The default headline font Abril Fatface is strong but not overbearing, while the Crimson font for your body text completes this pleasurable reading experience.
Calling out text in various ways also looks fantastic — for example, the blockquote styling is simple but sophisticated:
But don’t be fooled by Radcliffe‘s simple design. Your photography has a place here, too: full-width featured images give your posts visual flair, while galleries also look lovely, as seen on Sage and Clare.
Go on, give Radcliffe a spin.
Cols
Standard posts on the Cols theme are laid out in newspaper-style format, which is great for essays, articles, and book excerpts. The number of columns changes depending on your device: three columns on large monitors, two columns on medium-sized screens (as shown above), and a one-column layout on small screens like phones.
Whether you add headings, blockquotes, or preformatted text, Cols displays your writing beautifully, providing your readers with an uninterrupted experience. See it in action at Cancer Made Me Do It, or explore more features on its demo site.
Penscratch
Fresh and clean, Penscratch truly gets out of the way and lets your words speak for themselves. It’s a solid choice if you want a no-fuss design, but there are options to personalize and brand your site easily, like uploading your site logo at the top.
We also love the treatment of left and right pullquotes, which adds visual variety and is a nice touch for longer pieces of journalism and narrative nonfiction.
Penscratch works especially well for an intimate blogging space, from experimental writing to thinkpieces to personal essays. But it’s versatile enough for anyone! If you’re curious how Penscratch looks with images, see how Felicia Sullivan uses it on her blog, which is a tasteful mix of words and images.
Capoverso
Like the themes above, Capoverso is minimal, and its post layout allows your writing to shine. The default background — a faint grey with diagonal lines — adds a subtle visual layer to your blog, though you can change the background by using the Customizer.
A notable feature of Capoverso is the Front Page Template, which is handy for writers and authors who want more than just a space for blogging, but a landing page with essential links. You just need to create a static front page (and assign the Front Page Template to it). Voilà:
Interested in Capoverso? See how it looks on its demo site.
Minnow
Clean and straightforward, Minnow is a one-column theme that puts your writing front and center — even your widgets and custom menu are hidden, in a slide-out bar on the right. Despite its pared-down look, Minnow allows writers to promote themselves across all their networks — it prominently displays your social links at the top, just under your site title.
For bloggers who just want to write, Minnow does the job. Take a closer look on its demo site.
- February 4, 2015
- Themes, WordPress.com, Writing
WordPress.com News 
Speaking of writing, Im so sad that the Weekly Writing Challenges are on hiatus. It was such a great way to get more exposure, find a community of writers whom have the same interests as your own and also a great chance to possibly get freshly pressed. Can’t wait for it to come back!!! Until then, love this post of yours with themes featuring distraction-free writing and reading. A feature I enjoy and utilize often.
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Hi there — the web is full of challenges and events: daily, weekly, monthly, etc. We compile them here: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/dp_event/ There’s so much to choose from — the Daily Post Weekly Writing Challenges are just a sampling of what’s out there.
Thanks for your feedback!
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I really struggle with the theme. I am never sure exactly which direction to lean. I am using a very basic design now, but I am not sure it is the best I could use. Sometimes I feel like I need to find a smart 12 year old to tell me what to do technology wise and I will focus just on the writing…
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Great article, 5 great free themes. Although I sometimes feel that there are too many themes to choose from.
The Science Geek
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Yes! The wealth of options can sometimes be paralyzing. In my years on WP.com, I think I’ve changed my theme five times. I feel like I could’ve switched a lot more because I get excited seeing new themes each week. It helps to test themes out using the Customizer. I also have a private test blog to experiment with themes as well.
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No matter the theme picked, one will always get the best end product with WordPress. So, picking a theme should not be a struggle but an enjoyable experience. Let’s continue having fun.
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Very awesome!
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Great post on themes!
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Very informative post to a beginner like me, who is less than a month old here. Thank you for a great post!
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I’ve been using my theme for about 2 years now and somehow it’s hard letting it go. Is that weird? Radcliffe looks awesome but I don’t know. Heh.
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These look nice, but to be honest I get confused by the multiplicity of themes you guys have. All the same, great work!
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I still prefer twenty eleven for writing and reading (but with a bigger font).
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I am also very disappointed that the Weekly Writing Challenge seems to have stopped. Will it be starting again anytime soon?
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Hi @thehappyhugger! The Daily Post team is taking a break from those writing challenges; I don’t see them coming back in the near future. We’re still posting prompts, other posts with topic ideas and bits of inspiration, and running writing courses throughout the year for those looking for the community feel: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/blogging-university/
As mentioned above, the events page lists many challenge/prompt opportunities to participate in something community- and user-led: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/dp_event/
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While the themes you have listed are all excellent to read from, I’d say they are only good for those who write longer sections of prose without images, quotes or other extras. I write flash fiction that often incorporates images, none of these themes was nice to read off once you veered from pure text. They are also themes that lack easy navigation. Just my two cents. 🙂
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Yep, I chose these themes specifically because they work well for longform writing and reading. (Although I personally think Radcliffe is especially great for writer-photographers or posts mixing text with images.)
We’ve shared roundups specifically for photobloggers or people who publish with images (here, here, and here). Not sure if those options are quite what you’re looking for, though. If you’re publishing flash fiction with images, themes with distinct post formats might work well, as well as tumblelog-like themes. But all themes are different, and you can ultimately mold any theme — even these five listed — to fit your specific needs.
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Penscratch is great. I like it. Thanks for the info.
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