# A System for Writing: How an Unconventional Approach to Note-Making Can Help You Capture Ideas, Think Wildly, and Write Constantly **Author:** Bob Doto **Published:** 2024 **Keywords:** [[Personal knowledge management]], [[Zettelkasten]] > [!tableofcontents]- Table of Contents > - Introduction > - Part 1: Capturing Your Thoughts > - 1. Capturing Your Thoughts > - 1.1 Getting Thoughts Out of Your Head > - 1.2 What Are Fleeting Notes? > - 1.3 How to Take Fleeting Notes > - 1.4 Stage Your Fleeting Notes in an Inbox > - 1.5 Take Advantage of a “Sleeping” Folder > - 1.6 Using Journals to Capture Fleeting Notes > - 1.7 The Difference Between Fleeting Notes and Main Notes > - 1.8 How Simple Reminders Become High-Value Main Notes > - 1.9 Not All Fleeting Notes Go to Heaven > - 1.10 Why Take Notes? > - 1.11 Welcome to the Path > - 2. Taking Notes While Reading (Or Watching or Listening....) > - 2.1 What Is a Reference Note? > - 2.2 Differences Between Reference Notes and Fleeting Notes > - 2.3 How to Take Reference Notes > - 2.4 Using a Personal Journal or Diary as a Source > - 2.5 Six Things to Consider When Reading a Book (or Engaging with Anything “Notable”) > - 2.6 Marginalia > - 2.7 Five Ways I Capture Information While Reading > - 2.8 Not All Captures Are Gold > - 3. Making Main Notes > - 3.1 What’s Inside a Main Note? > - 3.2 Why Is There so Much Stuff in My Notes? > - 3.3 How to Create Main Notes > - 3.4 Questions and Facts > - 3.5 “In Light of...” vs “In Spite of...” > - 3.6 Main Notes that Contradict Other Main Notes > - 3.7 Every Main Note Need Not Represent Your Current Thinking > - Part 2: Making and Leveraging Connections > - 4. Connecting Your Ideas > 4.1 It’s All About Relationships > 4.2 How to Connect Ideas > 4.3 Making Connections When You’re Starting Out > 4.4 Give Context to Your Connections > 4.5 Atomicity Creates Possibility > 4.6 Linking Allows for Wild Connections > 4.7 Embracing the Anarchy of Ideas > - 5. Using Alphanumeric IDs to Identify Your Notes > 5.1 Importing Notes > 5.2 As Your Zettelkasten Grows > 5.3 Should I Have Put that Note Somewhere Else? > 5.4 What if an Alphanumeric Slot is Already Taken? > 5.5 Adding Section Headings > 5.6 Folgezettel Is Not a Tree Structure > 5.7 Three Reasons for Using Alphanumeric IDs > - 6. Navigating the Anarchy of Ideas > 6.1 Distributed Networks and Rhizomes > 6.2 Creating High-Level Views to Engage the Rhizome > 6.3 How to Create a Hub Note > 6.4 How to Create a Structure Note > 6.5 How to Create a Keyword Index > 6.6 A User Interface for a Better User Experience > - Part 3: Writing with your Zettelkasten > - 7. What to Write About and How Not to Do It > - 7.1 Let Your Zettelkasten Tell You What to Write About > - 7.2 An Article Hidden in the Slip Box > - 7.3 Don’t Let Your Zettelkasten Write for You > - 7.4 Turning “Bad Practices” into “Good Vibrations” > - 7.5 Editing: The Way of the Sword > - 8. Writing for Readers > - 8.1 Using Main Notes to Create Short-Short Content > - 8.2 How to Write Blog Posts Using a Zettelkasten > - 8.3 Eight Steps to Writing an Article Bottom-Up Using Main Notes > - 8.4 Start with Abundance to Write Books > - 8.5 Outlines Are Living (and Changing) Documents > - 8.6 Work with What’s in Front of You > - 9. Managing Your Writing Projects > - 9.1 Keeping a Daily Journal > - 9.2 Maintaining Creative Logs > - 9.3 How a Daily Journal and Creative Logs Work Together > - 9.4 Task-Focused Project Management for Writing > - 9.5 There Is No One System > - Afterword: The Triangle of Creativity > - Appendix: Brief Answers to Lingering Questions > - Notes ## Notes ### Introduction - [[zettlekasten is bottom up organization]] - Linked connection while reading that: [[bottom up processing is common among autistic individuals]] - I wonder if Bob's naming of "Main Note" is because of the friction people have with the language around "Permanent" (i.e. can't be adjusted once written; mental contrast with [[Evergreen notes|evergreen notes]] which is a popular idea in [[Personal knowledge management|PKM]]) ### Part 1: Capturing Your Thoughts #### 1. Capturing Your Thoughts - ["] "If your zettelkasten is filled with every random thought you have, in whatever unedited state you capture it, your zettelkasten will soon become an unpleasant place to visit." - The importance of curation - The preventative maintenance of overwhelm - The use of "amorphous" in the context of capture will always remind me of [[Getting Things Done (GTD)]] » "[[amorphous blob of undoability]]" #### 2. Taking Notes While Reading (Or Watching or Listening…) - reading is an act of writing; active reading is thinking » reminds me of [[Stephen King]] - While I like and appreciate referencing page numbers as part of the reference note, it does make it tough when you read via a digital device, and page numbers become fluid based on the size of the typography. This feels like a point of friction in the digital capture process. I feel like stopping before I begin when I focus on the logistics. - Lean capture to act as a waypoint for future interest » [[start small to gauge future interest]] - 2.5: 6 considerations when reading a book: 1. Read with a question or problem in mind 2. Capture ideas you disagree with 3. Capture what you think about what the author thinks 4. Capture someone else's interpretation 5. Don't forget fiction 6. Go wild with your captures - Bob notes that reference notes are stored in the zettelkasten. I'm good with mine where they are. #### 3. Making Main Notes - The relational unique identity code still breaks my brain - A main note should (or could) include: - A single idea - Link(s) to another idea in your zettelkasten - A title - The reference information for where the idea comes from - A quote from the reference - Where you've used it in your writing - A unique ID… the folgezettel… - A main note is best distilled down to a core essential idea per note. It then links to other notes, or in physical slipbox concept, some aspect of relational sequence - Titles are best as declarative statements, not descriptors (a hint of the idea) » also helps reduce duplication through clarity - [[write notes for your future self]] - Okay, so the unique ID helps to show the train of thought… but it still breaks my brain. I get it. But my skin crawls and my brain rebels because I know I'll be stuck in processing hell trying to figure out singular classification links… my brain doesn't work like that. - Your own thoughts, writing, comments, and work can be sources for main notes. - Facts belong in your zettelkasten. - Restate them in your own words, as it can help distill the complexity into something more personally relevant. (And since we seem to be living in a post-fact era, it's obvious to me but stating it anyway – paraphrasing *doesn't* mean making stuff up, nor does it mean not including proper citations or quotes, as needed…) ### Part 2: Making and Leveraging Connections #### 4. Connecting Your Ideas - A Luhmann-style zettelkasten is about relationships and connections. - Sequential: [[Breadcrumbs]] » prev, next, relational data may be helpful here… - Just general connections: Bob uses "see" as a line prompt - Providing context gives a better sense of what you were thinking when you were linking… - Breaking things down to their smallest parts makes it easier to create broader connections. - I think this is one of the reasons I bristle at the suggestions of a course like [[Ship 30 for 30]]. While atomicity is helpful in connecting ideas, and [[start small to gauge future interest]] works in terms of [[energy versus output]]… when I write something to share, I don't want to just give the atomic staccato idea. If it's worth sharing, it's not for the small individual point, but the connections made, or the learnings shared. #### 5. Using Alphanumeric IDs to Identify Your Notes - I'm a huge proponent of organized IDs as part of the knowledge management I do with wayfinding documentation. But my mind just basically grinds to a halt with the alphanumerics recommended for [[Zettelkasten|zettelkasten]]. - I objectively *get* the benefits of it, related to seeing connections and train of thought. But calling it bad friction for how I think and work is an understatement. It's full on superglue, duct tape, and handcuffs for my brain all in one. - Still a really good chapter for people who want to use the alphanumeric approach; Bob breaks down (and simplifies) the why and the how #### 6. Navigating the Anarchy of Ideas ### Part 3: Writing with your Zettelkasten #### 7. What to Write About and How Not to Do It #### 8. Writing for Readers #### 9. Managing Your Writing Projects