Where Should My Writing Ideas Go?

System

Where Should My Writing Ideas Go?

A Zettelkasten is a personal tool for thinking and writing that creates an interconnected web of thought. Its emphasis is on connection and not mere collection of ideas.

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pat

they are files in the same Zettel note archive without themselves having an ID

Why do the outline notes not get IDs?

ctietze

@pat They used not to, so they stay afloat in a directory listing. This post predates me using structure notes for smaller hierarchies: my line of reasoning was that these outlines are work-in-progress project files, and they have nothing to do with the """real""" Zettelkasten work. For example, I will hardly have a reason to ever link to a book project outline.

Nowadays, I think that distinction doesn't hold up. I can make an overview of book project outlines, and then use this overview of book projects to navigate around. So there's definitely benefit in assigning these things Ids as well.

Some old - O notes are still there, but I'm transforming one after another to a structure note with an ID as I encounter them. (The boy scout principle of leaving your ZK in a tidier state than you found it -- bulk renaming hardly ever payed off in my past ) I updated the post accordingly.

pat

@ctietze Thank you for the clarification. I was very surprised, because I find the ID principle so useful that I didn’t understand why you would choose to forego it.

I do understand your reasoning at the time, and appreciate you sharing how your thinking has evolved.