Hi Gang.


A few weeks ago I left a post about workflows that generated some interest: http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/6181 My guess is that more can be gleaned from this topic. To get the discussion going I propose that an efficient workflow is more important than the software tools we choose. Some questions to ponder and debate....

- What is a 'workflow' and in terms of writing and research what are the 'best' workflows?

- What are the most important stages, phases, milestones, etc to mark progress along a workflow path (if indeed it is linear)? In other words, what are the crucial transition points between different workflow modes?

- Which part of the workflow is most/least supported by your software of choice? Alternatively, how have software tools influenced your workflow for better or worse?

Perhaps this will shed new light on 'best' PIM rankings that are fairly pervasive on this forum. I'm looking forward to your super replies!

Best, Peter

An interesting set of questions, but perhaps less of a can of worms on this forum than it would be on many, where the (seat of the) "pantsers" rival the "outline-istas".

A workflow for me is the process that achieves the desired written outcome most efficiently. Focus of effort is the key. The workflow might run like this: Project planning: Research: Outline: First draft: Edit: Second draft (and if necessary, further drafts): Format. Possibly mind-mapping could follow research and precede outlining.

Each of these sub-processes could be performed using separate pieces of software (where software is used). The important point for me is that each application relates reasonably harmoniously with the others and in this respect my experience is that generally the Mac platform is better than Windows.

Another issue is research. As everyone knows, it's quite possible to do too much. In this respect, a successful workflow is not necessarily uni-linear. Instead it may be better represented as intermittently parallel processes, where research intervenes at two or three key points in the drafting. Research defines the writing, and the writing defines the research that it's necessary still to do. Sometimes having key pieces of research accessible in the same interface as the drafting - as with Scrivener, DevonThink or IdeaMason - is helpful.

[Note: This is my at-work-PC response -- see my next note for personal-project-at-home-MacBook response]

Relating to my experience, "workflow" is like GrapeNuts -- like GrapeNuts, which do not contain grapes or nuts, my workflow does not work nor does it flow! Nevertheless, I'll try to relate my so-called workflow.

Hugh has wisely assumed that you're talking about the workflow of a writer, I think, which makes his comments spot on. I am the sales and marketing director for a small, nonprofit publisher, so my job requires many different facets... catalog copy writing, catalog information management, customer service, policies and procedures, media relations, author relations, vendor management, to name some but not all. For the most part, these aspects of my job require workflows that are unique to themselves. I've been struggling to develop a workflow that handles as many of these aspects as I can, with mixed results. My initial information catching application is Zoot 5.0. I use Zoot to store records on approved invoice payments, boilerplate for various documents, a catalog of the books we publish (though I'm not entirely satisfied with this, see below), reminders, records of certain types of correspondence, and various miscellaneous information. In some cases, Zoot is all I need. But usually not. I use OneNote to bring project-specific information together in one spot, making use of the notebook and section organization, and the ability to drag and drop PDFs, text and images onto a page. I don't know that I consider this "workflow," however, as it is mostly like a cork board I tack information to for use in other applications.

I usually compose text in the plain text editor NoteTab. If I need to plan a written piece before hand, I will likely use Brainstorm. Likewise, I'll use Brainstorm for brainstorming a project.

I've also been toying with ConnectedText for storing the catalog of our books.

Two big holes in my process are a good journal-keeping approach (i.e. keeping day-oriented notes) and contact management.

See my next post for my MacBook workflow.

Steve Z.

[Note: This is my at-home-personal-project-MacBook workflow response.]

I'm working on a small book in my spare time, a guidebook to an historic site where I do volunteer work. I had done a lot of the research for this book several years ago, so I did not really need to capture and organize a lot of notes. However, it does have several modular componets -- history, hiking, nature, etc. So I've been using Scrivener to put these pieces together. Where Scrivener sort of breaks down for me, is visually -- the gridded index card approach just doesn't work the way my mind does. So I've found Tinderbox to be extremely useful for getting me over humps.

For instance, in writing about the sites visitors will see, I've found it helpful to use Tinderbox's map view to arrange notes on these sites in a quasi-geographic way based on where they are located on the landscape of the historic site (which is a 300-acre penninsula on Lake Champlain). This has helped me because I realize that the proper order for the site descriptions are to group them geographically.

Essentially, what I'm say, I think, is that Tinderbox is like a little playground that I can go to whenever I get stuck, and it often helps me to think through the project in a creative way I wouldn't have otherwise been able to do.

This is more like work un-clogging than it is workflow, but it does help get the work flowing again.

Steve Z.

Hi Hugh,

What do you do in the project planning stage? (Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm not a writer and developing a Word addin for writers)

--
Edwin Yip
Writing Outliner - Turn Microsoft Word into an all-in-one writing software.
http://WritingOutliner.com

Hugh wrote:

The workflow might run like this: Project
planning: Research: Outline: First draft: Edit: Second draft (and if necessary,
further drafts): Format. Possibly mind-mapping could follow research and precede
outlining.

Hi Edwin

For project planning I use a piece of project-management software called Merlin which is overkill for my current needs, but which I acquired for completely different purposes. For me, project planning of writing projects is important to keep BIC ("bum in chair").

But is this what you mean? Or do you mean what do I do for project planning in the sense of outlining?

H

Hi Hugh,

I mean would you list what you actually need to plan for your writing project? Maybe the deadline, target word counts, etc, for each chapters? During a generic project planning one breakdown tasks into workable pieces, set the start/due dates and define the outcome, I wonder how all these map to the writing project. Thank you.

--
Edwin Yip
Writing Outliner - Turn Microsoft Word into an all-in-one writing software.
http://WritingOutliner.com

Hugh wrote:

Hi Edwin

For project planning I use a piece of project-management software called
Merlin which is overkill for my current needs, but which I acquired for completely
different purposes. For me, project planning of writing projects is important to
keep BIC ("bum in chair").

But is this what you mean? Or do you mean what do I do for
project planning in the sense of outlining?

H

There are at least three ways of doing this (apart from flying by the seat of your pants).

One is to use an outliner with columns (or an Excel or Numbers spreadsheet) to create your writing outline, and then add a couple of columns that record daily word-count progress and dates.

A second is to detach your daily progress from your writing outline and record it separately in a spreadsheet or journaling software such as MacJournal. There are several Excel templates skating round the Internet, but this one, created by the husband of the writer Kristal Shaff, does the job and is certainly one of the prettiest: http://www.kristalshaff.com/Links.html

A third is to add daily records and targets to the task meta-data stored in a project-management application like Merlin, a task manager like Omnifocus or project-conceiving software like Curio.

H

Hi Hugh,

Thank you so much! I've just made a mind map and get my thoughts clarified! The first version (not the beta version) of Writing Outliner will be focused on four aspects of the writing workflow:
1) Project management
2) Research
3) Note taking
4) Writing

All functions should be existing to support any of the above 4 tasks.

My 'Writing Workflow that's Supported by Writing Outliner Word Addin' mind map which will be serving as the design and implementation guidelines ;)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/367923/Writing%20Workflow%20Supported%20by%20Writing%20Outliner%20Word%20Addin.png

BTW, the mind map is made with MindVisualizer at http://www.InnovationGear.com

Hi Edwin,

Thanks for providing us with your mind map. It really helps to figure out what you want to achieve. I noticed one question mark: ?Take notes ? ? With?. Have you ever thought about integration of your add-in with One Note as well? And moving the process of collecting/elaborating/searching/etc. of notes inside it? Taking into account the possibilities of using One Note together with web browser and e-mail client, it could greatly enhance the research and note taking potential of your Writing Outliner.

Wojciech

Hi Wojciech,

I'm glad that the mind map explains what I want to tell :)

Yes, the notes taking part of Writing Outliner Addin for Word is still a question mark in my mind, I thought of integrating it with OneNote (which is not that open in terms API) or EverNote (whose API is friendly ), it will depends on my further research on the API openness and feedbacks from potential users at a later stage, maybe people prefer to a built-in, yet simple function, I'm not sure.

---
Edwin Yip
All-in-one writing software for writers
http://WritingOutliner.com

Wojciech wrote:

Hi Edwin,

Thanks for providing us with your mind map. It really helps to figure out
what you want to achieve. I noticed one question mark: ?Take notes ? ? With?. Have you
ever thought about integration of your add-in with One Note as well? And moving the
process of collecting/elaborating/searching/etc. of notes inside it? Taking into
account the possibilities of using One Note together with web browser and e-mail
client, it could greatly enhance the research and note taking potential of your
Writing Outliner.

Wojciech