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little red hen needs help
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Posted by Dr Andus
Jan 31, 2014 at 09:55 PM
andyjim wrote:
>My thing is fresh thoughts. I generate them all the time. I don’t
>gather material, I generate it. So my needs flow from this MO. I need to
>be able to launch a new item instantly with a keystroke code. So many
>times I’ve had a thought, out of the blue and possibly unrelated
>to what I’m writing at the moment, but by the time I distract
>myself opening a new file or even simply backing out of a lower outline
>level to start a new heading, the thought has receded behind the
>mechanics of preparing a place to write it. I have shifted my mind out
>of hearing the muse and into preparing the ground. It’s a
>different, and for me, distracting mode to have to go into every time
>you have a new thought.
>So, immediate new (and independent) item from keystrokes is one
>requirement.
>I want an absolute minimum of distraction on the screen. No toolbars, no
>main window, the whole screen covered with a neutral, non-white (i.e.
>non-glaring) background. So at this point it’s just the blank
>screen and my new item, which itself has no toolbar, and minimalist
>borders. Not even a title bar at this point (optional, for later). Now,
>in a split second, I can write the new thought without distraction.
>There must be no requirement to name, class or connect the new item.
>Open it, and write.
The above seems to be about the front end of the process, capturing written notes. What OS and hardware do you want to use?
On Windows, I’d suggest WriteMonkey. On iOS, Drafts seems to launch a new app automatically (though I never had the chance to try it, as I don’t have iOS 7). On ChromeOS, Writebox could do this. Dropbox could be the place to gather all the plain text files.
Scrivener also has a distraction-free writing mode, though it takes a couple of clicks to get there. On the plus side, it could connect more seamlessly to the next stage of the process below.
>Then think about where the item belongs in the
>scheme. (I know that’s not a unique concept). Once it’s time
>to place the item, I want to be able to class by keyword(s), subject(s),
>topic(s), project(s), priority, and any other classes (customizable by
>user). I envision doing this in one table, attached to the item.
>Classing can be hierarchic but is not required to be. Ideally the system
>does not constrain you in any way. (I know CT in particular attempts to
>do this)
>I want outliner capabilities, implemented in a minimalist way, within an
>item, as well as with tree structures for subjects, projects or any
>other class you want to look at from a tree perspective.
>I realize (though with very little use myself) that CT does many of
>these things, and other apps do as well, to greater or lesser degree.
>But the minimalist interface is a necessity for me because the way my
>peculiar mind works, and my proposed system for ‘classing’
>or ‘keying’ items in a single table, after writing the item,
>appeals to my seeming need for order and disorder at the same time. Plus
>I don’t know of any app that does all this.
As you note, CT can do almost all of this. It’s not the most minimalist of applications, but you can customise much of the colour scheme, hide buttons, remove panes, and there is a full-screen option (though it could be better). Not sure I understand your thoughts about doing the organising in a single table. In CT, the categorising happens within the text note item, however there is a Summary pane that can list all the properties in a box.
>I want some column features, similar to Gingko, for lining up groups of
>items to work with. This would also occur within an otherwise empty
>screen.
CT’s floating windows can be dragged around against a blank desktop to arrange them in a column formation, but they are not fixable into columns.
>One more ‘justification’ to add: I have 20+ years’ backlog of thoughts &
>items scattered. And I get worse every year, generating this past year
>over 300,000 words. I need to corral all this into a cohesive system
>that enables me to readily access everything I’ve written (and in the
>same app in which I write, because the shifting around that will be
>required if things are spread across various apps, folders, etc is
>intolerable). Some day I will write a book(s) from all these thoughts,
>so I need to be able to find and manipulate these thousands of items.
>This is why I need a multi-key system for classing and connecting
>things. I gotta be able to find it by subject, topic, keyword or any
>other scheme I may come up with. My proposed system will accommodate all
>this (I think). It would also (I think) be highly extensible,
>customizable and adaptable to many needs and styles.
Again, this sounds very much like a problem that CT can solve.
These are just some suggestions off the top of my head. I certainly wouldn’t want to discourage you from developing your own software. As a happy CT user, I am naturally prone to suggesting it, but I realise that it can take a big effort sometimes to get to grips with it.
On the whole though, it sounds like your needs could be served by some kind of a plain text system for capturing and gathering notes, and then organising them in an intelligent database. Piggydb might be another option (although I find the interface even busier than CT’s).
Posted by Dr Andus
Jan 31, 2014 at 10:01 PM
Dr Andus wrote:
>On iOS, Drafts seems to launch a
>new app automatically
I meant to say “launch a new note,” every time you launch the app.
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Jan 31, 2014 at 10:17 PM
Andy, thanks for sharing your thought provoking concept. I find myself in a similar situation in terms of my writing notes, so I can definitely empathise with your woes. I wish you all the best in your endeavours and would definitely want to try whatever tool you come up with.
That said, I can think of at least two programmes which can help here and now. They may not represent the ultimate solution, but they can help in starting to make sense of things: Brainstorm and Sublime Text. The former can be used very effectively for cross-referencing; the latter is a powerful plain text editor which will save your collection of open files as you left them, even if you fail to save them.
Posted by Franz Grieser
Jan 31, 2014 at 10:22 PM
Hi Andy.
A hearty welcome. What you intend sounds interesting, and after having read your more detailed description I sit here and wonder what you’re after. The user interface you describe sounds too good to be true - and to strange (or new or different) to be feasible. And that’s what intreagues me. I have no clue how that could be accomplished - and even if it’s desireable. But the idea ...
Anyway. Keith Blount came to my mind, too. I’d also recommend you contact him.
Or maybe: Not. ‘cause Keith started out programming a writer’s software as no word-processing software met his needs. He started out because he wanted to write a novel. Now he has a flourishing software business - but obviously not enough time to write his novel. Which is good for the users of Scrivener and Scapple (another interesting tool). And hopefully even good for his bank account… But surely not good for Keith, the novelist-to-be.
So, maybe, for the publications you intend, Dr. Andus’ approach may be more target-aimed.
Best wishes, Franz
Posted by andyjim
Feb 1, 2014 at 03:42 AM
Dr. Andus, I repeat my respect for your approach. I’m glad it works well for you. Although I think your mind and mine work alike in a lot of respects, one notable difference between us is that (as far as I know) you are (for now) pretty much zeroed in on one project. I would guess that the mechanics of your multi-app system do not present much of a distraction for you, and that is a compliment, for one thing, to your powers of focus. I would lose too much creative energy as well as losing the thread of too many thoughts that bubble up if I were to use such. That may be in part due to my lesser powers of focus. My system needs to be as seamless, intuitive and effective as possible. And it needs to be instantaneously responsive to a change of thread with near zero overhead in the mechanics, and no distraction.
Yes I do intend to write a book (quite possibly more than one), but that is not my sole and central focus. I need a system to sort out my current many years’ mess and make everything accessible and at the same time give me an effective environment for journaling for as long as I keep it up (like, the rest of my life). I hope all sorts of worthwhile things will spring out of my journaling, but journaling is my gig, more than publishing.
What I will end up with I call a ThoughtBase, perhaps in a very similar sense as Luhmann’s notecard system became a nearly independent partner in his work. Again, not a new concept, and one which, it can be argued, may be fulfilled, at least conceptually, with CT and perhaps IQ (I have both but have not mastered either). But with a busy overhead and interface that distracts me and results in lost thoughts and inefficient work.
Yeah, the summary pane hints at the concept I have of a table of keys for each item. The table would be hidden (like everything else in this system) until you bring it up. Then you enter (or select from a list) all keys (subjects, topics, keywords, project, priority, … customizable) that you want attached to this item. Now, from the collection of those tables from all items, construct any mappings/trees you want to look at or navigate or manipulate from. But in the item itself, I want no constraining, distracting markup/down requirement or any other clutter. Just thoughts.
Dr. Andus, I do not discount your (and others’) suggestions on existing software. I have or have at least looked at most of those suggested. I’ve spent years seeking (not with great diligence but with at least some real persistence) existing software that fits my odd style of creativity. I like aspects of virtually everything I’ve looked at. It has taken years, too, just to sort out within myself just what it is I’m looking for. And that will no doubt continue to evolve too. But I think my proposed design can evolve with me, and that’s a reason I want to do it myself: so I can evolve it.
Franz, I think you get it. I think you glimpse what I’m after and why I need it to be so simple and plain, yet integrated and capable. I’m glad it intrigues you, and glad nobody here is putting down the whole idea, though you do question whether it’s worth it, and that’s a valid question. I know I would gladly pay hundreds for this system if it existed, but it may be of little value to others, so it may never be marketable. If not, I’ll still be exceedingly glad to have it myself. Plain, simple, seamless, intuitive, quick, capable, integrated, extendable. I want all the marbles. That’s why I think I have to be the Little Red Hen.
I know I’ve not answered all comments, but I’ve tried to say better where I’m coming from. I do very much appreciate discussing this which has grown in my mind over several years to where it almost has a life of its own. I believe I will contact Keith Blount as suggested (albeit with qualification).
Speaking as a non-programmer, I nonetheless wonder if it may not be as difficult to implement as it sounds. Seems to me the underlying structures may be fairly straightforward database stuff (but I’m not a database guy either!).
Anyway many thanks all, and I hope you’re not done commenting. I’d be glad to try to make it clearer what I have in mind if anyone wants to delve any further.
Best,
Andy