Hello. I just got the latest version of IdeaMason. This is one baffling application. The documentation on the different features is very thorough, but I'm having a hard time seeing how it all fits together and was hoping someone out there with IM experience could give me the basics.

I want to use the application for a non-fiction book I'm planning. The book will use some sources, but not that many--dictionary definitions, quotes from various authors, and so on. I was hoping to use IM to assemble all my notes, outline the different sections and write the first drafts of the chapters. I guess my main question is: how do I get started?

Am I supposed to create a portfolio first and then add materials? I have no idea how all these various pieces fit together. Is there a high-level step-by-step procedure that most people follow? I'm not asking for detailed instructions on how to use every aspect of the program--that's what the documentation is for--but I could really use some guidance to get started.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Gary,

Idea Mason is one of the fullest-featured applications on the market. That can be a curse as well as a benefit, because it means there's a lot to absorb and learn before you feel comfortable using it. I suspect you need to immerse yourself in the program before you begin to use it effectively. So far I have yet to do that, so I am hopeful that others with more experience with the program will respond to your inquiry.

However, I'll give you a small piece of advice that I think may serve you well. Just plunge in. Don't worry about thinking too much about it at first, because I believe that will lead to paralyses. Of course, how you plunge in will depend upon your own work style and the nature of the project. I suggest that you begin by collecting your research into individual notes -- use the material tab and just start creating notes. You can worry about building an outline and structuring things later. I would add references to the library as you go. An application like IM only begins to bear fruit once you have a large collection of material to organize.

I don't know if that is helpful -- perhaps you're saying to yourself, "Duh. No kidding!"

Steve Z.

Thanks. Actually that's very helpful. I had no idea if I was supposed to create a portfolio or whatever first, the way you have to create notebooks in OneNote before you can start adding sections and individual pages.

All I've done so far is create a portfolio for my project. I'm assuming that the portfolio is the top-level container. And I created one source just to see how it worked, a dictionary definition with a web link. The embedded browser is a nice feature.

If I understand this correctly, it looks like I can start almost anywhere and then organize everything later, linking sources to text, assigning categories, whatever. I haven't tried the composition editor yet, but I guess I could just start writing drafts for chapters and sections and put them into order later. Does that sound right?

I'm just trying to get a feel for the procedures involved here. Learning all the features will take time, but that's no problem once I get the big picture. So far, it sounds like I can just start adding information at random without organizing it into a larger structure. Is the library the main repository for "loose" material? Should I be working mostly in the library at this stage?

Thanks again for your help.

Gary,

The Library is where you list your references. To create notes and write up your thoughts, you should use be using "Material," I believe.

The rest of what you have written sounds correct to me.

Steve Z.

Hi Gary,

Good luck with IM. I gave it a serious try last year, attempting, as are you, to write a lengthy nonfiction piece. I posted about it awhile back at http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/347/5
I came away disappointed at its inability to store or search external documents and the fact that I couldn't easily see the content of a bunch of related "material" or "library" or "quote" items all at once - among a lot of other disappointments.

"Material", if I remember correctly, is supposed to be an actual piece of writing that will appear in your book or article. IM expects that you will write all these unconnected bits of "material" and then organize them, thus automagically generating your entire written product out of individual snippets of writing. Of course that never works, because in real life, a snippet of writing has to read well with the snippet that follows it. In my experience, it's impossible to move an item of "material" to another place in my outline without completely rewriting it. Which makes the "material" concept kind of useless.

I could go on. But maybe it's just that I didn't really ever figure out how to use it correctly, despite using it intensively for 2 months. I much prefer using some other note manager like ADM or even OneNote to keep track of and outline snippets of information (and whole files) that I will use in my nonfiction work. Unlike IM, those programs allow me to store any amount of information very quickly (without requiring lots of categorization and pre-organizing like IM does), and they allow me to retrieve the underlying source document easily to see the information in context.

If you find that IM is useful for you in your nonfiction project, I'd be interested to hear about it. I really do need a better tool for that stuff and I was excited about IM at first: maybe your experience will help me learn how it can be helpful.

Thanks for all the comments. If I ever figure this thing out, I'll post some reactions. My impression at the moment from reading various reviews is that IM needs better high-level documentation designed to get raw beginners like me started. The program looks sophisticated and powerful--it probably is--but most people seem to be completely baffled as to how to use it. I can see a long learning curve in order to learn all the different features of a program, but it shouldn't take weeks or months to grasp the basics. With most applications, you can more or less figure it out just by playing around with the interface, but at this point, I'm not even sure what IM is supposed to do. It's like a cryptogram or something. Maybe I should send my copy to the NSA for deciphering.

I've got a Computer Science degree and worked in corporate IT for twelve years as a programmer, systems administrator, database administrator, web developer, etc., etc., but sometimes I think the Unibomber was right about technology. For example, I still like using manual typewriters. Just got a new one today--an Olympia SM3 in perfect condition. You can't get more basic than that. Fountain pens are good, too. There's no learning curve involved. You just sit down and write. Need to organize your material? Get a filing cabinet. I'm starting to lean in that direction...

Gary

Have you contacted the developers? In my quest to find a decent drafting programme, I spent some time with IM after its first major upgrade. The application forum was canned about then because of spam, but a direct approach to the developers elicited useful help.

H

[As an aside not useful to Gary: my experience with IM - at that time it was in my view quite a good programme, but it wasn't exactly right for me - was partly what led me to the Mac, via Scrivener. Scrivener operates in IM territory, and does it very well.]

Gary,

"I’ve got a Computer Science degree and worked in corporate IT for twelve years as a programmer, systems administrator, database administrator, web developer, etc., etc., but sometimes I think the Unibomber was right about technology. For example, I still like using manual typewriters. Just got a new one today—an Olympia SM3 in perfect condition. You can’t get more basic than that. Fountain pens are good, too. There’s no learning curve involved. You just sit down and write. Need to organize your material? Get a filing cabinet. I’m starting to lean in that direction…"

This is an insight I do fully agree to! I like tools like UltraRecall, IdeaMason, MindManager, PersonalBrain etc. but in the end when I have to write an article or prepare a PowerPoint presentation then I quite often sit down with a blank sheet (no lines, no squares ...) and a wooden pencil to sribble and write. Later, when the outline is finalized I start writing in on the Computer (mostly in UltraRecall or in MindManager). Yes, and cards are a very powerful tool as well.

Dominik

I'm with you, Dominick. Writing first drafts longhand or on a typewriter forces you to focus. No distractions at all. Later, you enter the copy onto the computer, editing as you go. It's a great, two-step system. I use it all the time.

Don't like writing in pencil, though. Too scratchy or something. Fountain pens are the smoothest, in my opinion. Mostly I use manual typewriters, but you have to get a good one that was maintained and shipped by a professional typewriter mechanic and those guys are a vanishing breed. Most of them are around 1000 years old now.