Highlights

id980722344

Don’t worry about organisation, indexing, keeping track. It’s literally impossible. There’s too much to know. The noble quest for perfect notes is a digression. There is no league table of note-makers. There are no note-making prizes. German sociologist Niklas Luhmann’s notes were said to be “chaotic”, yet he published prolifically. Notes may have been the method, but the aim was writing for publication.

→ Readwise


id980723356

here is the process in a nutshell: get it done, then get it good. Write a first draft, then write a second, edited draft. Rest assured, the second draft will be better. And so on.

→ Readwise


id980723739

don’t mistake a note for a finished piece of writing. A note is the shortest meaningful piece of information, or the shortest viable writing session. If it works well that’s because it links to other notes. When you write for any kind of publication you always need to be aware of the context of your writing. And it’s rarely if ever suitable just to dump a note or two into it. Editing is an unavoidable, essential, and essentially creative step.

→ Readwise