I just bought and finished reading Digital Zettelkasten by David Kadavy. It’s a quick read and a good companion to How to Take Smart Notes, which I talked about in Write While True Episode 2: Small Bits of Writing and Write While True Episode 3: First Drafts.

Like David, I think of note-taking as primarily about writing and is the starting point of my original writing. His book covers his workflow, which is a lot like mine. I got a few new tips, but it was mostly a reinforcement of how I think of note-taking.

As I covered in my podcast, I “read” by writing. At the end of reading a book, I have generated bits of writing in Obsidian and flash cards for Anki (covered in Write While True Episode 14: Spaced Repetition). This has helped me retain the information I have read, have new ideas, and develop them into new writing.

If you write, but don’t currently have a note-taking practice and would like to see how one writer does it (in detail), this book is worth your time.