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Using DEVONthink to catalog my own writing
Matt Wood | Jan 10 2007
Okay you DT ninjas out there, I need some advice. I've been thinking about using DT to catalog all of my writing. The more stuff I write in articles, papers, blog posts, journals, etc, the more I think I'm repeating myself, or could build off of something I've written before. What would be the best way to set this up in DT? I don't think I completely understand the distinction between "importing" files and "indexing" them. I also read this article by Steven Johnson, and I got the idea that DT works best with smaller snippets of text, not whole articles or papers. This will be okay if I'm just dropping in blog posts, but will it be worth it to go to the trouble of splitting up my longer pieces? Also, what about writing in DT itself? I've taken notes in there directly, but still hop over to Word to compose. How does it do with formatting, etc? Is it a viable replacement for Word itself? I'd love to have an excuse to ditch Office altogether. 1 Comment
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 What would be the best...Submitted by Berko on January 10, 2007 - 10:17pm.
wood.tang;7655 wrote:
What would be the best way to set this up in DT? I don't think I completely understand the distinction between "importing" files and "indexing" them. The difference is that importing actually adds the content of the file to the DT database. Indexing keeps the file outside the DT database while allowing DT to work its AI mojo. Quote:
I also read this article by Steven Johnson, and I got the idea that DT works best with smaller snippets of text, not whole articles or papers. This will be okay if I'm just dropping in blog posts, but will it be worth it to go to the trouble of splitting up my longer pieces? I have read Johnson's article as well, and I think he is right for his purpose. He is collecting individual citations for his research. In this regard, it is imperative to have them in smaller chunks. But in order to track your personal writings, I think you will be fine with larger chunks, even entire articles. Thesis-length material I would break into chapters. The thing that you might find frustrating is discovering things you could have "built on" after you have written a new piece. Of course, after a while the AI will work out relationships (the beauty of DT in the first place) and a simple search will reveal relevant material. I would be interested to hear how you work out your approach to this. Quote:
Also, what about writing in DT itself? I've taken notes in there directly, but still hop over to Word to compose. How does it do with formatting, etc? Is it a viable replacement for Word itself? I'd love to have an excuse to ditch Office altogether. I write in Word for formatting purposes like you indicate. Only after I finish a piece (read: turn it in, get a grade, and make revisions) do I archive it. I archive in PDF format, so I don't really have much experience with the composition stuff. I suspect it wouldn't be nearly robust enough a writing environment for any literary heavy lifting. HTH. » POSTED IN:
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