No. 126 You're Not Writing, Because You're Not Tracking Your Ideas
"Note-making can transform your creativity & check out my new writing course!"
No. 126 • 12/11/2025
Dear readers,
Peter was, by most conventional standards, gross. An anarcho-Luddite by creed, he had given up most aspects of personal hygiene decades prior. When we would sit on a bench in New Lebanon, NY, talking about Sufism, symbols on the dollar bill, or how people using flower essences are "under dosing," his last remaining tooth—an incisor holding on for dear life—wiggled in the breeze. Toward the end of his life, he was hard to be near. But, he was also an incredibly creative mind and one of the most prolific writers I ever knew.
He took notes.
Maureen converted to Islam when she got married. She was a radical feminist, teacher, and critical theorist. She wrote comic books about her experience, and eventually started winning awards for her writing on the intersection of Islam and comic books.
She took notes.
Keegan's performance art was awful. Self-indulgent, pretentious, riddled with bad puns. I sat through tons of his work during my graduate studies at Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. He produced so much of the stuff, it was hard to miss. I liked very little of it, but many loved his work. And, there was just so so much of it.
He took notes.
All of the writers I've known have, in some fashion or another, were note takers. Their system was their own, cobbled together out of necessity.
Note-taking is the beginning of the writing process.
The image of a writer sitting down and simply pouring pre-processed ideas onto the page, starting at the beginning and methodically working their way toward the inevitable end is engrained in our psyche. And, it's completely false.
Writing is less "written," than it is "created." Less "catharsis" than "curation."
This isn't about Best Pens, Best Notebooks, or Best Work Stations.
It's a comprehensive system that will change your creative life. And, I want you to take it.
It's a course like no other course out there, on a topic that very few people know about or, if they do, can speak intelligently about.
What I’m up to writing / teaching / speaking….
I'm in that stage of book writing where I forget to eat. At the end of the day I feel physically gross and my eyes burn. Thank God for my morning routines.
What we’re up to on the property….
Electrifying the barn. Finger crossed.
What my book, A System for Writing, is up to....
Really sweet review came out this week:
Here's what I found so helpful about the book:
- It's organized really well and is easy to dip back into for reference or reassurance
- There are eminently practical lists of what to do, what to remember, and what to watch out for at the end of each section
- His interpretation of the #ZK system is flexible and adaptable to the resources and knowhow one already has. Everything (including reference notes!) can be done on paper, or in one app, or in many, or in another way, depending on one's preferences and needs
- He explains himself and gives examples which are themselves instructive
- He clearly calls out his sources and provides detailed endnotes for anyone who wants to dig deeper
- He gives solid writing advice.
FROM LAST WEEK'S COMPOSITION...
from "Reading for Relevance"
Reading with a zettelkasten is unique in that it gives us a kind of external short-term memory store. Ideas / information / differences captured in notes linked across a network make tangible (and useful / usable) what's typically understood as "ephemeral ideas." As such, a zettelkasten has the ability to extend relevance into areas we may not have predicted without overloading our cognition. We're not holding these connections in our mind. We're pulling from an archive of relationships.
To read the rest (there's seven[!] other takes on the week's discourse, not including the introductory essay), sign up here.
Get my book
Pick up my latest book, A System for Writing, [here].
Got a question or something you'd like me to write about? Send me what you're thinking!