Writing

This page organises my posts about the writing process

Reading, note-taking and planning

Writing begins with reading and note-taking. And some planning.

• Mindsystems Amode V2 for project management
  • a big writing project such as a PhD dissertation requires some serious planning
  • [UPDATE] since then I’ve also started using RationalPlan, which I find faster to plan with
• Organising your library with Story Turbo
  • organising a physical library of books to create a reading plan
• Hierarchical vs. wiki-based systems for notes
  • the advantages of a wiki-based note-taking system over hierarchical tree-based folder and note systems
• ConnectedText template for reading notes
• Updated ConnectedText template for reading notes
  • initial tips for getting started with a wiki-based database for reading notes
• Analytical process flow for reading notes in ConnectedText
  • with a view towards outlining and writing-up
• Docking panes in ConnectedText
  • an example of organising the CT workspace for a reading notes database

Qualitative data analysis

For academic writing in the humanities and social sciences, you will probably need to analyse your qualitative data and reading notes.

• ConnectedText tutorials
  • see Series 1 of my tutorials on how to use CT for qualitative data analysis
• Abstraction through extraction
  • how to draw conclusions from analysis and start transitioning to an outline

Outlining

Outlining encompasses a wide variety of activities, from free-style brainstorming to project planning, from rigorous conceptual development to the final planning of a piece of writing. It is not a linear process but an iterative and recursive process with many false starts and dead ends. It is an experimental process, all the way to writing the final draft.

• Modelling process workflow for thesis writing
  • developing a process workflow for the writing project
• Outlining in ConnectedText (Steve Zeoli’s post with my comments)
  • the many ways of outlining in ConnectedText
• Academic writer’s block cure
  • using concept mapping to consolidate multiple outlines and develop concepts and an overall outline to break the writer’s block
• Recursive outlining and writing
  • using reverse outlining to keep track of the changing implicit outline in the developing draft, as part of a recursive process

Writing up

By this I mean specifically the very final stage of actual draft writing. But there isn’t a sharp divide between outlining and writing (see Recursive outlining and writing for a description of the transition).

• Developing a final outline
  • why is this link not under the previous heading? Because sometime when you think you are writing-up, it turns out you’re still just outlining…
• Academic writing workflow with ConnectedText, Freeplane, and Outline 4D
  • integrating the note-taking, analysis, evaluation, synthesis, outlining and writing-up process
• Outline 4D for drafting and reverse outlining
  • using Outline 4D for writing the first draft
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 and ConnectedText
  • use dictation software when it speeds things up (it doesn’t always)

Overview of the writing process

• Academic writing process and associated tools