Obsidian Get!

[renegadefolkhero]

In the spirit of trying new things, I once again tackled the problem of writing on the go. Last year I resisted expanding my writing time, but now that writing is a "hobby" (lol) and I have a better handle on my time management, I decided it would be a more fun way to spend downtime than doomscrolling my feeds.

Hardware

The last time I tried this, I was Quite Certain I could only type on a "real" clacky keyboard and not a chicklet board, and I ended up with a biggish janky travel keyboard + tablet combo that is mostly a nuisance, so it never gets used unless I'm on a vacation and I can set up shop in a corner somewhere. Despite the sacrifice in form factor, the keyboard was still annoying to type on.

This time, I went the opposite direction and got a great deal on a Logitech Keys-to-Go 2. Holy shit, what a difference. I freaking love that thing. It's perfectly comfortable to type on, pairs effortlessly, and is ridiculously thin and lightweight. I find myself whipping it out any time I need to look something up on a tablet or phone or jot something down because it's faster to jump on the keyboard than peck at the software keyboard.

Software

The real issue for the Scrivener-bound writer is software, since Scrivener doesn't have an Android port. After poking around various Scrivener alternatives and finding all of them lacking, I decided to try Obsidian again. The timing is good, because I last used Obsidian to build a wiki for a SFF novel I'm now coming back to.

Weeks later, I've stumbled into a new workflow that is so useful, I don't even care if I can travel write anymore. That was originally the goal, but now it's just a bonus.

I know from experience I gotta KISS and rely on native functions as much as possible.

Le Plugins

• Local Backup
• Daily Stats
  • Displays a daily wordcount at the bottom of the screen. My daily logs are always titled DATE - BOOK - ADDED WC / TOTAL WC so I have a rough idea of the day's work.
• Novel Word Count
  • Displays a note's wordcount next to the title. This is something I've always added manually to note titles in Scrivener so I can see chapter/act wordcount parity at a glance.
• Recent Files
  • Adds a pane that lists all the recently touched files, good for remembering where I've been or grabbing something I touched recently.
• Smart Typography
  • Resolves the pet peeve of smart/dumb formatting constantly getting combined. I've always had issues with this in Scrivener.
• Timestamper
  • Replicates Joplin's datestamp key. Let's me use a hotkey to insert a date, which I use during my daily logging.
• File Order
  • Replicates Scrivener's binder view. Quickly prefixes the note filename with a number, so file order will be preserved when imported elsewhere
• Note Refactor
  • Replicates Scrivener's note splitting, which is how I deal with cut darlings or rewrites. It tosses a linked file into SideNotes.

Sync

Originally, I was going to use Scrivener's sync ability to switch between the two, but Scrivener sync is weird. It flattened folders and did other unexpected things. You can pay for an Obsidian syncing service, but I use Syncthing to sync Obsidian vaults between devices.

Simple Solutions

Replicating Scrivener's sidenotes: I store notes in a separate SideNotes folder and link them to the appropriate chapter. When I'm actively working on a chapter, the note is listed at the bottom as a backlink and I can drag it to a smaller side pane, just like it is in Scrivener. If the sidenote becomes irrelevant I just kill the link.

TODO: After fooling around with tasks and plugins, I ditched formal tasks entirely. All I need is an easy way to see what chapters need edits at a glance. I pinned a blank note titled TODO to the right sidebar. Any time I have a TODO, I link to it and include a brief note. If I click on the TODO note icon, I get a list of linked mentions and the sentence explaining what is needed. On top of that, having a link means I click and go RIGHT to the place that needs editing.

Themes/CSS - I've learned some themes break things, including markdown formatting. Fortunately, the Simple theme has been incredible for emphasizing what I need to see as a writer without adding a lot of stuff. Add a little custom CSS to space out paragraphs and add color to headings, and finding things and seeing where I am at a glance is like night and day compared to Scrivener.

Obsidian is not Scrivener

I'm convinced that adopting Scrivener made it possible for me to finish novels. I simply could not wrap my brain around the story when I used a word processor, and the visual organization of the Scrivener binder, plus the ability to have side notes, was a game-changer. Now I think Obsidian is going to make more complex books and series possible. I'm simultaneously outlining book one and the full series right now, and I'm powering past the points where I got stuck before because I was just so goddamned overwhelmed by the volume of stuff I was juggling.

It's the links, folks. It is EFFORTLESS to link and track data in this tool. Need to rework a bit of lore? Toss in a [[TODO]] link with a brief sentence explaining what needs to be done. Need to fill a placeholder? Drop a link to the placeholder link in the outline. Having a dynamic TODO list that I don't even think about, that is always updated and links right to the spot I need to make the change, is chef's kiss

Obsidian's other big strength is layout flexibility and unlimited split panes. Scrivener only allows a single split pane. Most of the time, this is fine. But in the planning stages, being able to have chapters, series notes, outline notes, and wiki notes all open as needed in various panes has really helped.

Scrivener is gonna come into play after the rough draft, when I'm splitting and moving big chunks of text around, running my various editing tools, and getting ready for epub output.

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Anyway, writing Baby's First SeriousBook Series is kinda scary! D: I'll talk about that next time. But I feel a lot better now that I have ways to organize that seem to be working.

Comments

[lassarina]

I'm poking at Obsidian to replace my chaos of Apple Notes and maybe do my series bible stuff for writing, although I think I prefer writing in Scrivener itself (and since I have all Apple stuff, I can use Scrivener on my iPad) for drafting. I love seeing how we all do different organizational things.