Maintain speculative outlines

Whenever I write in the talahardin, whether that's writing 04 notes/seedlings or developing 04 notes/evergreens, I try to connect these new notes to existing speculative outlines tracked in an index of speculative outlines. If an outline about a topic I'm writing about doesn't exist, I create one. I could easily create an outline by comparing two notes and asking myself which should come first. The key to creating this outlines is to always think of them as tentative until they reach a level of finality fit for sharing or publication. This approach is an integral part of my writing process and helps me execute my talahardin writing strategy by ensuring that I have enough outlines to turn into writing projects.

References

Matuschak, A. (n.d.). Create speculative outlines while you write. Andyʼs Working Notes. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://notes.andymatuschak.org/Create_speculative_outlines_while_you_write

When you write a new note, add it to one or more outlines you’re maintaining, creating a new one if necessary. Substantially-complete writing projects will naturally emerge.

if we write new notes every day and notice how they relate to each other, these can accumulate into potential writing projects.

Maintaining already-written notes in an outline is comparatively easy: just look at a pair of notes and ask: which comes first? (Pirsig)