Writing is different than note-taking than writing course materials

Currently, I put notes in my hub system. I write in iA writer that syncs to Github via Working Copy. I write course materials on books.makzan.net that uses WordPress.

Note taking in my own hub system

Note taking is very different than writing. Note taking is entry of every day’s external inputs.

The notes is for future reference of what happened in the past. There are different entry points to the notes: tags, date, location, attachment content type etc. Whenever I need them, I can easily find them via search and different entry points.

Writing pieces

Writing is different than note taking that writing is current thought. Writing is about putting my thoughts into words. These thoughts need to be consolidate into more concrete ideas. Once I have expressed it, it is rewritten, edited and done.

In contrast to note-taking that needs to have multiple entry points in the user interface, writing needs a distraction free environment.

That’s why I enjoy writing on iPad with iA Writer. The writing syntax and paragraph focus mode is one of the reason that I stick to iA Writer instead of other iOS writing apps.

Writing course materials

I used to write course material in iA Writer too. But finally I moved to WordPress and write there directly. I’m now migrating all my course text books to books.makzan.net.

Putting content directly on WordPress allows me to feel the output and put interactive content directly. The iteration is much shorter in this way.

Currently I have moved the mobile first web, flexbox website, git version control and work-in-progress CSS3 book there.