On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 7:44 PM, Alan L Tyree wrote: > On 06/12/12 11:22, Rasmus wrote: >> >> Andrew Hyatt writes: >> >>> This sounds like an interesting project. My advice is to make a few >>> screenshots that give people an idea what you are working towards. >>> Of course, they could be completely fake, but it would be helpful to >>> understand for people like me who haven't used Scrivener. >> >> I would also like to see this. It sounds nice when I read your >> description, but I still don't fully appreciate the idea. >> >> –Rasmus >> > I'm also very interested. I haven't used Scrivener -- what features do you > see as making org a *way* better writing environment? > > Cheers, > Alan > > -- > Alan L Tyree http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan > Tel: 04 2748 6206 sip:172385@iptel.org > > Hi Everyone, Sorry, I sent that last email off too quickly as I was realizing that I actually had /work/ to do while I was at work... Scrivener is a really neat program, which is designed to help writers organize and manage large writing problems while staying focused on the actual task of writing. Like org-mode, it has pretty powerful tools for manipulating the structure of a text; in general it is (from what I can tell) way less powerful than org-mode (what isn't?) but for a writer that may sometimes be an advantage -- it removes distractions. From what I can tell (and I am not a very experienced user) one of the main attractions of Scrivener is the metaphors it uses to organize your work. Each project is called a 'Binder'; it's where you keep your drafts, your notes, and any supporting materials for your project. When you work on a project, you can "open up" your binder and look at the materials on a 2-dimensional canvas to sort through them. So, it's like taking your papers out of your binder and spreading them out on your desk. Each element in a binder is also represented as an "index card". On the front of hte index card is a title and a synopsis; on the back is the actual text you've been writing. In combination, these two metaphors are a really helpful way of thinking about your project, I think. In org-mode, it would be very difficult to replicate the almost-tactile feel of dragging index cards around a canvas to organize them. (the .org file structure is actually probably really well-suited to this, but one would need to write a whole other program,I imagine in Javascript/HTML5, to implement the dragging). However, some of the cool things about the Scrivener interface *can* be implemented in org. Take a look at the attached screenshots. I admire the 3-column layout, with an outline view in the left-hand column, metadata displayed on the right-hand side, and a main panel in the center which is used either to display index-card representations of the document structure, or the actual text that one intends to edit. To start with I would like to just replicate this window structure, because it keeps you focused on writing, while having the larger structure available if you feel the need to flit around a bit. The third screenshot shows a semi-fake, still very primitive version of what I'd like to have. (I haven't figured out a good way to do the metadata yet). Does this help clarify a bit? Anyone think it's interesting?