Re: Outline structure and LaTeX

[Eric S Fraga <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk>]

SW <sabrewolfy@gmail.com> writes:

> I'm preparing an academic document with several chapters. The text will
> eventually exist as a LaTeX document. However, I am doing my early planning and
> writing directly in an org file, making use of the structure elements (*, **,
> ***, etc) to provide structure and entering text for the relevant sections in
> the appropriate place.
>
> Org is a huge project and I have not explored every aspect and every contributed
> extension. Is there a "best practice" approach for what I am doing? Should I
> write directly in LaTeX rather? Is there an easy conversion process from an
> outlined document to LaTeX? I know there org can export to LaTeX. Would that be
> the best option? It has not worked well for me previously -- page breaks
> appeared in the wrong place and other pages has text that flowed over the end of
> the page.

I used to write all my papers etc. in LaTeX.  I now use org almost
exclusively, using LaTeX directly only for letters.  With the advances
in the LaTeX export engines (both the "stable" one and the new one
Nicolas is working on), I am able to work completely in org and only
worry about exporting to LaTeX at the end, when ready to submit.

For instance, this paper:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261911006507

was written completely in org and the resulting LaTeX file exported by
org was sent *as is* to the publisher (Elsevier, in this case).

The best thing, for me, about using org to write papers is that I can
have all my data, notes, musings, etc. in the same document and only
export the content that I want to export.  Add babel to the mix and my
analysis is also within the same document.  And include inline tasks and
I can even have task management in the document.  Brilliant!

In terms of /best practice/, my advice in using org would be the same as
I would give if you were to write in LaTeX directly: don't tilt at
windmills!  Instead of trying to micro-manage the document, concentrate
on the content.  Unless you have very specific typesetting requirements,
e.g. from the publisher, let org+LaTeX do its thing.  Usually, what
comes out looks much better than what you could do manually.

If things need fixing, do it at the end when the *content* is
finalised.  Org allows you to concentrate on the content without too
much clutter, actually very little clutter.

Addressing your question more specifically, I don't understand your
comment about page breaks.  LaTeX is usually very good about page
breaks, especially with respect to line widows etc.

Finally, there are quite a few people on this list that use org to
create LaTeX documents and they're all quite friendly so ask away if you
have any specific questions.

HTH,
eric

-- 
: Eric S Fraga (GnuPG: 0xC89193D8FFFCF67D) in Emacs 24.1.50.1 + Ma Gnus v0.6