- Sep 2023
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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My main purpose for using note-cards is to form lines of poetry into actual poems. Currently it's specifically erotic poetry that I'm writing, so it seems like there is a limited number of categories that I keep coming back to in regards to content: beauty, fashion, movement, relationship, etc, which I've put on the top of my index cards. This is based off of Ryan Holiday and Robert Greene's index card systems. I've also added subcategories: for example, beauty and myth, beauty and plant associations, etc. Going deeper, I might write B-P-F in the corner for Beauty-Plant-Flower, and then have BPF-1, 2, etc. If I organize these alphabetically with tabs, it seems like it would be easy to find the subject I'm looking for at a glance. One problem might be if I want to start making additional notes about which cards stand out for their structure: rhyme, alliteration, etc. Have various ideas for this.My questions are: what is the benefit of having an alphanumeric indexing system where you label subjects with 1, 2, 3, and then going deeper with 1a, 1a1, etc. when it seems like it would be harder to remember that science is #1 and philosophy is #2 vs. just putting science under S and philosophy under P? Is the Zettelkasten (alphanumeric) method better for creating a wide-ranging general knowledge database in a way I'm not realizing? Would there be any benefit for my narrower writing purpose? Any responses are appreciated.
reply to u/DunesNSwoon at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/16ad43u/zettelkasten_alphanumeric_method_vs_alphabetical/
Allow me an iconoclastic view for this subreddit: Given what you've got and your creative use case, I'll recommend you do not do any numbering or ordering at all!
Instead follow the path of philosopher Raymond Llull and create what is sometimes referred to as a Llullian memory wheel. Search for one of his diagrams from the 11th century. Then sift through your cards for interesting ones and place one of your cards at each of the many letters, numbers, words, images, or "things" on the wheels, which were designed to move around a central axis much like a child's cryptographic decoder wheel based on the Caesar cipher. Then move things about combinatorically until you find interesting patterns, rhymes, rhythms, etc. to compose the poetry you're after.
Juxtaposing ideas in random (but structured) ways may help accelerate and amplify your creativity in ways you might not expect.
They meant them to be used on a slower timescale, but Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies are not too dissimilar in their effect. You might find them useful when you're creatively "stuck". As a poet you might also create a mini deck of cards with forms on them (sonnet, rhymed couplets, villanelle, limerick, etc.) to draw from at random and attempt to compose something to fit it. Odd constraints can often be helpful creative tools.
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- Jan 2023
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forum.zettelkasten.de forum.zettelkasten.de
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Zettelkasten, a tool for the mind, A place to capture thoughts of every kind. A sea of cards, with notes that flow, Helping to organize, a world in a show. The time we spend, a precious cost, To scribble down, the thoughts we've lost. But with each card, a rabbit hole begins, A journey deep, of knowledge wins. We delve and dive, in search of truth, The links we make, a web of proof. But hours pass by, and what do we find? We've wasted time, with our method combined. Yet still we persist, in this quest we trust, The thrill of the hunt, a must. But remember, dear friend, to balance the scale, With breaks in between, lest our time bewails. So let's not waste, this gift we hold, With Zettelkasten, a tool to mold. A path to wisdom, in every note, A journey of discovery, and time well devoted.
https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/2502/time-well-spent
Presumably written by Edmund
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- Nov 2022
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forum.zettelkasten.de forum.zettelkasten.de
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Being an English only speaker I love the mystery invoked by the German term "Zettelkasten".
Example of someone who sees "mystery" in the idea of Zettelkasten, which becomes part of the draw into using it.
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- Oct 2022
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Andere Sammlungen sind ihrem Verwendungszweck nie zugeführt worden. Der Germanist Friedrich Kittler etwa legte Karteikarten zu allen Farben an, die dem Mond in der Lyrik zugeschrieben worden sind. Das Buch dazu könnte jemand mit Hilfe dieser Zettel schreiben.
machine translation (Google):
Other collections have never been used for their intended purpose. The Germanist Friedrich Kittler, for example, created index cards for all the colors that were ascribed to the moon in poetry. Someone could write the book about it with the help of these slips of paper.
Germanist Friedrich Kittler collected index cards with all the colors that were ascribed to the moon in poetry. He never did anything with his collection, but it has been suggested that one could write a book with his research collection.
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