How I Use Obsidian Throughout the 6 Steps of the Writing Process

How I Use Obsidian In The 6 Step Writing Process

I use Obsidian for ideating, confined research, outlining, writing and initial editing. Publishing I do elsewhere.

Personally I find the whole writing process pretty exciting, but it can also be pretty daunting, especially when faced with the premise of a blank page.

In a recent 60,000 word challenge I realised that breaking down ‘writing’ into a 6 step ‘writing process’, made it much easier to meet the word target. It allowed me to:

• do each of the steps better and more efficiently through reducing multi-tasking
• recognise it isn’t a linear process
• improve my research skills, writing ability and publishing proficiency
• realise there were ways I could prepare better for the next writing challenge

I’ve written about the 6 steps of the writing process in my own blog, but here I would like to share with you how I use Obsidian in each of the steps.

Step 1: Ideate

As you can see from the image above, Canvas is a great option for creating ideas and arranging them in space. Before the existence of Canvas, I used Scrintal; I still do use it as a quieter space to ideate.

Another approach I use, is writing in a notebook, then adding them to the relevant place in my vault. This could be in an ideas dump if the ideas aren’t formed or as a standalone note if it’s something that will become more substantial.

At this stage I try to keep things in 3D. Ideas can then evolve in space, shape and time as needed. Perhaps that’s 4D then?!

Step 2: Research

Research is an exciting step when it comes to using Obsidian. For me, Obsidian revolutionised the way I do research, so it is this step that is by far the strongest asset in the writing process.

Here is a list of plugins I use that form part of the research part of writing:

• Citations — for importing citations from Zotero, my reference manage
• Tag Wrangler — for tag management; each citation is designated tags in order to identify similar papers, before I have had a chance to read them in detail.
• Dataview — for bringing together similar citations
• Smart Connections — a new addition to my research step. It uses AI within your vault to recognise similar content.

I also make a lot of use of YAML and tags.

Once I’ve read a paper, I’ll have my own summary, further ideas, links to themes and other papers along with a ‘majorfinding’ sentence in the YAML.

The really novel thing I have found with using Obsidian for research, is that I am much less likely to venture out into the web, saving precious time. More importantly, it keeps my focus on the task at hand.

Step 3: Outlining

Once I have everything in a 3D mess all over the place with links going left right and centre, then it’s time to try and force it into a linear form. This is one of the most challenging steps.

The ideas and connections are all there but it’s more of a sticky web, than a beautifully strung thread.

I find the ‘Projects’ plugin useful for starting to constrain writing into a linear form. I can still move things around quite easily and use different views to see where they are in the writing process, for example.

Depending on the scale of the writing, I’ll have a whole project dedicated to it, e.g. chapters in my thesis. Or in the case of my blogs, a single pipeline.

Notes are titled according to the point or idea the note makes. Each note within the project has its own bulleted outline and a list of relevant research notes and web links. I also include links to the before and after notes to make navigating between them more natural.

Step 4: Writing

If the previous steps have been completed properly, then writing should be pretty straightforward. There is no worrying about a blank page or what you need to be writing about.

For writing, I currently constrain myself to the basics of Obsidian; headings and font styles. Nothing fancy.

I pull in my summaries, ideas and major findings from my research notes and connect them together further.

Writing is about crafting the story and the argument around the ideas you have presented earlier.

If you find yourself going off on tangents or unclear about the structure, maybe head back to the outlining stage, outline the section in more detail, then start writing again.

I find writing for research quite messy in the initial steps as I try to wrangle a structure from everything I have read. Blog writing is much easier, even when substantial research is involved. I don’t worry about getting it perfect, that’s what editing is for.

Step 5: Editing

It’s pretty exciting once I get onto the editing stage. Most of the writing is behind me and I can now focus in on honing and polishing the story.

Never under estimate how long the editing step takes though! I find it takes longer than the writing itself. Set aside plenty of time for editing.

I’ll do a few editing passes in Obsidian, but I usually do my editing in my blog editor of choice. This is because I want to read it how the reader will read it.

With longer work, this often means printing it off, sitting down in a chair and getting out the red pen.

Step 6: Publishing

This is the most exciting step. The work is done and now it’s time to get it out there, either for someone else to edit and comment or just out there on the web.

I don’t use Obsidian for my publishing my content but the option is there.

It’s almost definite that it will come back to you with changes which will see you going back into the writing process again. Scientific research has to all go through peer review which can be useful. But more often than not can be a little harrowing.

I often find myself going through old blogs wanting to make tweaks. So this step may never feel like it is fully completed.

Remember this process does not need to be linear. I often find myself going between the steps if an idea or paragraph isn’t fully formed.

Obsidian is an integral part to my writing process. I’d love to hear how you use it; leave a comment down below.

If, you want to continue being super curious and want more insight into the research process and personal management with a sprinkling of plant and soil science included, join me in my new free, weekly newsletter, Brain STREAM.