Niklas Luhmann developed and used the Slipbox/Zettelkasten method to write 70 books and ~400 scholarly articles over the course of his career

It's a very powerful, simple process for writing that anyone can use to become prolific.

How does it work?

Step 1: Create reference notes.

It all starts with taking notes on what you read and turning these into reference notes.

I do this in @RoamResearch by creating a page for any book or article I read. I add the reference information to the page as metadata and then populate the page with my notes and highlights.

Step 2: Create literature notes.

Your reference notes (including your highlights) are completely useless on their own. You have to do something with them.

With a Slipbox, we turn them into literature notes

A literature note should explain an idea from your highlights in your own words. It should be short and to the point and, most importantly, in your own words. The goal is to summarize the source!

Did I mention that it should be in your own words?

Step 3: Create permanent notes.

The point of literature notes is to create permanent notes, or notes that represent concepts or ideas

The goal of a permanent note is to explain your understanding of some idea or concept. You should write them so that they can be used, as they are, in a project with little to no modification.

Each permanent note is a lego piece that you can use to assemble a future project

Step 4: Use your permanent notes to write.

A collection of related permanent notes can be organized into an outline and turned into an article, book, or some other written project:

If you've done the pre-work of creating permanent notes, then this part now becomes really, really easy!

Coming up with ideas for things to write about is simply a matter of looking through your permanent notes to see where a new collection or related notes has emerged

Creating an outline is simply a matter of collecting those related notes and organizing them into a structure that makes sense before drafting it up

You'll know the system is working for you when each additional note sparks more ideas for things to write about *that you can then easily outline*

I've been experimenting with a version of this system that uses @RoamResearch and when I have an idea for something to write about, I can almost always immediately create a full outline for it

It's a great system and you should give it try it!