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+WEBVTT
+
+
+00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:45.759
+Introduction
+
+00:00:45.760 --> 00:02:24.079
+Nabokov's process of writing novels
+
+00:02:24.080 --> 00:04:46.559
+Three practical problems novelists face
+
+00:04:46.560 --> 00:08:55.599
+Org mode for writing novels
+
+00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:50.840
+Takeaways and next steps
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+WEBVTT captioned by bhavin192, checked by sachac
+
+NOTE Introduction
+
+00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.239
+Hello, fellow Emacs enthusiasts.
+
+00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:06.799
+My name is Edmund Jorgensen.
+
+00:00:06.800 --> 00:00:08.519
+I'm a software engineer by day,
+
+00:00:08.520 --> 00:00:10.599
+but by night I love to write novels,
+
+00:00:10.600 --> 00:00:11.774
+and I lean on Emacs heavily
+
+00:00:11.774 --> 00:00:13.759
+for both of these activities.
+
+00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:15.879
+Today, I would like to talk to you about how Emacs,
+
+00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:17.319
+specifically with Org mode,
+
+00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:18.440
+has helped me manage some of the practical
+
+00:00:18.840 --> 00:00:20.940
+difficulties of writing long-form prose,
+
+00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:22.039
+novels in my case,
+
+00:00:22.040 --> 00:00:24.319
+and I'd like to get at this by talking about how
+
+00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.439
+another, much more famous novelist managed
+
+00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.359
+some of those same difficulties in a way
+
+00:00:28.360 --> 00:00:30.874
+that makes me suspect he might well use Emacs
+
+00:00:30.874 --> 00:00:31.959
+and Org mode himself
+
+00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:34.519
+if he were still alive and writing today.
+
+00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:35.599
+This talk will probably be
+
+00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:36.959
+of the most interest to listeners
+
+00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:39.239
+who either already write long-form prose in Emacs
+
+00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:40.879
+or are considering doing so,
+
+00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:42.039
+but I think that anyone
+
+00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:44.079
+with an interest in literature or Emacs
+
+00:00:44.080 --> 00:00:45.759
+will find something to take away.
+
+NOTE Nabokov's process of writing novels
+
+00:00:45.760 --> 00:00:51.119
+So let's get to it.
+
+00:00:51.120 --> 00:00:53.919
+Here's a picture of a man lying on a bed,
+
+00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.999
+writing something on an index card.
+
+00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.519
+If we didn't know any better,
+
+00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:58.959
+we might think that he was just jotting down
+
+00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.679
+a recipe for beef stew or something like that.
+
+00:01:01.680 --> 00:01:03.839
+But in fact, this is not just any old man.
+
+00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.174
+This is Vladimir Nabokov, one of the most
+
+00:01:06.174 --> 00:01:08.079
+celebrated novelists of the 20th century,
+
+00:01:08.080 --> 00:01:09.279
+and he's not jotting down
+
+00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.479
+a recipe for beef stew in this picture.
+
+00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:12.759
+He's actually hard at work here,
+
+00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:15.007
+composing a classic of English literature
+
+00:01:15.007 --> 00:01:16.559
+on an index card.
+
+00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:18.799
+That's how he wrote all his novels, in fact,
+
+00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:20.159
+on index cards.
+
+00:01:20.160 --> 00:01:22.759
+I don't mean that he just took notes on these cards
+
+00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:24.159
+or wrote outlines on them.
+
+00:01:24.160 --> 00:01:25.679
+He did both of those things as well,
+
+00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.919
+but he also wrote the actual prose of his novels,
+
+00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:32.799
+word by word, sentence by sentence, on index cards.
+
+00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:37.359
+Let's see what that looked like at scale.
+
+00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:39.440
+This box you see here,
+
+00:01:39.440 --> 00:01:41.239
+full of groups of bundled cards,
+
+00:01:41.240 --> 00:01:43.919
+is what a novel in progress looked like for Nabokov.
+
+00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:46.079
+If you squint, you can see that these cards
+
+00:01:46.080 --> 00:01:47.639
+were from the composition of Lolita,
+
+00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.559
+probably his most famous novel.
+
+00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.719
+So why did he write novels on index cards?
+
+00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:56.039
+It's not necessarily an obvious choice.
+
+00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:58.999
+Yes, sadly, Emacs wasn't available to him at the time,
+
+00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.239
+but most writers in his day,
+
+00:02:01.240 --> 00:02:02.640
+if they weren't using typewriters,
+
+00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:03.919
+which were available,
+
+00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.999
+were using notebooks or loose-leaf sheets
+
+00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.359
+or something like that.
+
+00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:09.959
+Not these tiny little index cards.
+
+00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:11.919
+But Nabokov loved index cards.
+
+00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:14.359
+He swore by them because they represented
+
+00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:15.199
+an elegant solution
+
+00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:17.999
+to three of the most pressing practical problems
+
+00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:24.079
+that every novelist faces.
+
+NOTE Three practical problems novelists face
+
+00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:25.307
+Writing a good novel
+
+00:02:25.307 --> 00:02:27.479
+is artistically difficult, of course.
+
+00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:28.959
+You have to write something interesting
+
+00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:30.107
+with a good story,
+
+00:02:30.107 --> 00:02:31.919
+something that people want to read.
+
+00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:33.519
+But writing any novel at all,
+
+00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:34.999
+whether it's good or bad,
+
+00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:37.719
+is brutally, practically difficult.
+
+00:02:37.720 --> 00:02:39.919
+You're hacking something like 100,000 words
+
+00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:42.440
+into unified shape over a long period of time,
+
+00:02:42.440 --> 00:02:43.799
+months or years.
+
+00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:45.719
+There are organizational challenges
+
+00:02:45.720 --> 00:02:46.959
+inherent in that process,
+
+00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.919
+and each writer needs practical techniques
+
+00:02:48.920 --> 00:02:51.079
+to manage those challenges.
+
+00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.399
+The most basic challenge, of course, is that,
+
+00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.359
+unless you're trying to bring back
+
+00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.040
+the Homeric Bard tradition
+
+00:02:57.040 --> 00:02:59.599
+of reciting books from memory in firelit halls,
+
+00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:01.199
+you need to actually set down
+
+00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:03.319
+those 100,000 words on some medium.
+
+00:03:03.320 --> 00:03:05.839
+In Nabokov's case, index cards worked fine for this.
+
+00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.439
+A little cramped, maybe, but workable.
+
+00:03:08.440 --> 00:03:09.679
+Secondly, as you're writing,
+
+00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:11.719
+you're bound to think of little but important things
+
+00:03:11.720 --> 00:03:13.919
+about the story that you want to record.
+
+00:03:13.920 --> 00:03:16.207
+I'm not talking here about big thematic notes
+
+00:03:16.207 --> 00:03:19.039
+or research that can go in a separate document,
+
+00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:21.159
+but smaller, more contextual notes
+
+00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:23.879
+that belong right along the prose that they refer to.
+
+00:03:23.880 --> 00:03:26.639
+These might be reminders, like,
+
+00:03:26.640 --> 00:03:28.519
+"Remember to clean up this sentence,"
+
+00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:29.707
+or questions for yourself
+
+00:03:29.707 --> 00:03:31.907
+to consider during rewrites, like,
+
+00:03:31.907 --> 00:03:33.239
+"Why does Shirley feel this way here?"
+
+00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:35.599
+Nabokov recorded these notes
+
+00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:37.559
+in the margins of his cards or on the backs.
+
+00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:39.999
+Paper, in general, is great for this kind of
+
+00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.039
+intertextual note-taking.
+
+00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:44.599
+That's not particular to index cards.
+
+00:03:44.600 --> 00:03:47.919
+But what Nabokov really loved about index cards
+
+00:03:47.920 --> 00:03:49.519
+was how they solved the novelist's
+
+00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.119
+third and most difficult practical problem,
+
+00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.279
+which is imposing some kind of structure
+
+00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:55.599
+on this mountain of words.
+
+00:03:55.600 --> 00:03:58.519
+To have any hope of wrangling a novel into being,
+
+00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:00.119
+you need some way to break it down
+
+00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.639
+into parts, chapters, scenes, snatches of dialogue.
+
+00:04:03.640 --> 00:04:05.839
+You need some kind of higher-level outline
+
+00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:07.999
+that you can read, navigate, and rearrange
+
+00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.919
+as you consider and reconsider your story.
+
+00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:11.919
+You need structure.
+
+00:04:11.920 --> 00:04:14.879
+Index cards gave Nabokov a really powerful way
+
+00:04:14.880 --> 00:04:16.239
+to impose this structure
+
+00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.559
+because they created small, independent
+
+00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:18.999
+chunks of prose
+
+00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.359
+that he could bundle together into groups,
+
+00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:22.759
+like we saw in the box.
+
+00:04:22.760 --> 00:04:31.959
+This let him navigate his novel in progress quickly.
+
+00:04:31.960 --> 00:04:33.799
+He could just flip through those bundles,
+
+00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.119
+bundle by bundle, instead of card by card.
+
+00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:38.240
+He could also impose on
+
+00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.079
+and modify the structure of his novel
+
+00:04:40.080 --> 00:04:41.999
+just by shuffling those bundles around.
+
+00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.307
+So that's why Nabokov loved index cards
+
+00:04:45.307 --> 00:04:46.559
+for writing novels.
+
+NOTE Org mode for writing novels
+
+00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:48.759
+Now I'd love to talk about
+
+00:04:48.760 --> 00:04:51.279
+why I love Org mode so much for writing novels
+
+00:04:51.280 --> 00:04:53.999
+and how it helps me tackle those same challenges.
+
+00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:01.759
+The first practical challenge,
+
+00:05:01.760 --> 00:05:03.759
+recording your words on some medium,
+
+00:05:03.760 --> 00:05:04.774
+is pretty simple.
+
+00:05:04.774 --> 00:05:06.439
+Org mode is a part of Emacs,
+
+00:05:06.440 --> 00:05:09.199
+a text editor, so you can just type in your text.
+
+00:05:09.200 --> 00:05:10.919
+We're not going to spend any more time on that.
+
+00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.439
+For the second practical challenge,
+
+00:05:13.440 --> 00:05:16.039
+recording small intertextual notes,
+
+00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:19.039
+Org mode offers comments, like this one here.
+
+00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.959
+The comment, "maybe I need to say which store?",
+
+00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:23.239
+with the leading pound sign there.
+
+00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:25.874
+I think that comments are generally
+
+00:05:25.874 --> 00:05:28.240
+underappreciated outside of coding.
+
+00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:29.799
+When writing fiction, for example,
+
+00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:32.359
+I love that Org mode lets me keep these comments
+
+00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:33.959
+close to the prose they refer to.
+
+00:05:33.960 --> 00:05:37.159
+I can see right here that I'm talking about
+
+00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:39.119
+saying which store in this first line,
+
+00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:40.599
+"One day, Bob went to the store."
+
+00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.999
+I get to keep these things close to
+
+00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:44.999
+the prose they refer to
+
+00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.519
+without ever having to worry that
+
+00:05:46.520 --> 00:05:48.479
+they'll accidentally be exported to a reader.
+
+00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:50.540
+That's great.
+
+00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:52.807
+So let's talk about how Org Mode handles the third
+
+00:05:52.807 --> 00:06:00.919
+and most brutal challenge of all, which is structure.
+
+00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:03.039
+Here we've taken the same text
+
+00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:04.879
+and we've imposed some structure on it.
+
+00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:07.807
+Like index cards,
+
+00:06:07.807 --> 00:06:09.639
+this is where Org mode really shines.
+
+00:06:09.640 --> 00:06:11.999
+Org mode extends outline mode,
+
+00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.359
+which is built around the concept of header lines,
+
+00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:15.959
+with different levels denoted by
+
+00:06:15.960 --> 00:06:18.079
+different numbers of leading asterisks (`*`).
+
+00:06:18.080 --> 00:06:20.674
+Personally, I tend to use top line headers
+
+00:06:20.974 --> 00:06:23.359
+as chapters and second line headers as scenes.
+
+00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.079
+You can see that here, where chapter one says
+
+00:06:26.080 --> 00:06:27.319
+"Bob and Shirley meet."
+
+00:06:27.320 --> 00:06:29.599
+Here's a scene, "Bob goes to the store."
+
+00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.639
+And here below is chapter two, yet unwritten,
+
+00:06:32.640 --> 00:06:34.319
+where Bob goes to work.
+
+00:06:34.320 --> 00:06:39.679
+Pretty exciting. Since Org mode supports folding,
+
+00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.159
+I can read quickly through a summary of my novel
+
+00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:44.079
+at either the chapter or the scene level
+
+00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:46.040
+just by flipping through different levels of
+
+00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.799
+visibility, just like Nabokov could flip through
+
+00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.307
+different bundles of cards.
+
+00:06:51.307 --> 00:06:52.599
+So here's the chapter level.
+
+00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:54.719
+I can see at a chapter level,
+
+00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.679
+"Bob and Shirley meet", "Bob goes to work."
+
+00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:59.079
+And then I can get one level more specific
+
+00:06:59.080 --> 00:07:01.159
+and see the various scenes in the chapter
+
+00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:02.959
+at the second header level.
+
+00:07:02.960 --> 00:07:03.999
+And I can, if I want,
+
+00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:10.359
+I can go all the way back to the prose level.
+
+00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:12.774
+And just like Nabokov shuffling
+
+00:07:12.774 --> 00:07:13.940
+his index cards around,
+
+00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:16.759
+I can move scenes around as logical units.
+
+00:07:16.760 --> 00:07:18.199
+Let's say, for example,
+
+00:07:18.200 --> 00:07:20.399
+that we wanted to move Bob's thoughts about life,
+
+00:07:20.400 --> 00:07:22.919
+which are down here, up further.
+
+00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.959
+Well, I can grab "Bob thinks about life,"
+
+00:07:26.960 --> 00:07:30.479
+and I can move it up or down as a logical unit.
+
+00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.719
+But Org mode offers some even more powerful tricks
+
+00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:36.519
+for structuring and navigating your novel,
+
+00:07:36.520 --> 00:07:38.559
+beyond what even index cards can do.
+
+00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.974
+For example, you can use tags
+
+00:07:41.974 --> 00:07:44.479
+on your scene headings. You can see these here.
+
+00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.599
+They're the prominent colon separated words
+
+00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:47.559
+on the header lines.
+
+00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.839
+In this case, I'm using `bob` and `shirley`.
+
+00:07:49.840 --> 00:07:52.719
+These tags can represent characters
+
+00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:53.674
+who appear in the scene,
+
+00:07:53.674 --> 00:07:54.239
+which is what I'm doing here,
+
+00:07:54.640 --> 00:07:57.207
+or locations in which the scenes occur,
+
+00:07:57.207 --> 00:07:59.159
+or plot lines that the scenes further,
+
+00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:00.479
+really anything that you want.
+
+00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.239
+And you can then use Org mode's sparse view features
+
+00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:07.559
+to query a set of tags and trim your novel down to
+
+00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:09.519
+a subset of related scenes.
+
+00:08:09.520 --> 00:08:12.559
+For example, let's say we want to filter down to
+
+00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:14.799
+only the scenes in which Shirley appears.
+
+00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:25.759
+This could allow us to read quickly through
+
+00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:27.439
+just a subset of the prose,
+
+00:08:27.440 --> 00:08:29.599
+the prose that referred to Shirley in some way.
+
+00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.359
+Maybe we want to do that
+
+00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.279
+to check continuity for her character,
+
+00:08:33.280 --> 00:08:35.519
+or make sure that her character develops
+
+00:08:35.520 --> 00:08:36.999
+along a compelling arc,
+
+00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:38.319
+or even just to get a sense
+
+00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.399
+of how much airtime she gets in the novel.
+
+00:08:44.040 --> 00:08:49.759
+Thanks for listening to this whirlwind exploration
+
+00:08:49.760 --> 00:08:51.879
+of some of the practical challenges of writing
+
+00:08:51.880 --> 00:08:53.599
+novels and other long-form prose,
+
+00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:55.599
+and how Org mode can help tackle them.
+
+NOTE Takeaways and next steps
+
+00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.879
+I'd like to leave you with a couple takeaways
+
+00:08:57.880 --> 00:08:59.759
+and next steps for those who are interested.
+
+00:08:59.760 --> 00:09:01.907
+First, if you're writing a novel
+
+00:09:01.907 --> 00:09:02.840
+or other long-form prose,
+
+00:09:02.841 --> 00:09:04.874
+or even considering doing so,
+
+00:09:04.874 --> 00:09:06.107
+take a look at Org mode,
+
+00:09:06.108 --> 00:09:08.374
+especially if you're already familiar with Emacs.
+
+00:09:08.375 --> 00:09:10.474
+It won't solve the artistic problem
+
+00:09:10.475 --> 00:09:11.874
+of writing an interesting book for you,
+
+00:09:11.875 --> 00:09:13.907
+not even with a ChatGPT plugin,
+
+00:09:13.908 --> 00:09:15.874
+but it's a fantastic tool for managing
+
+00:09:15.875 --> 00:09:16.874
+some of the practical challenges
+
+00:09:16.875 --> 00:09:19.840
+that come with hacking 100,000 words into shape
+
+00:09:19.841 --> 00:09:22.740
+over the months or years that that process takes.
+
+00:09:22.741 --> 00:09:25.839
+Second, if you're interested in learning more
+
+00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.959
+about some of the advanced features of Org mode
+
+00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:29.519
+and how they can help in this process,
+
+00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:32.319
+I wrote a long blog post about my difficulties
+
+00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.879
+writing a novel with 13 interconnected subplots,
+
+00:09:34.880 --> 00:09:37.759
+and how Emacs and Org mode saved it from imploding.
+
+00:09:37.760 --> 00:09:43.999
+I'll put a link here below. [ewj.io/emacs]
+
+00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:50.840
+Thanks for listening, and Emacs on!