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Software for author's note taking...

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roamer_1:
I am embarking upon a new venture in authorship... It's a long story which I will not express here, but my first problem is organizational. That's the thing that maybe y'all might help me with, if an answer truly exists.

In fact I have an answer, which I will explain, but my answer (a software I have written for myself) is not robust enough (IMHO) to handle something as complicated as a book.

Partly problematic, and I know it, is my way, which may in fact be in my way:
I need to explain this part in order to orient the problem...

As in coding, I am project oriented, with each project located on my computer in a directory structure.

When I start a new project, another software I have written, Session, is tied to the directory root of my project tree - If I type Session with a keyword, it will look for that keyword as a folder name inside that root folder... If it finds it, it will find an initiation file within that work folder, open a new desktop, and on that desktop, open all the files listed in the initiation file according to their file type, with positioning, so my desktop is always ordered the same way.

If the keyword is not found, it will ask me If I want to create a new project with the named keyword. If I say yes, it will create a new folder and call to another program called Template to populate that folder with the various project files that Template knows I need.

This is the working environment that I am used to. It doesn't matter which code I am writing in
One of the files invariably created is a note file written in plain text that I have assigned a particular file extension. That extension opens that text file in a particular editor that I wrote called Baknbits.

I want something like that - A program, registered with the system, that uses an associated file extension, that is basically a very robust form of Baknbits.


What baknbits does ... It's basically a notes platform. it has a sidebar that allows for a tree that can be created on the fly, and within that tree, you can highlight any given piece of it, which will display on the right... It works great for outlining, or for timelines, or for code bits that ain't ready to go into the pot...  But Baknbits is a little rinky-dink thing that was never made for something as complicated as a novel-sized book.

I am trying to use it to plot out a storyline, and it's just not enough. I don't want to rewrite it (which would take me a month) but I will if I have to.

The major dilemma I have with most notes platforms is that they are designed around consolidation, where I want distribution - I want 'notes' that are a dedicated file in each project folder, not something like EverNote, or MS ToDo, or OneNote. I want all the 'stuff' for any given project to be in it's project folder, not somewhere else.

I am hoping someone has something to recommend. Something pretty robust that can handle some input. Otherwise I am going to have to write it myself, and I really don't want to take the time for that.

I know, I know... Old guy... cloud... yeah, yeah... It's how I do, and it's damn hard to teach an old dog... and all that. I will learn a new way if I have to, but right now, I would rather give up a month writing something to work the way I need it to rather than being confined to someone else's process. I hope you can help.

TIA.

DB:
Sounds like something AI (running on your own equipment) would be helpful with.

roamer_1:

--- Quote from: DB on September 22, 2024, 03:36:35 am ---Sounds like something AI (running on your own equipment) would be helpful with.

--- End quote ---

Can you recommend an AI that speaks redneck?  happy77

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